QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a company specializing in higher education analytics, has released the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027. This ranking includes 1722 educational institutions from 26 Asian countries and territories.
Uzbekistan is represented by 38 universities in this list, including 15 new participants. As a result, the country's indicators showed a growth of 17%.
The Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization (TIIAM) continues to hold the highest position among Uzbek educational institutions, securing 113th place. Nevertheless, compared to last year, this university dropped 10 positions.
The Mirzo Ulugbek National University of Uzbekistan ranked 196th, whereas in 2026 it was at 180th place. Samarkand State University managed to improve its position by 92 places, reaching 215th place.
Namangan State Technical University showed the most significant jump in the rankings among Uzbek universities, increasing its rating by 245 positions to reach 469th place.
The QS Asia Rankings are compiled based on an evaluation of educational institutions across 11 different criteria. These metrics have been adjusted to account for regional specifics, which distinguishes this ranking from the global QS World University Rankings.
The QS study indicated that Uzbek universities demonstrate strong results in areas such as 'Employer Reputation,' 'Percentage of Foreign Faculty,' and 'Student Exchange.' However, scientific research remains a major challenge for Uzbek universities, as the lowest scores were received in the criteria of 'Number of Citations per Publication' and 'Number of Publications per Faculty Member.'
QS Senior Vice President Ben Sauter noted that Uzbekistan is one of the fastest-developing higher education systems in the current ranking. He emphasized that the rapid expansion and increase in international partnerships, along with the outstanding achievements of universities like Samarkand State University, point to active sector growth. He added that further development will depend on strengthening the research potential, which must align with the country's international aspirations.
In the overall Asian ranking, the University of Hong Kong holds the first place, followed by Peking University in second place. Tsinghua University took third place, rising nine positions. Universities from Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia are in the top 20. Central Asia as a whole is represented by 99 universities from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
