Yogyakarta, 2 December 2025 — LLDIKTI Region V hosted the Leapfrogging Awards 2025 as part of the 2025 Leapfrogging Program Implementation Evaluation, a strategic initiative designed to accelerate quality improvement among private higher education institutions (PHEIs) in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The event took place on Tuesday, 2 December 2025, at The Malioboro Hotel & Conference Center, and was attended by the Director of Institutional Affairs of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek), PHEI leaders, PHEI associations, quality assurance units, partnership offices, PPKPT task forces, and representatives of LLDIKTI Region V.

In his remarks, Prof. Dr. Mukhamad Najib, S.TP., M.M., Director of Institutional Affairs at Kemdiktisaintek, emphasized that Leapfrogging is a proven collaboration model for accelerating quality advancement. He noted that cooperation and competition should naturally coexist to generate shared progress. He praised the Leapfrogging initiative led by LLDIKTI Region V as a national best practice, as it encourages private universities to “compete in doing good” while strengthening one another. According to him, cross-university synergy is essential to enhance national competencies and reinforce the resilience of Indonesia’s higher education ecosystem.

The Head of LLDIKTI Region V, Prof. Setyabudi Indartono, M.M., Ph.D., presented key progress from one year of Leapfrogging implementation. A total of 99 private universities have signed a collective commitment, resulting in 192 MoAs and 204 IAs, and enabling concrete collaboration through faculty sharing, shared laboratory use, joint publications, research initiatives, and cross-campus seminars and conferences. He also highlighted that the number of study programs with “Excellent” (Unggul) accreditation has increased to 216 programs, even as the total number of study programs grew to 960 due to new program openings across many institutions.

Prof. Setyabudi stressed that private universities in Yogyakarta are now operating within a more equitable and open ecosystem. Through resource-sharing via Destarata, all private universities are gaining equal access to experts, laboratories, and learning facilities. “No institution moves forward alone. We advance together as ‘Dulur Lima’—progressing collectively, not competing to defeat one another,” he stated. He also underlined the regional commitment to a national target: 51.15% of study programs achieving “Excellent” accreditation by 2028, in line with joint commitments from private university leaders.

Private universities’ contributions have become increasingly visible through faster accreditation progress, stronger academic performance among lecturers, and research collaboration aligned with local needs. Research partnerships with five local governments in the Special Region of Yogyakarta generated more than 300 research ideas in Kulon Progo, 147 in Sleman, and 32 in Yogyakarta City, which were subsequently developed into over 100 research proposals. This approach positions private universities as strategic partners in addressing public challenges and advancing research downstreaming and utilization.

As recognition for these achievements, LLDIKTI Region V conferred the Leapfrogging Awards 2025 across 11 categories, including study program quality improvement, management of academic functional positions, governance of PPKPT initiatives, and joint-resources partnerships. Awards were granted to institutions demonstrating significant progress throughout the year, based on indicators such as accreditation performance, lecturer achievements, and the implementation of inter-university collaboration.

In the “Study Program Quality Improvement” category, Universitas Teknologi Yogyakarta, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, and Universitas PGRI Yogyakarta were named the top three institutions in the university-and-institute cluster. For the management of academic functional positions (excellent cluster), awards were given to Universitas Islam Indonesia, Universitas PGRI Yogyakarta, and Universitas Ahmad Dahlan. Meanwhile, in the joint-resources partnership (university-and-institute cluster) category, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana, Universitas AKPRIND Indonesia, and Universitas Teknologi Yogyakarta received recognition.

The event further reinforced LLDIKTI Region V’s role as a progressive and adaptive region driving higher education transformation. The Leapfrogging Program is recognized not only for accelerating accreditation outcomes, but also for building a sustainable culture of quality, strengthening academic staff capacity, expanding cross-campus collaboration, and producing research grounded in regional priorities.

Prof. Najib concluded by expressing strong appreciation for the progress of private universities in Yogyakarta. He described the event as a transformational moment that encourages all private institutions to continuously strengthen capacity and quality collectively, and highlighted LLDIKTI Region V as a role model for other regions.

Through collaboration, commitment, and the courage to leap forward, LLDIKTI Region V and private universities across Yogyakarta are demonstrating that accelerating higher education quality is not merely a performance target—but a collective movement toward a future of higher education that is excellent, relevant, and impactful for society.

Download the event materials HERE
Watch the Leapfrogging Awards Ceremony replay