The universities included in the QS Asia University Ranking 2021, compiled by British higher education analysis firm QS (Quacquarelli Symonds), are the Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE), the Industrial University of HCMC (IUH), and the University of Economics HCMC (UEH).

Announcing the list Wednesday, the firm said that the Hanoi school is placed in the 551-600 rank group, and both the HCMC schools in the 601+ group.

The eight other Vietnamese candidates on the list are: the Vietnam National University HCMC (VNU-HCM), the Vietnam National University in Hanoi, the Ton Duc Thang University, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the Duy Tan University, the Hue University, the University of Da Nang, and the Can Tho University.

Three of the eight universities have improved their rankings from last year. The Ton Duc Thang University has jumped 44 places to rank 163, the Duy Tan University is now in the 351-400 group, up from 451-500, and the Hue University has moved up to 401-450 from 451-500.

Four have slipped: the Vietnam National University in HCMC by 15 places to rank 158, the Vietnam National University in Hanoi by 13 places to 160, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology from the 261-270 group to 301-350 and the Can Tho University from the 401-450 group to 451-500.

The University of Da Nang retains position in the 401-450 group from last year.

The QS Asia 2021 rankings are based on 11 criteria: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, international research network, citations per paper and papers per faculty, staff with PhD degrees, proportion of international faculty and proportion of international students.

This year, it has ranked 650 institutions in Asia, making it the biggest Asia ranking published by the firm.