HEC tells NA panel Pakistani universities rise in global rankings
Chairman Niaz Ahmad Akhtar said QS Asia now lists 83 Pakistani institutions against 29 in 2020, and 22 sit in the THE world top 1,000.
Eighty-three Pakistani universities now appear in the QS Asia University Rankings, against 29 in 2020, the Higher Education Commission told a National Assembly committee on Tuesday, with its chairman naming funding as the sector's main constraint.
HEC Chairman Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar gave the figures to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training at its 27th meeting, held at the HEC Secretariat in Islamabad.
He said Pakistani representation in the Times Higher Education Asia Rankings rose to 48 in the 2026 edition from 14 in 2020. In the THE World University Rankings the count went from 14 in 2020 to 56 in the 2027 edition, and in the QS World University Rankings from seven in 2020 to 18 for 2027.
Two Pakistani universities hold places in the top 500 of the QS World University Rankings 2027 and 12 are in the top 1,000. In the THE World University Rankings 2026, 22 Pakistani institutions are among the top 1,000 globally.
Akhtar told the committee HEC treats the rankings as a measure of global visibility, academic reputation, research performance, graduate employability and international engagement. He said the objective was not ranking positions alone but sustained improvement in academic quality, institutional performance and international competitiveness.
He said the sector holds considerable human resource potential, but that financial constraints remain a major challenge.
HEC has formed a committee on international university rankings to build a coordinated national approach, familiarise institutions with ranking methodologies and help them identify performance gaps and priorities. Around 20 task forces have been set up to examine priority areas and submit recommendations.
The chairman listed policy work under way on undergraduate education, transnational education, liberal arts education, dual, double and joint degree programmes, computing education, curriculum transformation and the integration of artificial intelligence into academic programmes.
He also set out HEC's scholarship and partnership programmes, including the Pak-US Knowledge Corridor, Fulbright, DAAD, the Quaid-i-Azam Memorial Scholarships and the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme. He referred to the Allama Iqbal Scholarships for international students, academic partnerships with Chinese institutions and technology companies, and the HEC Global Scholar Network Portal, set up to connect Pakistani scholars abroad with academics and researchers in Pakistan.
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