MELBOURNE, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The University of Melbourne has once again been rated as the top educational institution in Australia, according to a prestigious global rankings survey.
Six Australian universities are among the top 100 of the Times Higher Education world university rankings, released on Thursday, but it came with a warning that the rise of Asian universities could threaten Australia's position.
The University of Melbourne retained its ranking at 33rd overall and was joined by the Australian National University (No.47), the University of Queensland and University of Sydney (equal 60), Monash University (74) and the University of New South Wales (78) in the top 100.
"In general, Australia's leading universities produce highly influential research and are successful at both attracting top international talent and collaborating with scholars from across the world," Phil Baty, editor of the list, told News Limited on Thursday.
However, Baty warned that Australia needed to be aware of the "higher education superpower" that was Asia.
Four universities from China's Hong Kong, South Korea and China made the top 200 for the first time this year while China also had two institutions in the top 40.
"Australia's success at the top of the rankings cannot be guaranteed in the long-term while more of Asia's leading universities soar to join the world elite," Baty told Fairfax Media on Thursday.
Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Margaret Sheil, said the rankings were important because they helped attract international students.
"It is wonderful that all that effort is reflected in Melbourne being consistently rated as one of the finest institutions in the world," Sheil told Fairfax.
Universities were ranked on 13 criteria including citations, industry outcome, teaching and international outlook.
Only five percent of all universities worldwide made the list of 980, with the United Kingdom's Oxford University coming in at No.1.
Simon Birmingham, Australia's Education Minister, said he hoped the list would promote talk about higher education reforms.
"The latest Times Higher Education rankings highlight the increasing competitiveness of universities in our region and the need for Australia to continue to foster innovation and excellence," Birmingham told Fairfax.
