AppliedHE Ranking Methodology
Specialized evaluation frameworks tailored to the unique strengths, missions, and student-focused outcomes of private higher education institutions.
ASEAN 2026 Private Methodology
Introduction
AppliedHE, a Singapore-based education technology company, has been compiling university rankings since 2021. AppliedHE compiles rankings with the aim of providing students, parents and other higher education stakeholders with an independent benchmark for comparing universities.
The development and compilation of all AppliedHE rankings is overseen by the independent AppliedHE Ranking Advisory Board (RAB).
For Universities
This document is intended for professional users working at universities. If you are a student, parent or other stakeholder, please visit AppliedHE.com for information about the rankings.
Ranking Scope
Institutions that meet the following criteria can be included in the AppliedHE ASEAN Rankings. Inclusion is based on the institution type and geographic location.
Public University
See Public University Methodology for criteria.
Private University
Institution of higher learning that is accredited as a private college or university under the laws of the country in which it is based and which awards its own Bachelor's and Master's degrees (or Master's degree if students can start after high school).
Excluded: Institutions only offering foreign degrees (e.g. foreign branch campuses), only offering Bachelor's degrees, or specialized graduate schools, such as business schools that only offer MBAs.
Geographical Scope (ASEAN)
| Classification | Description |
|---|---|
| Reporting | Universities that submit data and participate in surveys. They receive more accurate evaluations based on verified institutional data. |
| Non-Reporting | Universities included based on publicly available data or estimations. Due to the lower reliability of data, estimates or proxies that are exclusively from public sources, non-reporting universities are evaluated more conservatively and may be ranked slightly lower than reporting universities. |
| Partial Data | Institutions that submit partial data are classified as "non-reporting". |
Ranking Data
The rankings are compiled from institutional data, bibliometric data, statistical data, an online student survey, and a peer-nomination survey.
Bibliometric and statistical data are directly collected by AppliedHE. The online student survey and peer-nomination surveys are conducted in cooperation with reporting institutions. Institution-submitted data is subject to a randomized sample audit by AppliedHE.
Institutional Data
Institutions are evaluated based on the following data points. Submit the most recently available information (data up to 2-3 years old is acceptable if more recent data is unavailable).
| Data Point | Definition |
|---|---|
| Faculty | Total staff who are responsible for academic teaching or both academic teaching and research. |
| Students | Persons who are pursuing a degree at the university, either on a full-time or part-time basis and who have spent 3 months or more at the university. |
| International Faculty Ratio | Total faculty with foreign nationality who spend 3 or more months at the university divided by the total number of faculty. |
| International Student Ratio | Total students with foreign nationality who spend 3 or more months at the university divided by the total number of students. |
| Post-Graduate Employment Rate | Number of graduates who, within 6 months of graduation, are employed, self-employed, or pursuing further study (including preparation for exams) divided by the total number of students who responded to the tracer study. |
| Post-Graduate Employment Tracer Response Rate | Number of graduates who, within 6 months of graduation, are employed, self-employed, or pursuing further study (including preparation for exams) divided by the total number of graduates. |
Employment Data
Institutions should provide an alumni tracer study as evidence. This can be the same documents submitted to the relevant accreditation body or government department. The tracer study should be uploaded in full, and can be in the English language or the official language of the accrediting body or government department.
Note: Institutions unable to provide a tracer study, providing a tracer study that AppliedHE deems to be inadequate, or having an extremely low score on their tracer study (e.g. due to low response rates), will be assigned a minimum employability score based on the youth unemployment rate of their country.
AppliedHE reserves the right to share institutional data with third-parties for the purpose of verification.
Statistical Data
When specific employability data for institutions is unavailable, AppliedHE uses the most recent available national youth unemployment data published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on its website, ilostat.ilo.org.
Bibliometric Data
Bibliometric data for the ranking is gathered from three sources:
Google News (news.google.com)
The most recently completed 1-year period of news coverage is identified based on the name of the institution in one or more languages.
Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
The most recently completed 5-year period of publications and citations of researchers with profiles affiliated with the respective institution are collected. Researcher affiliation is identified based on the Google Scholar institution profile, and in the second instance, the university's official e-mail address.
Scopus
Indexed publications and citations are used to measure research output and impact.
Student Survey
To gauge students' perspectives, reporting institutions can run the AppliedHE Student Survey. This is a multilingual online survey which institutions must distribute to their entire student body. The survey is a 'standard' student satisfaction survey that is benchmarked based on major international surveys such as the UK's National Student Survey (NSS).
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Minimum Response Rate | 40% of the student body or 350 responses, whichever is lower. |
| Survey Sample | Available at: AppliedHE Student Survey Demo |
| Validation | AppliedHE uses a proprietary algorithm to validate survey responses to avoid survey manipulation. AppliedHE reserves the right to exclude institutions from the ranking if student survey responses appear to be unreliable. |
| Alternative Surveys | Currently, AppliedHE does not allow the use of alternative student satisfaction surveys. However, AppliedHE will share anonymized survey responses with participating universities. |
Peer-Nomination Survey
Every reporting institution should nominate between 7-12 public universities and 7-12 private universities within the ALL-ASIA region which they hold in high regard. The liaison of the institution will receive a single invitation to participate in the Peer-Nomination Survey after the student surveys have been completed. Completing the survey is mandatory for reporting universities.
Ranking Calculation
This section outlines how the AppliedHE ASEAN rankings are calculated using the ranking data stated in the previous section.
Note on Log-Normalization
To ensure that extreme values of indicators do not have an outsized influence on the ranking results, a log-normalization is applied to the following indicators: Google Scholar citations per paper, citations per faculty, and institutional reputation.
ASEAN Private Universities
| Criteria | Weight | Reporting Institutions | Non-Reporting Institutions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching & Learning | 40% | ||
| └ AppliedHE Student Survey 20% Student satisfaction based on AppliedHE survey | Lowest student survey scores of reporting universities | ||
| └ Faculty to Student Ratio 20% Based on institution-submitted data | Based on publicly available data or estimates | ||
| Employability | 20% |
6-months post-graduation (self) employment or further study based on institution-submitted report
(10% per total graduates and 10% per total survey respondents) | Discounted national youth employment rate based on the youth unemployment rate; e.g., 1.5× 10% youth unemployment rate = 85% employability rate |
| Community Engagement | 10% | ||
| └ Google News Reports 5% News coverage in the past year | Same as Reporting | ||
| └ AppliedHE Student Survey 5% Community engagement questions from survey | Lowest student survey score of reporting universities | ||
| Research | 10% | └ Google Scholar Citations per Paper (5 years) 10% Citations per paper from Google Scholar | Same as Reporting |
| Institutional Reputation | 10% | AppliedHE Peer-Nomination Survey 10% | Same as Reporting |
| Internationalization | 10% | ||
| └ International Student Ratio 5% Based on institution-submitted data | Based on publicly available data or estimates | ||
| └ International Faculty Ratio 5% Based on institution-submitted data | Based on publicly available data or estimates | ||
| Total | 100% | ||
Submitting Data
Institutions intending to submit data for the ASEAN rankings should follow the timeline below.
Timeline
Registration & Data Submission
Register your liaison person and submit institutional data via vault.AppliedHE.com
Deadline: 1 September 2025
Student Survey Distribution
Distribute the Student Survey to your entire student body (link sent via email after Step 1)
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Peer-Nomination Survey
Peer-Nomination Survey invitation sent to liaison person
Around 1st week of September 2025
Results Announcement
Ranking results announcement
November or December 2025
Data Submission Checklist
| # | Data Required |
|---|---|
|
1
| Institution Name Name used by your institution for English-speaking international audiences |
|
2
| Location Confirmation that your institution is located in one of the participating countries |
|
3
| Institution Type Confirmation that your institution qualifies as a "university" – provides Bachelor- and Master-level courses, awards its own Degrees and Diplomas, and is recognized by the government as a locally accredited public or private institution of higher learning |
|
4
| Contact Person Official liaison with name, designation, email address, and telephone number |
|
5
| Institution Logo PNG, GIF, JPG, or JPEG format (maximum size 5 MB) and link to official English-language website |
|
6
| Faculty & Students Faculty, international faculty, students, and international student numbers based on ranking definitions |
|
7
| Graduate Outcomes Employment and further studies after 6 months with evidence from an official graduate tracer study |
|
8
| Institution Name (Other Languages) Name of institution in languages other than English for tracking online presence |
|
9
| Web Domain Institution's official web domain (used for faculty email) |
|
10
| Google Scholar Profile Link to the institution's official Google Scholar profile (if available) |
Ready to participate?
Access AppliedHE VaultFurther Information
If you have questions about the ASEAN ranking process, please contact the AppliedHE Ranking Team:
AppliedHE ASEAN University Rankings
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