QS university rankings expose regional disparities in Pakistan's higher education

LAHORE: Eighteen Pakistani universities have secured places in the QS World University Rankings 2027, with Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) retaining its status as the country’s highest-ranked institution despite slipping in the global standings but no university managed to break into the world’s top 350. The latest rankings, released by UK-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), showed mixed performance of the Pakistani institutions with QAU as well as the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) registering slight declines while the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) posted improvement to emerge as the country’s third-highest ranked university. According to the rankings, QAU fell to joint 381 place from 354 last year while NUST slipped to 384 position from 371. However, the PIEAS staged a remarkable recovery, climbing from the 721-730 band in the previous edition to joint 560 place globally. The University of the Punjab was ranked 588, followed by Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) at 608, University of Agriculture Faisalabad at 629th, COMSATS University Islamabad at 639th and Government College University Faisalabad at 691th. Punjab, Islamabad dominate while other regions lag behind The University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore was placed in the 791-800 band, while the Aga Khan University and the University of Peshawar were ranked in the 951-1000 bracket. The University of Lahore secured a place in the 1001-1200 band, whereas the University of Karachi, Bahauddin Zakariya University, International Islamic University Islamabad, Riphah International University and the University of Management and Technology were all ranked in the 1201-1400 category. The Islamia University of Bahawalpur was placed in the 1401+ group. The latest rankings also highlighted regional disparities in the country’s higher education landscape. Punjab and Islamabad continued to dominate the list, while Sindh managed to secure representati