Malaysia's top private universities: UTP, UNITEN, MMU and UNIKL

An alliance of four Malaysian government-linked universities (GLU) have established themselves as top institutions by consistently getting good national and international ratings.

Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Multimedia University (MMU) and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) are wholly owned by government-linked companies (GLC) and have made it into the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE) rankings, as well as been recognised by the Malaysia Research Assessment instrument (MyRA) and Rating System for Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (SETARA).

GLU, in a statement yesterday, said that UTP is ranked 70th in the QS Asia Rankings 2021, UNITEN is 168th, MMU is 190th and UniKL is in the 291st - 300th ranking band.

The four universities have also been ranked in the QS World University Rankings 2022 with UTP being ranked 414th, UNITEN in the 751st - 800th band, UniKL in the 800th - 1,000th band and MMU in the 1,001st - 1,200th band.

Meanwhile, in THE Asia University Rankings 2021, UTP is placed 111th, UNITEN is in the 201st - 250th band, while both UniKL and MMU are ranked 401st, the statement said.

In the recently announced THE Young University Rankings 2021 -- which lists the world's best universities that are 50 years old or younger - the Malaysian institutions maintained their strong position.

UTP is ranked 134th, UNITEN is in the 251st - 300th band, MMU is in the 351st - 400th band and UniKL is in the 401st band.

MyRA has also recognised the excellent performance of all the universities in research, development and commercialisation.

UTP became the only private university in Malaysia to receive a six-star rating, UNITEN achieved five stars, while MMU and UniKL got four stars.

In SETARA -- a rating instrument for teaching and learning -- UTP received six stars or outstanding status, while the other three universities got five stars or excellent status.

UTP vice chancellor cum GLU chairman, Prof Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib, said all the universities participated in various ranking and rating initiatives to establish themselves as reputable academic partners for tertiary education and credible research partners for industry.

"One of the objectives of the establishment of the GLU is to drive strategies for collaboration with regard to strengthening academic output, enhancing research, development and commercialisation efforts, whilst creating sustainable institutions which would be able to contribute towards the creation of knowledge, provide returns to industry and deliver impact to society.

"Together, the GLUs have vast potential to grow and become Malaysia's leading education group and a global education player," he said.

Prof Mohamed Ibrahim's remarks echoed the statement of other GLU council members, namely UNITEN vice chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Kamal Nasharuddin Mustapha; MMU president and chief executive officer, Prof Datuk Dr Mazliham Mohd Su'ud; and UniKL acting president and CEO, Prof Dr Shahrulniza Musa.

-- BERNAMA