EduAsiaNews, Islamabad — A total of 35 Pakistani universities have secured places in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026, an achievement that reflects the gradual progress of the country’s higher education sector on the global academic stage. Of that number, 31 are public institutions and four are private — a composition that underscores the central role of government universities in driving research productivity and international reputation. The figures were reported by Shafaqna Pakistan, citing official QS data.
The National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) and Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), both based in Islamabad, emerged as the country’s top performers in the rankings. NUST excelled in Engineering & Technology and Computer Science, while QAU posted strong results in Natural Sciences, placing within the world’s top 201–250 in that field. Overall, Pakistani universities recorded approximately 180 subject entries, with agriculture and forestry standing out as a key national strength — at least one institution broke into the world’s top 200 in that category, as noted by Shafaqna Pakistan.
Yet behind the encouraging figures, geographic disparity remains an unresolved challenge. According to The Express Tribune, the highest-ranked institutions are still concentrated in Islamabad and Lahore, while universities in Peshawar, Multan, and Bahawalpur are only beginning to gain ground gradually. This pattern is seen as a reflection of the uneven distribution of academic resources and research infrastructure across Pakistan’s regions.
Education experts are calling for concrete steps to narrow that gap. Shanza Khan, a Harvard alumna and founder of a university counseling firm, stressed that geographic location need not be a barrier. “Universities outside major cities can improve by building a few deep international partnerships, increasing co-authored research, and developing niche expertise instead of competing broadly,” she told The Express Tribune. She added that strategic investment in faculty development and global networking is key to bridging the regional divide.
Deeper structural challenges were also highlighted. Higher education observer Nauman Rehman warned that many public universities lack dedicated offices for partnerships and career services, hampering international collaboration, student exchange, and employer engagement. “The government and its development partners need to make it easier for researchers to approach industry and public institutions by creating systems where data can be accessed through an online portal at nominal cost, enabling meaningful research collaborations,” Rehman said, as quoted by The Express Tribune. Without such systemic reforms, Pakistan’s rise on the global academic map is likely to remain a slow and uneven journey. (**)
(Sources: Shafaqna Pakistan, The Express Tribune)
