ABSTRACT: This study aims to explore the cooperation strategy carried out by Islamic Religious Universities in Indonesia. A new trend that has become a benchmark for university quality standards at the international level is the ranking of World-class Universities. This measurement standard is seen from various aspects and perspectives of the university, including the reputation achieved. This trend brings two effects that are sure to occur, namely competition to be the best, and continuous quality improvement. However, many state universities (PTN), and private and religious universities tend to ignore and find it difficult to develop superior rankings at the national and international levels. The research method used was a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques with interviews and documents. The object of his research was five State Islamic Religious Universities (PTKIN) and State Universities (PTN), including the International Office (IO) of Universitas Islam Indonesia Yogyakarta, UIN Walisongo Semarang, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, and Universitas Negeri Lampung. The results of the study show that the management of internationalization programs within the State Islamic University has obstacles, namely the lack of budgeting to finance student mobility, lecturer exchanges, and international collaborative research. Access to international cooperation has not been carried out at the institutional level and is still dominated by individual start-ups through alumni who study abroad. In the future, adequate budget access is needed and continuously developed between institutions.

KEYWORDS: Domination, Internationalization, Strategy Competition, and State Islamic Religious Universities (PTKIN) and State Universities (PTN).