As the number of universities increase around the world, institutes of higher education has entered a era of heated competition. Important issues include the "measurement" of education quality and academic excellence.

Tamkang University recently announced its "Academic Reputation Ranking in Taiwan," an annual survey conducted to evaluate the overall education quality of Taiwanese universities. In the 2008 ranking, NTHU topped the chart for achieving the highest academic reputation and academic competitive edge as well as the most outstanding university administrative operation. The period of this study stretched from December 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 with references made to rankings published by "American News and World reports," "Shanghai Jiaotong University" and "Times Higher Education Supplement." Also included in the evaluation were the study's results in 2007. One hundred and thirty-nine universities in Taiwan were evaluated in the study based on two categories: academic reputation survey (25%) and education statistics survey data (75%). The latter was further divided into subcategories, i.e. student structure (5%), faculty qualification (20%), financial resource (10%), research achievements (25%), enrollment rate (5%), graduation rate (5%) and internationalization (5%).

In retrospect, 2008 proved to be a fruitful year for NTHU in a number of university rankings and funding competitions. In February, NTHU made strides in the second special budget plan of Project of Promoting Academic Excellence for securing the most subsidies and achieving the highest increment in funds. In August, NTHU showed steady climb up nine notches to the 308^th place in Shanghai Jiaotong University's 2008 Academic Ranking of Universities in the World. Landing at 177^th place in faculty ratio, NTHU was the best in Taiwan and third in China and Taiwan. In October, NTHU even showed a greater advancement of 53 notches in The Times Higher Education Supplement's world university rankings. In terms of "citations per faculty," NTHU ranked second among universities from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, just behind Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Added with the recently published Tamkang University ranking, NTHU has indeed established itself as a top university in a wide range of aspects amidst fierce competition.

Topping a national ranking may not be as great an achievement as topping a world ranking. Striving for wider international recognition as well as maintaining our uniqueness shall be the most important goal for NTHU. With concerted effort by both faculty and students, NTHU is expected to build a solid foundation to enter the ranks of world-class universities and act as a leader in Taiwan's higher education.

Source:

1.	2007 Academic Reputation Ranking in Taiwan (Oct 2007), published by Education Evaluation Section, Center for Learning and Teaching, Tamkang University
2.	2008 Academic Reputation Ranking in Taiwan (Nov 2008), published by Education Evaluation Section, Center for Learning and Teaching, Tamkang University