World university rankings 2025: Top 10 globally
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 highlights the top 10 countries globally based on the number of institutions in the top 200
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 highlights the top 10 countries globally based on the number of institutions in the top 200.
The University of Oxford has retained the number one spot in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for a ninth year in a row, but the reputation of the wider UK sector is rapidly eroding, with a similar trend seen in the US.
The United States leads with 55 universities, followed by the United Kingdom with 25 and Germany with 20.
China has 13 institutions, while the Netherlands has 11. Other countries in the list include Australia, Canada, South Korea, Switzerland, and France.
The top-ranked institutions from these countries are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Oxford, the Technical University of Munich, and others, demonstrating global excellence in higher education and research.
Oxford’s reign is now the longest in the history of the league table, beating Harvard’s eight-year stint which ended in 2011.
The institution’s performance has been bolstered by significant improvements in its income from industry and the number of patents that cite its research, as well as its teaching scores.
Compared with other institutions in the top five, Oxford’s international outlook – particularly its proportion of international students and international co-authorship – makes it stand out.
Across the Atlantic, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is now the US’ highest-ranked university, in second place globally, its best-ever performance. It replaces Stanford University, which has dropped from second to sixth, its lowest position since 2010, driven by declining scores for teaching, research environment and international outlook.
Harvard University has moved from fourth to third place, and Princeton University from sixth to fourth. MIT and Princeton are proving to be dark horses, with the data revealing steady improvements in their positions over the past decade.
In Kenya, Kenyatta University dethroned the University of Nairobi (UoN) as Kenya’s top-ranked institution, marking a major shift in the nation’s higher education landscape.
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This development follows a year in which UoN rankings fell 20 places in just 12 months, highlighting the challenges that Kenyan public universities continue to face. Funding shortages, staffing issues, and unrest among lecturers, who only recently ended a nationwide strike over pay, have weighed heavily on institutions.
Kenyatta University performed better in teaching, earning a score of 14.2 percent, compared to UoN’s 12.5 percent.
However, UoN still leads in research quality, with 37.3 percent compared to Kenyatta University’s 27.2 percent.
This ranking provides valuable insights for students and educators worldwide.
The Times Higher Education (THE) published World University rankings 2025. Times Higher Education publishes its World University Rankings for the upcoming year ahead of time to provide a forward-looking analysis.
The rankings are based on data collected from the previous academic year and are typically released in advance to help prospective students, researchers, and institutions make informed decisions for the future.
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