Top 10 Best Universities in South Korea (Newly Updated)

 

South Korea is recognized as one of the four “Asian tiger” economies, with an economy based on its fast-growing education, technology and tourism sectors. More and more students are choosing to study in South Korea, and the country has recently seen dramatic increases in foreign enrolments.

The first ever edition of the QS South Korea University Rankings, part of our new rankings by location series. Each institution was ranked based on 11 indicators, including academic and employer reputation, Staff with a PhD, citations per faculty and more.

This article reveals the 10 highest-ranked universities in South Korea, and read more about studying in South Korea with our guide.

 

List of Top 10 Best Universities in South Korea

1. Seoul National University

2. KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology

3. Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)

4. Korea University

5. Yonsei University

6. Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)

7. Sogang University

8. Ewha Womans University

9. Kyung Hee University

10. Hanyang University

Also read: Top 10 Most Educated States in Nigeria (2022)

1. Seoul National University

Seoul National University was founded in 1946. The South Korean national university’s main location is the Gwanak campus in the city of Seoul. It also has a medical campus and a campus for agricultural education and research. Tuition costs are the same for domestic and international students and vary by subject area.

Many of the university’s international students receive support from various types of scholarships that cover some or all of their tuition costs. International students can also participate in a work-study program in which they work on campus for 40-60 hours a month.

University housing is available for both undergraduate and graduate students. The university has 16 colleges for undergraduates, a graduate school that offers numerous masters and doctoral programs and 10 professional schools. 

The professional schools offer studies in business, environmental studies, convergence science and technology, dentistry, international agriculture technology, international studies, law, medicine, public administration and public health.

The primary language of instruction at Seoul National University is Korean, though somewhere between 10 to 20 percent of university courses are English-taught. The colleges of engineering and business have the highest proportion of courses taught in English. Nearly all of the school's faculty members – around 95 percent – have doctoral degrees.

The university’s academic calendar is semester-based with the school year beginning in March. The university’s research organizations include the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies and the Big Data Institute.

Seoul National University is ranked 130 in Best Global Universities. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence.

2. KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology

Concluding our look at the top universities in South Korea, KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, located in the research and technology hub of Daejeon, is the number one university in South Korea according to the new ranking, and was also placed 40^th in the world university rankings.

Established in 1971 as the nation’s first research-orientated science and technology institution, KAIST achieved some of its highest scores in the papers per faculty and citations per faculty member indicators.

Though it’s mainly based within the Daedeok Innopolis, a cluster of high-tech research institutes, government agencies and venture businesses, KAIST also has a campus in capital city Seoul, which is home to its business school.

KAIST is internationally ranked for 13 subjects and achieves top-100 positions for each field, with particularly high scores for materials sciences, several branches of engineering, and computer science.

Although KAIST is ranked lower than Seoul National University in the QS World University Rankings 2019, it is ranked first in the QS South Korea University Rankings due to the differing methodologies used to compile the rankings.

 

3. Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)

Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) is ranked fourth in the South Korea rankings and joint 100^th in the world, and is the oldest university in the country, with roots going back to 1398 when it was opened by royal decree during the Joseon Dynasty.

SKKU boasts a longstanding collaboration with industry leader Samsung, and is currently in the process of implementing ‘Vision 2020’, a scheme aiming to, among other things, mean that SKKU will produce creative global leaders and world-class research to contribute to the good of the country and society.

SKKU is currently ranked in the global top 50 of the subject rankings for mechanical engineering, library & information management and materials sciences.

 

4. Korea University

Coming third in the South Korea location ranking and 86^th in the world, Korea University (KU) was founded in 1905 and currently has around 37,000 students enrolled on two campuses.  It was ranked number one in the country for its international research network, and also came second for its proportion of international students, with around 11 percent of students coming from outside the country.

Korea University currently ranks among the world best for 33 subjects, boasting positions in the global top 50 for accounting & finance, business & management, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, modern languages, politics and social policy & administration.

 

5. Yonsei University

Yonsei University is ranked fifth in this year’s South Korea rankings and 107^th in the world, earning a perfect score for its proportion of inbound exchange students.

Yonsei was established in 1885, making it one of the oldest universities in the country, and it now has around 38,569 students enrolled and its main campus in Seoul and secondary campus in Wonju, including 4,647 international students.

Looking at the most recent rankings by subject, Yonsei was placed in the global top 50 for three subjects: dentistry, hospitality & leisure management, and social policy & administration.

 

6. Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)

Ranked sixth among the top universities in South Korea and joint 83^rd in the world, Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH) does particularly well in the indicators measuring research productivity and impact (papers per faculty and citations per paper).

POSTECH’s 400-acre campus, located on the outskirts of the city of Pohang, was the first bilingual campus in South Korea and includes numerous state-of-the-art facilities such as the Tae-Joon Park Digital Library, a 25,000-square meter building with a collection of over 355,000 books.

7. Sogang University

Ranked 10^th in South Korea and joint 435^th in the QS World University Rankings 2019, Sogang University is one of the leading research and liberal arts universities in South Korea, established in 1960 by the Society of Jesus. Located in capital city Seoul, Sogang gets its highest score in the South Korea rankings for the employer reputation category.  

As well as almost a third of courses at its graduate school being taught in English, Sogang offers numerous scholarships to both currently enrolled and new international students.

 

8. Ewha Womans University

Ewha Womans University, as its name suggests, is a private women’s university, also located in Seoul, which is ranked ninth in the country and joint 319^th in the world according to the latest rankings.

Established in 1886 by a Methodist missionary, the use of ‘Womans’ in Ewha’s name carries special meaning, as it’s meant to emphasize the high respect the university has for the uniqueness and individuality of each student. Ewha is now the largest women’s university in the world, with 22,600 students enrolled.

 

9. Kyung Hee University

Ranked eighth in South Korea and joint 264^th in the world, Kyung Hee University achieves perfect scores for both of the indicators measuring its proportions of inbound and outbound exchange students, and it also gets a very high score for the international student’s indicator, showing that internationization is certainly one of Kyung Hee’s strengths.

Considered one of the most prestigious private universities in the country, Kyung Hee also featured in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018 as a top-150 university for hospitality, development studies, modern languages and linguistics.

 

10. Hanyang University

Hanyang University, also located in Seoul, is ranked seventh in the South Korea ranking and joint 151^st in the world university rankings. As well as its main campus in Seoul, Hanyang also operates the ‘ERICA’ (Education Research Industry Cluster at Ansan) campus in Ansan in the Gyeonggi-Do province. Home to nine colleges and 42 departments, the ERICA campus is recognized as a leading school for industry cooperation, employability and start-up support.

Hanyang was ranked among the world best for 28 fields in the latest subject rankings, including the top 100 for civil engineering, architecture, business, chemistry, materials sciences. Sports-related subjects and pharmacy.

Also read: Definition, Scope, Nature of Agricultural Economics