Universiti Malaya achieved its highest-ever ranking in the QS World University Rankings, jumping up 17 spots to 70th.

UM attained an overall score of 67.1, which takes into account six criteria – academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty students, citations per faculty, international faculty and international students.

The university has been steadily going up the charts since 2014, when it was ranked 167th.

The next highest ranked Malaysian university on the list was Universiti Putra Malaysia at 159th.

According to publishers QS, the results were based on rigorous analysis of insights from 94,000 academicians and 44,000 hiring managers, 11.8 million research papers, 100 million citations, and trends in the distribution of 23 million students and nearly two million faculties.

This year’s list saw the Massachusetts Institute of Technology top the list again, which it has consistently done since 2012.