16 Pakistani Universities Named Among Asia’s Best

16 Pakistani universities have been named in the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings 2021 among 551 universities from 30 different countries.

Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) has made it to the top of all Pakistani universities followed by Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan and COMSATS University of Islamabad.

Below is the complete list.

Sr. No.	University	Ranking
1.	Quaid-i-Azam University	=100
2.	Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan	124
3.	COMSATS University Islamabad	171
4.	University of Peshawar	201–250
5.	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad	251-300
6.	Government College University Faisalabad	251-300
7.	Lahore University of Management Sciences	251-300
8.	National University of Sciences and Technology	251-300
9.	University of the Punjab	301-350
10.	Bahauddin Zakariya University	401+
11.	University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Lahore	401+
12.	Government College University Lahore	401+
13.	The Islamia University of Bahawalpur	401+
14.	PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi	401+
15.	University of Sargodha	401+
16.	University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore	401+

The Asia University Rankings use the same 13 performance indicators as the World University Rankings, but they are focused to highlight the top Asian institutions.

These universities have been ranked on the basis of teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.

China has occupied the top two spots while Japan remains the most-represented country on the Asia University Rankings for the second consecutive year.

With 3 universities, Hong Kong is the most-represented territory in the top 10 of Asia University Rankings 2021.

Here is a short account of Pakistan’s top three.

1. Quaid e Azam University Islamabad

Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to the study of postgraduate education but expanded through the 1980s to an interdisciplinary university offering undergraduate and postgraduate education. The university has, as of 2015, grown into the largest varsity in Islamabad with a total enrollment exceeding 13,000 students. The university is on a 1700 acres (or 6.9 km²) campus on the foothills of the Margalla.

Divided into four faculties and nine affiliated research institutes, QAU is among Pakistan’s largest and highest ranked public universities. In 2020, it was ranked between 510-520 overall whilst in Physics, Mathematics and agriculture departments ranked 225th, 225th and 125th respectively worldwide, in emerging economics it’s ranked below 100 which is probably a prestige, and also ranked 111th in Asia by the QS World University Rankings.

The university has intellectual interaction with international institutes, including the United Nations, University of Tokyo and the ICTP. 

2. Abdul Wali Khan University

The Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM) is a public university located in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Established in April 2009, the university is named after Abdul Wali Khan, a prominent personality of Pashtunkhwa and has forty nine institutions affiliated to it. The university started in an already-built postgraduate college of Mardan, has nine campuses and more than ten thousand students enrolled in thirty one disciplines as of 2015. The campus at Swabi was opened in October 2010 in the Anbar elementary college building and has since then become the University of Swabi and the Palosa campus is home to Bacha Khan University. 

Currently the university has five faculties and three constituent colleges. The faculties are Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Faculty of Chemical and Life Sciences, Faculty of Physical & Numerical Sciences, Faculty of Economics & Business, Faculty of Social Sciences. The Pashtunkhwa College of Art, Womans’ College and the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary College are also constituent colleges of the University.

3. COMSATS Islamabad

The COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), formerly known as COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), is a public university in Pakistan. It is a multi-campus university with its principal seat located in Islamabad. In the latest QS Subject Rankings 2021, Electrical and Chemical Engineering at COMSATS is ranked # 1 in Pakistan.

The university was established by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) in 1998, while its first charter was granted by the Government of Pakistan in August 2000. Palestine joined the COMSATS as its 23rd member state in October 2015.