Despite the flourishing of colleges in Indonesia of late, the growth of research institutions has remained slugglish. Results of a survey conducted by the Directorate of Research and Social Devotion (DPPM) in 2014 show that of the some 3,000 colleges under the DPPM, only 14 exhibited 'good performances' in terms of research.

To ascertain research performance, the directorate divided universities into four categories: independent, prime, average, and