Sixteen universities in Vietnam have been recognized in the 2025 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings - its highest representation ever - highlighting their efforts toward achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

THE Impact Rankings assess universities on how well they address the 17 SDGs, including quality education, gender equality, reducing inequality, and fostering global partnerships.

This year, over 2,500 universities from 130 countries and territories participated. Among them, Vietnam saw 16 institutions make the list.

The top-performing Vietnamese universities were FPT University, National Economics University, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, and University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, all ranked in the 301-400 tier.

Duy Tan University and Ton Duc Thang University were listed in the 401-600 tier. Van Lang University entered the 601-800 bracket, improving by 200 positions from last year. Hanoi University of Science and Technology and Vietnam National University, Hanoi were ranked in the 801-1,000 range.

Compared to last year, three more Vietnamese universities have been included in this year’s ranking.

Globally, Western Sydney University in Australia retained its top position for the fourth consecutive year, followed by the University of Manchester in the UK. Airlangga University in Indonesia ranked ninth, marking it as the most sustainable university from an emerging economy.

Asian universities made up more than half of the overall ranking, and eight countries or territories appeared for the first time in the 2025 edition.

THE calculates final scores using the following method: SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) is mandatory and carries a weight of 22%. This score is combined with the three highest-scoring SDGs from the remaining 16, each contributing 26% to the final score. Each SDG is evaluated based on research, outreach, community engagement, and education.

Thuy Nga