Korea Times University Rankings focus on universities' internationalization capabilities
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Internationalization indicators account for 65% of total score
The Korea Times University Rankings 2027 focus on universities’ internationalization capabilities rather than their overall institutional strength.
Unlike comprehensive rankings such as QS and Times Higher Education (THE), which place greater emphasis on reputation and research, The Korea Times rankings evaluate the diverse resources and achievements of universities from an internationalization perspective.
Through the assessment, The Korea Times aims to help international students considering studying in Korea make informed choices and promote healthy competition among universities to strengthen their internationalization capabilities.
Differences in evaluation method
The Korea Times excluded the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) from its University Rankings, although both rank among Korea’s top universities in global rankings.
The exclusion was based on a comprehensive consideration of the number of international students, institutional size and regional balance among Korean universities.
In the QS World University Rankings, academic and employer reputation surveys account for 45 percent of the overall weighting, which can favor universities with strong brand recognition.
The Korea Times assessment does not use reputation surveys. Instead, it relies solely on verifiable quantitative data, including data from the Public Disclosure of University Information, research databases and results of official accreditation and certification programs.
As a result, universities that may have relatively lower name recognition than traditionally prestigious institutions but offer strong support and infrastructure for international students can stand out in the assessment.
In this year’s evaluation, for example, Woosong University ranked fourth in the education category with 48.53 points, while Handong Global University ranked second in the student support category with 26.80 points.
Unlike global comprehensive rankings, The Korea Times evaluation allocates 40 points, or 20 percent of the total score, to student support, including scholarships, dormitories, tuition and other financial support.
This approach directly measures the conditions that enable international students to continue their studies in Korea, while taking a broader view of the living and settlement conditions that support their academic experience.
Through this approach, The Korea Times aims to provide international students, as consumers of higher education, with direct information on how universities actually support and accommodate international students.
In the 2025 assessment, indicators that directly measure internationalization accounted for 63.2 percent of the total score. This was significantly higher than the corresponding shares in the QS World University Rankings (15 percent) and THE World University Rankings (7.5 percent).
This year, The Korea Times introduced a new indicator measuring the proportion of full-time international faculty, increasing the share of points allocated to direct internationalization indicators to 65 percent.
This reflects The Korea Times’ continued approach of viewing all four areas — education, research, student support and graduate outcomes — through the lens of internationalization.
The 2027 rankings covered 60 universities using 19 indicators across the four categories.
Universities were assessed on a 200-point scale, with 70 points allocated to education, 50 points to research, 40 points to student support and 40 points to graduate outcomes.
The Korea Times plans to expand the range of evaluation factors to include the proportion of English-language courses, tuition for international students and the employment rate of international graduates, further strengthening its assessment of internationalization at Korean universities.
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