Between Oxford and Yale: NUS graduates ranked 9th most sought-after by global employers

For the fourth year in a row, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has kept its position within the Top 10 in Global Employability University Ranking and Survey conducted by a French HR consultancy Emerging and Times Higher Education.

Dropping in ranking from 8th in 2023 to 9th for 2024, NUS landed between two global heavyweights: University of Oxford and Yale. In Asia, it was outscored by only the University of Tokyo, in 7th place.

Top 20 universities for global employability of their graduates.

We are pleased that NUS graduates are among the most sought-after by employers in Singapore and internationally. The transformative education at NUS, embodying academic rigour, experiential learning, global exposure and real-world relevance, has strongly equipped our graduates with robust employment prospects.

– Professor Aaron Thean, NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost

The survey itself appears to be very thorough, with schools assessed on 35 different categories across six employability drivers: academic excellence, specialisation, graduate skills, focus on work expertise, social impact and leadership, and internationality.

In this year’s edition, 100,700 votes have been collected, covering 11,560 employers across 21 countries, who are expected to collectively employ approximately 800,000 graduates globally in the 2023/24 period.

Responsible globalisation

NUS’ high position is a reflection of a broader trend seeing schools in emerging countries rising to the top.

10 years ago, the ranking was dominated by universities from US and UK, which took up 58 per cent of the spots. Today, it’s only 27.5 per cent — though they are still dominant at the very top, with 12 out of Top 20, or 60 per cent of the entries.

Skills most desired by employers are quite predictable, with high demand for graduates with team collaboration, social impact and leadership traits, as well as technical proficiency — with 40 per cent of the Top 50 spots taken this year by tech schools.

The research shows the key skills employers are increasingly looking for, and this year, it’s fascinating to see social impact and leadership as the key skill they’re looking for. It shows how employers want graduates who can make a significant contribution not only to their company, but also to the wider community and the country too.

– Seeta Bhardwa, Editor, THE Student

To that end, NUS keeps enhancing its service offering to students, having opened Singapore’s first honours college earlier this year, offering its third interdisciplinary programme in addition to Humanities & Sciences, and Design & Engineering, covering an entire spectrum of academic endeavours.