An article in University World News by Kafil Yamin reports that Indonesia is actively seeking to enhance the status and international presence of its universities.
The country’s education minister has stated that it is actively supporting public and private universities to achieve world class status. There have been concerns about the quality of Indonesian research and higher education and so far only three universities are considered to have reached world class status: Universitas Indonesia (UI), Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and Gadjah Mada University (UGM). These are ranked in the top 300 of the QS World University Rankings.
It might be noted that none of these are included in the Shanghai Rankings or inthe top 1000 universities for publications in Leiden Ranking.
All three universities have set targets for improving the quality of research and their performance in the global rankings. ITB, for example, has announced in its five-year plan that it is aiming for top 200 status.
Other institutions, including some Islamic universities, have also declared that they intend to improve their international standing. Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University Bandung (UIN SGD Bandung) aspires to become a top university in Southeast Asia.
Some Indonesian universities have also performed well in the ASEAN rankings published by Singapore-based AppliedHE. Bina Nusantara University is ranked sixth in the 2024 ranking of private Southeast Asian universities and Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) is third in the ranking of public universities.
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