Vietnam hits all-time high with 11 universities named in 2026 global ranking

Leading the pack is the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, ranked in the 501–600 band, the highest position for any Vietnamese institution this year. Following close behind are Duy Tan University and Ton Duc Thang University, both placed in the 601–800 range.

Two newcomers are Nguyen Tat Thanh University in the 1001–1200 group and the University of Da Nang in the 1501+ tier.

The nine other Vietnamese universities maintained their positions from last year's list.

The THE rankings are based on 18 indicators across five pillars, with research quality carrying the greatest weight (30%), followed by teaching quality (29.5%), research environment (29%), international outlook (7.5%), and industry income and patents (4%).

For 2026, THE evaluated nearly 2,200 universities from 115 countries and territories. The U.S. and the U.K. continued to dominate the global top 10.

Times Higher Education is one of the world's four most influential university ranking organizations, alongside QS, ARWU and US News. Its World University Rankings have been published annually since 2011.

Vietnam has set ambitions goals to push its universities up in global rankings.

The country plans to channel major resources to bring four universities -- Vietnam National University Hanoi, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, and the University of Da Nang -- into Asia's top 150 by 2030, according to a Sept. 30 directive by the Central Steering Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation.

The education ministry has also been assigned to draft a proposal to develop 3–5 elite universities based on world-class research models by 2027.

By 2030, Vietnam aims to have 15–20 reputable public universities known for their research and application strengths, especially in priority technologies and frontier sciences