KUALA LUMPUR (June 7): University Malaya (UM) has made it into the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2019 top 100 list for the first time.

In a statement today, UM said it had ranked 87th place in the list, having moved up 27 places from last year.

UM said analysis into the ranking results showed that the gains through three indicators, namely academic reputation, employer reputation, and citations per faculty leapfrogged the university into the top 100.

“The first two are indicators of the university’s reputation among the academic community and employers respectively, and the third measures the impact of its publications,” it said.

Moving forward, the university said it will continue its primary focus on establishing stronger academic fundamentals, but is cognizant of the challenges ahead for realization of its full potential.

“The results this year that saw a continuous drop in the ranking of the international staff indicator further deepened the university’s concern of its plan to expand its talent pool.

“The cut in the government’s allocation to the university had adverse implications on its international staff intake and ability to retain productive retired academics on contract. The university’s efforts towards financial sustainability will not yield immediate results to bridge the shortfall due to the drop in government funding.

UM’s ranking has risen 80 places since 2014, placing it within the top 9% of 1,011 institutions ranked by QS in its latest list.

Globally, UM is within the top 1% of approximately 26,000 universities.