Planning on pursuing education at a globally top-ranked university? Find the entire list of the top 100 universities globally, expertly ranked based on the QS World Ranking. Whether you are planning your future in higher education or seeking a globally accredited degree, this list can assist you in making the perfect choice.
Updated with the new QS World Ranking 2025, this exclusive list showcases institutions for academic quality, research productivity, and career outcomes. Utilize this useful tool to discover the ideal university that suits your objectives and leads to amazing career opportunities down the line.
Table of Contents
The QS World University Ranking is a portfolio created to compare the ranks of all the global universities, and it is determined by the global higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). It is necessary to evaluate the performance of all the universities. Also, to find their improvement areas and where they are behind other top-ranking universities. So, universities need to know what is QS ranking. Besides this, they must know its importance. Therefore, read the next section to learn about it in detail.
Now you know that the QS ranking is the most popular and prestigious international university ranking system. This gives access to the popularity and performance of all the universities and helps students find the best one for their career growth and development. So, if you are searching for the best universities to be admitted for further studies, here is the list of the top 100 universities worldwide as per their rankings.
|
S.NO. |
University |
QS Rank 2025 |
|
1 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
1 |
|
2 |
Imperial College London |
2 |
|
3 |
University of Oxford |
3 |
|
4 |
Harvard University |
4 |
|
5 |
University of Cambridge |
5 |
|
6 |
Stanford University |
6 |
|
7 |
ETH Zurich |
7 |
|
8 |
National University of Singapore (NUS) |
8 |
|
9 |
University College London (UCL) |
9 |
|
10 |
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) |
10 |
|
11 |
University of Pennsylvania |
11 |
|
12 |
University of California, Berkeley (UCB) |
12 |
|
13 |
University of Melbourne |
13 |
|
14 |
Peking University |
14 |
|
15 |
Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) |
15 |
|
16 |
Cornell University |
16 |
|
17 |
The University of Hong Kong |
17 |
|
18 |
University of Sydney |
18 |
|
19 |
University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) |
19 |
|
20 |
Tsinghua University |
20 |
|
21 |
University of Chicago |
21 |
|
22 |
Princeton University |
22 |
|
23 |
Yale University |
23 |
|
24 |
Université PSL |
24 |
|
25 |
University of Toronto |
25 |
|
26 |
EPFL – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne |
26 |
|
27 |
University of Edinburgh |
26 |
|
28 |
Technical University of Munich |
28 |
|
29 |
McGill University |
29 |
|
30 |
Australian National University (ANU) |
30 |
|
31 |
Seoul National University |
31 |
|
32 |
Johns Hopkins University |
32 |
|
33 |
University of Tokyo |
33 |
|
34 |
Columbia University |
34 |
|
35 |
The University of Manchester |
35 |
|
36 |
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) |
36 |
|
37 |
Monash University |
37 |
|
38 |
University of British Columbia |
38 |
|
39 |
Fudan University |
39 |
|
40 |
King's College London |
40 |
|
41 |
The University of Queensland |
41 |
|
42 |
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) |
42 |
|
43 |
New York University (NYU) |
43 |
|
44 |
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor |
44 |
|
45 |
Shanghai Jiao Tong University |
45 |
|
46 |
Institut Polytechnique de Paris |
46 |
|
47 |
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) |
47 |
|
48 |
Zhejiang University |
48 |
|
49 |
Delft University of Technology |
49 |
|
50 |
Kyoto University |
50 |
|
51 |
Northwestern University |
51 |
|
52 |
London School of Economics (LSE) |
52 |
|
53 |
KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology |
53 |
|
54 |
University of Bristol |
54 |
|
55 |
University of Amsterdam |
55 |
|
56 |
Yonsei University |
56 |
|
57 |
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
57 |
|
58 |
Carnegie Mellon University |
58 |
|
59 |
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) |
59 |
|
60 |
Universiti Malaya (UM) |
60 |
|
61 |
Duke University |
61 |
|
62 |
City University of Hong Kong |
62 |
|
63 |
KU Leuven |
63 |
|
64 |
Sorbonne University |
64 |
|
65 |
The University of Auckland |
65 |
|
66 |
University of Texas at Austin |
66 |
|
67 |
Korea University |
67 |
|
68 |
National Taiwan University (NTU) |
68 |
|
69 |
The University of Warwick |
69 |
|
70 |
University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign |
70 |
|
71 |
University of Buenos Aires (UBA) |
71 |
|
72 |
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) |
72 |
|
73 |
Université Paris‑Saclay |
73 |
|
74 |
KTH Royal Institute of Technology |
74 |
|
75 |
Lund University |
75 |
|
76 |
University of Washington |
76 |
|
77 |
The University of Western Australia |
77 |
|
78 |
University of Glasgow |
78 |
|
79 |
Brown University |
79 |
|
80 |
University of Birmingham |
80 |
|
81 |
University of Southampton |
81 |
|
82 |
The University of Adelaide |
82 |
|
83 |
University of Leeds |
83 |
|
84 |
Universität Heidelberg |
84 |
|
85 |
Osaka University |
85 |
|
86 |
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin |
86 |
|
87 |
University of Technology Sydney |
87 |
|
88 |
Durham University |
88 |
|
89 |
Pennsylvania State University |
89 |
|
90 |
Purdue University |
90 |
|
91 |
Universidade de São Paulo |
91 |
|
92 |
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) |
92 |
|
93 |
Lomonosov Moscow State University |
93 |
|
94 |
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) |
94 |
|
95 |
University of Alberta |
95 |
|
96 |
Freie Universität Berlin |
96 |
|
97 |
Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH) |
97 |
|
98 |
RWTH Aachen University |
98 |
|
99 |
University of Copenhagen |
99 |
|
100 |
(Tied) University of Nottingham / Other 100th‑ranked universities |
100 |
These are the top world's best university that fulfil all the criteria and hold positions in the most recognised universities in the world. So, if you want to make your study abroad dream a reality, then take help from our experts.
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It is one of the most reputed and acknowledged ranking systems for all the listed universities. The importance of this ranking system is:
All these reasons justify why the QS university ranking is important, as this gives them a chance to develop more and raise their ranks by fulfilling all their criteria. So, if you also want to go high and increase your ranking, then you must know the criteria. Therefore, have a look at the next section to learn about the QS world rankings criteria.
There are certain criteria that universities need to fulfil to come under the list of the world's best university. So, here is a list of factors that you should not miss while finding the best university in the world.
It holds the highest percentage when determining the best university worldwide. Also, to evaluate the academic reputation of any university, the higher education space team of 1,30,000 people sits and discusses its academic reputation. This is why academic reputation criteria are essential to examine QS university rankings.
If any students select the university, they first see the teaching faculties of that university. The reason is that if the professors are well-qualified and can provide the best education, then it is worth taking admission to that institution. Secondly, the student ratio also matters; if the university has a higher number of students, that means it is popular and has good academic performance.
This criteria for QS world rankings is necessary to determine the research output of the universities. Here, citation means the research must be properly cited within another research. So, the more other experts cite the research, the greater the chance of getting influential research on the topic. This is why if any university publishes well-cited research papers, their research output is considered higher. So, the citation per faculty is calculated based on the total number of citations received within five years by a world top universities divided by the number of faculty at that institution.
To determine employer reputation, the QS ranking conducts surveys to collect valuable responses. This is to be done to ask employers to find out which universities produce the best graduates. This is why this ranking criterion is important in the global university ranking.
Moreover, it helps students know the university's reputation in the job market.
This ranking criteria comprises the international faculty ratio and the international student ratio. Thus, it determines the success rate of universities in attracting other nations' students and faculty members. This is why it is important to focus on this university ranking in world criteria as well to attain overall good ranking results.
So, these ranking criteria are essential for universities to get into the list of the top 100 QS world university rankings. This helps students a lot to understand which university is best in their field. Also, help them make the correct decision. So if you want to know which universities are able to fulfil these ranking criteria. In that case, the ranking of the top 100 universities in the world is given in the upcoming section.
Also Read: Top 10 Toughest Exams in the World 2025
Today, taking admission into one of the world's best universities is the dream of many students around the globe. That's why it is necessary to gauge your chances before applying to the world best university. Our study abroad consultants can help you make the correct decisions during this process. So, if you are looking to take admission to reputed and recognised universities, you need to place a free counselling call to get in touch with our consultants. They will guide you and tell you about the QS world ranking system that helps you succeed. All these factors make Gradding.com one of the best study abroad agencies in India.
Moreover, we provide hassle-free experiences to all students, making their study abroad journey exciting. To know what services we are offering, have a look at the below section:
This is what we are offering to ease your study abroad dream. So, connect with our experts now and learn the process quickly. Hurry up!
In the QS World University Rankings for 2025, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is ranked as the top university in the world. Other top-ranked universities include Imperial College London (2nd), University of Oxford (3rd), Harvard University (4th), and University of Cambridge (5th).
QS and THE are reliable and is very legitimate. They are referred by everyone in the world, except the Americans. It's world ranking of all universities.
The ranking has been criticized for its overreliance on subjective indicators and reputation surveys, which tend to fluctuate over time and form a feedback loop.
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