Many non-'SKY' schools get high marks in THE's subject-based world rankings
Published: 22 Jan. 2026, 17:46
Updated: 27 Jan. 2026, 18:09
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- LEE TAE-HEE
- [email protected]
![Visitors crowd a university admissions information session held at the Seoul City Hall in Jung District, central Seoul, on Aug. 9, 2025. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/27/6e2e8ff1-ad30-498b-9726-9f42739bef65.jpg)
Visitors crowd a university admissions information session held at the Seoul City Hall in Jung District, central Seoul, on Aug. 9, 2025. [YONHAP]
When asked about which Korean universities are the best to study at, many would give the familiar answer of “SKY,” the famous acronym used to mean Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University.
While the three are indeed well-known, they are not the only options to consider when choosing a university.
Universities and other institutions can be ordered by specific academic fields, and one way students find this out is by looking at subject rankings.
Times Higher Education (THE) announced its World University Rankings by Subject 2026 on Wednesday, evaluating universities across 11 subject areas such as business and economics, arts and humanities and engineering.
A total of 1,497 universities in 109 countries were evaluated, with 41 Korean universities featured.
Like THE's comprehensive World University Rankings, the subject rankings uses the same five evaluation metrics: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry and international outlook.
However, there are weighting adjustments for each subject area. For the arts and humanities subject ranking, the teaching reputation indicator — part of the teaching metric — is given a 25.3 percent weighting compared to the indicator's 15 percent weighting for the comprehensive World University Rankings. For the engineering subject ranking, research reputation — part of the research environment metric — is given a 21 percent weight, compared to the World University Rankings giving it a 18 percent weighting.
STEM
![Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol visits KAIST's AI Factory Lab in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, on Sept. 19, 2025. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/27/86f283cd-d8b7-4b8a-b3c9-0849db0f437e.jpg)
Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol visits KAIST's AI Factory Lab in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, on Sept. 19, 2025. [YONHAP]
Among the 11 subject rankings, KAIST achieved the highest placement for a Korean university. It ranked 32nd globally in the computer science ranking and also 32nd in the engineering ranking.
In the computer science ranking, Seoul National University follows KAIST at 44th, Sungkyunkwan University at 78th and Yonsei University at 82nd. Korea University placed 91st as the fifth-highest Korean institution in that category.
For engineering, Seoul National University also followed at 38th. The third- to fifth-highest Korean institutions were tightly bunched with Yonsei University at 67th, Sungkyunkwan University at 68th and Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech) at 69th.
Sungkyunkwan University is high up on both the computer sciences and engineering rankings.
The university has six faculty named as Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate in 2025, with one of them being a computer science professor. It also opened its AI Semiconductor Innovation Center in November last year, conducting research on developing AI chips and creating industry-academia partnerships.
In life sciences, Seoul National University placed 55th as the highest-ranked Korean institution. KAIST followed at 78th, Yonsei University in the 101st to 125th range, Postech at the 126th and 150th range and Korea University at the 151st to 175th range.
Postech has several research facilities for life sciences, such as the Postech Biotech Center that conducts research on molecular medicine, plant biotechnology and nano biotechnology.
For physical science, Seoul National University placed 68th, with KAIST following at 72nd and Yonsei University at 99th. Korea University, Postech and Sungkyunkwan University were the fourth-highest Korean institutions, sitting in the 126th to 150th range, followed by Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (Unist) in the 176th to 200th range.
The research reputation indicator — which is part of the research environment metric — is given a heavier weighting in the physical science subject ranking, in which Unist stands out.
Unist had nine faculty named as Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate in 2025, coming second to Seoul National University which had 16 faculty on the list. Of Unist's nine Clarivate-recognized faculty, research faculty such as Prof. Rodney S. Ruoff, Prof. Seok Sang-il and Prof. Jeong Hu-young all have an emphasis on physical science research, including materials physics, physical chemistry and microscopy techniques.
Business and Economics
![Korea University Business School's Hyundai Motor Hall, used for classes [KOREA UNIVERSITY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/27/8a40e640-e330-4503-9ce4-c985a7f96412.jpg)
Korea University Business School's Hyundai Motor Hall, used for classes [KOREA UNIVERSITY]
Business and economics is another field where many Korean universities placed high, with Korea University being the highest-ranked Korean institution at 57th.
Seoul National University followed at 68th, Yonsei University was 79th and Sungkyunkwan University was listed 98th. Kyung Hee University ranked in the 126th to 150th range.
Korea University's Business School was given business accreditation from The Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business for its undergraduate, graduate and MBA programs. The six-year accreditation was first given in 2005, and has been renewed five times in a row.
International outlook is given a stronger weight in the business and economics ranking, with international student and international staff indicators given a weight of 3 percent, compared to 2.5 percent in THE's World University Rankings. Thirty-eight percent of the student body for Korea University's business and economics programs consists of international students, which is the highest percentage among Korean universities.
The university's business school is also the only Korean member of the Global Alliance in Management Education (CEMS). As a member, the school offers a one-year Master in Management program that allows students to spend one semester at Korea University and another at a CEMS partner business school abroad.
Humanities and social sciences
![KAIST celebrates the opening of the School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences on April 6, 2022. [KAIST]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/27/a185f332-3090-436c-a06e-4e700e907190.jpg)
KAIST celebrates the opening of the School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences on April 6, 2022. [KAIST]
For the Arts and Humanities subject ranking, Seoul National University is the highest-ranked Korean institution, sitting in the 151st to 175th range.
KAIST and Yonsei University followed in the 176th to 200th range, and Sungkyunkwan University came next in the 201st to 250th range. Four universities — Chung-Ang, Hanyang, Korea and Kyung Hee — are all in the 301st to 400th range, and Konkuk University is the fifth-highest ranked Korean institution, in the 401st to 500th range.
KAIST may seem like an engineering-focused university to many, but the university also offers various interdisciplinary programs in arts and humanities.
Through its School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences, the university teaches how to use data and AI to understand literature, art and culture. Its Center for Digital Humanities & Computational Social Sciences also conducts interdisciplinary research in humanities and hosts relevant symposia.
Likewise, while Konkuk University isn't a school often listed among Korea's top five, humanities is one area that it stands out in by going beyond traditional offerings.
One is the Convergence Department of Humanities and Mobility Studies, in which the school teaches about cultural shifts in a high-mobility era. It also created the Academy of Mobility Studies, a research center, after getting selected for the government's Humanities Korea+ program that funds humanities research in 2018.
For the social sciences ranking, Seoul National University and Yonsei University were Korea's highest-ranked universities, both in the 101st to 125th range.
Korea University and Sungkyunkwan University followed, in the 201st to 250th range. Chung-Ang University and Pusan National University then reached the 251st to 300th range, followed by Hanyang University, Kyung Hee University and Sejong University in the 301st to 400th range. Ewha Womans University and KAIST were in the 401st to 500th range.
Apart from Seoul National University, Pusan National University was the only national university among Korea's top five in THE's 11 subject rankings.
The university is part of Brain Korea 21, a government program that funds scholarships for master's and Ph.D. scholars participating in designated research projects. Of Pusan National University's 31 BK21 research projects, 11 are in social sciences.
For education studies, Seoul National University was highest among Korean universities at 50th, Korea University following at 90th and Yonsei University at 98th. Sungkyunkwan University then comes next in the 126th to 150th range, followed by Chung-Ang University in the 201st to 250th range.
Room for improvement
While a number of Korean universities can be found in many of THE's 11 subject rankings, there are some fields where very few Korean universities are to be found.
Law is one example.
Seoul National University the only Korean institution ranked in the subject, placing in the 151st to 175th range.
Psychology is another, although there are more entrants than the law subject ranking.
In psychology, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University and Yonsei University are all in the 101st to 125th range as the highest-ranked Korean universities. Ewha Womans University followed in the 176th to 200th range, Chung-Ang University was in the 251st to 300th range and Pusan National University was the fourth-highest in Korea, occupying the 401st to 500th range, with no Korean schools ranked after them.
BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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