South Korean universities’ fortunes were mixed as its top university saw its ranking drop in the Times Higher Education’s 2014 world university ranking, but the second-ranked university in the country climbed several steps.

Seoul National University slid to 50th from its previous 44th spot, ending its impressive streak of three straight years improving its standing, according to the annual report released Thursday. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, on the other hand, continued to rise to 52nd from 56th in 2014.

The California Institute of Technology retains its place at the top for the fourth consecutive year, with Harvard University also retaining its runner-up position. The University of Oxford, previously tied in second with Harvard, slid to third spot, while Stanford University and the University of Cambridge followed in fourth and fifth.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and UC Berkeley were respectively ranked sixth, seventh and eighth, and Imperial College London and Yale University were tied in ninth to complete the top 10.

The University of Tokyo maintained its place as the top-ranking Asian institute at 23rd.

Four Korean higher education institutes made the top 200 in 2014, but the members in the elite club changed slightly from the previous year.

Pohang University of Science and Technology stayed in the top 200, dropping to 66th from 60th, but former No. 190, Yonsei University, dropped out of the top 200 to the 201~225 group. Sungkyunkwan University, on the other hand, made an impressive surge from the 201~225 group to claim 148th spot.

Overall, Asia had 24 universities in the top 200, up from 20 last year.

Phil Baty, the editor of Times Higher Education World University Rankings, said there was much talk of a power shift from West to East.

“East Asia’s top universities continue their strong upward movement in the rankings, on the back of strong government financial support, strong leadership and a strong commitment to excellence in higher education and research,” he said.

In case of South Korea, Baty said it had another strong performance. “(South Korea) is increasingly looking likely to emerge in future as the strongest Asian nation for world class higher education,” he said.

View the full results and analysis at www.thewur.com.

By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)