What aspects do you take into account while selecting which institutions to apply to? Do you make decisions based on the university's global ranking?
You can use the world university rankings to learn more about your university and its reputation, even if it shouldn't be the sole determining factor.
In this article, you’ll find the most recent Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
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What is Times Higher Education Ranking?
The Times Higher Education magazine publishes the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE), a list of universities ranked annually. Since its implementation in 2010, the current approach for the rankings has been more rigorous, transparent, and resilient.
The process is founded on input gathered from specialists in the study abroad sector and expert consultations. It consists of a survey, an analysis of research papers, and their citations. The rankings for THE are among the world's most esteemed ranking lists.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings – Overview
- 1,904 institutions are ranked in 104 countries and regions by the 2025 THE Rankings. It presents itself as the most comprehensive and varied university rankings available.
- The University of Oxford, Stanford University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are the top three universities.
- The USA makes up the bulk of universities.
- India is now the fourth most-represented nation on the list with 91 institutions.
- Based on THE’s recently developed WUR 3.0 approach, the table evaluates an institution's performance in five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and worldwide outlook. It does so by utilising eighteen carefully calibrated performance indicators.
- Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 comprised survey responses from 68,402 researchers worldwide and analysed over 134 million citations from 16.5 million scholarly papers. They received data submissions from over 2,673 institutions, totalling 411,789 data points.
Also read: Universities with High Acceptance rate
Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025
| Rank | University | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | United States |
| 3 | Harvard University | United States |
| 4 | Princeton University | United States |
| 5 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom |
| 6 | Stanford University | United States |
| 7 | California Institute of Technology | United States |
| 8 | University of California, Berkeley | United States |
| 9 | Imperial College London | United Kingdom |
| 10 | Yale University | United States |
| 11 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland |
| 12 | Tsinghua University | China |
| 13 | Peking University | China |
| 14 | The University of Chicago | United States |
| 15 | University of Pennsylvania | United States |
| 16 | Johns Hopkins University | United States |
| 17 | National University of Singapore | Singapore |
| 18 | Columbia University | United States |
| 19 | University of California, Los Angeles | United States |
| 20 | Cornell University | United States |
| 21 | University of Toronto | Canada |
| 22 | UCL | United Kingdom |
| 23 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States |
| 24 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States |
| 25 | University of Washington | United States |
| 26 | Technical University of Munich | Germany |
| 27 | Duke University | United States |
| 28 | The University of Tokyo | Japan |
| 29 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
| 30 | Nanyang Technological University | Singapore |
| 31 | Northwestern University | United States |
| 32 | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne | Switzerland |
| 33 | New York University | United States |
| 34 | University of California, San Diego | United States |
| 35 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 36 | Fudan University | China |
| 37 | King’s College London | United Kingdom |
| 38 | LMU Munich | Germany |
| 39 | University of Melbourne | Australia |
| 40 | Georgia Institute of Technology | United States |
| 41 | University of British Columbia | Canada |
| 42 | Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris | France |
| 43 | KU Leuven | Belgium |
| 44 | The Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 45 | McGill University | Canada |
| 46 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | United States |
| 47 | Universität Heidelberg | Germany |
| 48 | Zhejiang University | China |
| 49 | Karolinska Institute | Sweden |
| 50 | London School of Economics and Political Science | United Kingdom |
| 51 | University of Texas at Austin | United States |
| 52 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China |
| 53 | University of Manchester | United Kingdom |
| 54 | University of Science and Technology of China | China |
| 55 | Kyoto University | Japan |
| 56 | Delft University of Technology | Netherlands |
| 57 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | United States |
| 58 | Brown University | United States |
| 59 | Monash University | Australia |
| 60 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| 61 | The University of Sydney | Australia |
| 62 | Seoul National University | South Korea |
| 63 | University of California, Davis | United States |
| 64 | Université Paris-Saclay | France |
| 65 | Nanjing University | China |
| 66 | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | Hong Kong |
| 67 | University of California, Santa Barbara | United States |
| 68 | Wageningen University & Research | Netherlands |
| 69 | Washington University in St Louis | United States |
| 70 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | United States |
| 71 | Institut Polytechnique de Paris | France |
| 72 | University of Southern California | United States |
| 73 | Australian National University | Australia |
| 74 | Leiden University | Netherlands |
| 75 | Boston University | United States |
| 76 | Sorbonne University | France |
| 77 | The University of Queensland | Australia |
| 78 | University of Bristol | United Kingdom |
| 79 | Purdue University West Lafayette | United States |
| 80 | City University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 81 | University of Groningen | Netherlands |
| 82 | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | South Korea |
| 83 | UNSW Sydney | Australia |
| 84 | Humboldt University of Berlin | Germany |
| 85 | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong |
| 86 | University of Massachusetts | United States |
| 87 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom |
| 88 | University of Minnesota | United States |
| 89 | University of Bonn | Germany |
| 90 | University of California, Irvine | United States |
| 91 | Vanderbilt University | United States |
| 92 | RWTH Aachen University | Germany |
| 93 | Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin | Germany |
| 94 | University of Birmingham | United Kingdom |
| 95 | KTH Royal Institute of Technology | Sweden |
| 96 | Lund University | Sweden |
| 97 | University of Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 98 | Emory University | United States |
| 99 | University of Sheffield | United Kingdom |
| 100 | Penn State (Main campus) | United States |
What is important to remember regarding the rankings list?
Before choosing to utilise the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 to direct your study abroad experience, keep the following points in mind:
- It is possible that the top-ranked schools aren't the best for all courses or evaluation standards. Seek the best universities in your chosen field of study.
- Choosing a university shouldn't be based solely on rankings.
- If you have been paying careful attention to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, you must be aware that the majority of the top 10 positions are consistently held by the same universities.
Not every institution is able to reach the top of the ranking. However, this does not imply that other universities are inferior.
Also Read: Top 100 Universities in the world | Top 10 Universities in the World
Times Higher Education World University Rankings provide a thorough picture of institutional performance and academic quality around the world. Use these rankings to find colleges that fit your academic objectives and aspirations as you start your educational journey.
Explore diverse study options and prestigious institutions with Edvoy, a trusted partner in connecting students with top-ranked universities worldwide. Take the next step towards your academic success and discover the world of opportunities awaiting you.
