Global ranking — 2026 edition
World University Rankings
The World Higher Education Index scores institutions across every major higher-education system on a single comparable composite, so a research university in Zurich can be read against one in Boston, Beijing or Melbourne on the same terms.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is ranked first in the 2026 world university rankings, with an overall score of 99.1 out of 100. University of Oxford is second and Harvard University third. 100 institutions are ranked in this edition.
Published
Outcomes 30%Salary 20%Faculty 15%Selectivity 15%Employers 10%Network 10%
RankInstitution & programmeOverall
- 1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States
Outcomes98Salary99Faculty99Selectivity99Employers99Network9699.1Score - 2
University of Oxford
United Kingdom
Outcomes97Salary94Faculty99Selectivity99Employers99Network9698.3Score - 3
Harvard University
United States
Outcomes97Salary98Faculty99Selectivity99Employers99Network9698.0Score - 4
Stanford University
United States
Outcomes98Salary99Faculty99Selectivity99Employers99Network9597.6Score - 5
London School of Economics
United Kingdom
Outcomes95Salary98Faculty96Selectivity97Employers95Network9496.0Score - 6
University of Cambridge
United Kingdom
Outcomes97Salary93Faculty99Selectivity99Employers99Network9595.8Score - 7
Imperial College London
United Kingdom
Outcomes96Salary94Faculty97Selectivity96Employers96Network9495.5Score - 8
ETH Zurich
Switzerland
Outcomes95Salary93Faculty97Selectivity95Employers95Network9495.3Score - 9
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Outcomes95Salary92Faculty95Selectivity95Employers95Network9694.6Score - 10
California Institute of Technology
United States
Outcomes95Salary96Faculty99Selectivity99Employers94Network8493.7Score - 11
Cornell University
United States
Outcomes94Salary94Faculty95Selectivity94Employers94Network9393.3Score - 12
University of Chicago
United States
Outcomes93Salary94Faculty96Selectivity96Employers93Network8692.9Score - 13
Peking University
China
Outcomes91Salary87Faculty93Selectivity97Employers91Network8792.5Score - 14
University of California, Berkeley
United States
Outcomes94Salary95Faculty97Selectivity93Employers95Network9292.1Score - 15
University College London
United Kingdom
Outcomes91Salary88Faculty93Selectivity90Employers91Network9092.0Score - 16
Princeton University
United States
Outcomes96Salary96Faculty98Selectivity99Employers95Network8691.8Score - 17
Tsinghua University
China
Outcomes94Salary89Faculty95Selectivity97Employers93Network8991.5Score - 18
Yale University
United States
Outcomes95Salary94Faculty96Selectivity98Employers95Network8791.1Score - 19
University of Melbourne
Australia
Outcomes89Salary85Faculty91Selectivity86Employers90Network8990.6Score - 20
Johns Hopkins University
United States
Outcomes90Salary89Faculty96Selectivity92Employers91Network8690.2Score - 21
University of Toronto
Canada
Outcomes91Salary87Faculty94Selectivity89Employers92Network9289.8Score - 22
EPFL
Switzerland
Outcomes88Salary88Faculty87Selectivity93Employers89Network9089.0Score - 23
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Outcomes86Salary87Faculty89Selectivity91Employers85Network8788.7Score - 24
Kyoto University
Japan
Outcomes88Salary92Faculty86Selectivity84Employers90Network8688.1Score - 25
Columbia University
United States
Outcomes91Salary84Faculty87Selectivity90Employers86Network8987.8Score - 26
University of Pennsylvania
United States
Outcomes88Salary88Faculty85Selectivity85Employers87Network9087.5Score - 27
University of Michigan
United States
Outcomes89Salary88Faculty87Selectivity86Employers84Network8487.2Score - 28
Fudan University
China
Outcomes87Salary87Faculty82Selectivity87Employers84Network8586.6Score - 29
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
China
Outcomes90Salary89Faculty89Selectivity87Employers86Network8786.3Score - 30
Northwestern University
United States
Outcomes87Salary89Faculty85Selectivity89Employers82Network8785.9Score - 31
University of British Columbia
Canada
Outcomes81Salary81Faculty85Selectivity89Employers88Network8285.2Score - 32
Duke University
United States
Outcomes82Salary82Faculty86Selectivity86Employers85Network8384.5Score - 33
Carnegie Mellon University
United States
Outcomes84Salary86Faculty84Selectivity83Employers83Network8883.9Score - 34
University of California, Los Angeles
United States
Outcomes85Salary87Faculty86Selectivity85Employers85Network8383.6Score - 35
McGill University
Canada
Outcomes83Salary86Faculty85Selectivity81Employers80Network8083.0Score - 36
University of Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Outcomes82Salary83Faculty81Selectivity83Employers81Network8082.4Score - 37
University of Sydney
Australia
Outcomes81Salary83Faculty82Selectivity78Employers83Network8682.1Score - 38
Zhejiang University
China
Outcomes83Salary85Faculty81Selectivity83Employers79Network8281.6Score - 39
University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Outcomes77Salary78Faculty79Selectivity85Employers83Network7881.1Score - 40
New York University
United States
Outcomes85Salary80Faculty81Selectivity84Employers81Network7780.4Score - 41
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Germany
Outcomes77Salary82Faculty77Selectivity81Employers78Network8479.8Score - 42
Australian National University
Australia
Outcomes81Salary75Faculty77Selectivity78Employers80Network7679.2Score - 43
University of Amsterdam
Netherlands
Outcomes82Salary83Faculty83Selectivity79Employers76Network8078.9Score - 44
Heidelberg University
Germany
Outcomes74Salary80Faculty79Selectivity74Employers80Network8178.2Score - 45
KU Leuven
Belgium
Outcomes80Salary74Faculty78Selectivity73Employers81Network7377.8Score - 46
University of New South Wales
Australia
Outcomes78Salary80Faculty76Selectivity80Employers79Network7977.2Score - 47
University of Washington
United States
Outcomes74Salary76Faculty81Selectivity75Employers77Network7576.9Score - 48
University of California, San Diego
United States
Outcomes73Salary77Faculty73Selectivity80Employers72Network7676.2Score - 49
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Outcomes76Salary80Faculty79Selectivity78Employers76Network7675.7Score - 50
University of Manchester
United Kingdom
Outcomes73Salary79Faculty80Selectivity79Employers78Network7175.3Score - 51
KAIST
South Korea
Outcomes77Salary74Faculty75Selectivity79Employers78Network7774.5Score - 52
Institut Polytechnique de Paris
France
Outcomes74Salary75Faculty71Selectivity78Employers73Network7773.8Score - 53
Université Paris-Saclay
France
Outcomes72Salary78Faculty77Selectivity76Employers77Network7573.5Score - 54
University of Texas at Austin
United States
Outcomes76Salary75Faculty75Selectivity71Employers76Network7373.1Score - 55
Georgia Institute of Technology
United States
Outcomes72Salary77Faculty71Selectivity73Employers69Network7672.7Score - 56
University of Copenhagen
Denmark
Outcomes74Salary68Faculty75Selectivity69Employers69Network7472.0Score - 57
Karolinska Institute
Sweden
Outcomes71Salary75Faculty74Selectivity71Employers75Network7471.5Score - 58
University of Warwick
United Kingdom
Outcomes70Salary72Faculty74Selectivity74Employers67Network7271.2Score - 59
King's College London
United Kingdom
Outcomes69Salary72Faculty73Selectivity73Employers75Network7570.7Score - 60
Monash University
Australia
Outcomes66Salary69Faculty66Selectivity72Employers72Network6770.1Score - 61
University of Queensland
Australia
Outcomes66Salary69Faculty66Selectivity67Employers69Network6669.6Score - 62
Utrecht University
Netherlands
Outcomes68Salary66Faculty72Selectivity66Employers73Network6869.0Score - 63
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
United States
Outcomes65Salary65Faculty70Selectivity65Employers64Network6568.6Score - 64
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
United States
Outcomes71Salary69Faculty65Selectivity71Employers71Network7267.9Score - 65
University of Wisconsin–Madison
United States
Outcomes67Salary66Faculty69Selectivity67Employers68Network6867.6Score - 66
Osaka University
Japan
Outcomes71Salary71Faculty70Selectivity63Employers70Network6367.0Score - 67
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong
Outcomes65Salary68Faculty70Selectivity69Employers69Network6866.7Score - 68
Yonsei University
South Korea
Outcomes70Salary70Faculty62Selectivity67Employers66Network6666.4Score - 69
Korea University
South Korea
Outcomes66Salary70Faculty70Selectivity64Employers70Network6965.7Score - 70
Leiden University
Netherlands
Outcomes65Salary66Faculty67Selectivity62Employers61Network6165.2Score - 71
Uppsala University
Sweden
Outcomes62Salary62Faculty66Selectivity61Employers68Network6164.6Score - 72
Lund University
Sweden
Outcomes67Salary66Faculty61Selectivity60Employers66Network6863.8Score - 73
University of Oslo
Norway
Outcomes61Salary59Faculty67Selectivity62Employers63Network6263.4Score - 74
University of Helsinki
Finland
Outcomes67Salary63Faculty62Selectivity67Employers64Network6562.7Score - 75
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland
Outcomes64Salary64Faculty64Selectivity61Employers59Network5861.9Score - 76
University of Vienna
Austria
Outcomes61Salary62Faculty63Selectivity63Employers66Network6061.6Score - 77
Sorbonne University
France
Outcomes58Salary59Faculty58Selectivity58Employers63Network6261.0Score - 78
Humboldt University of Berlin
Germany
Outcomes58Salary64Faculty64Selectivity63Employers64Network6060.5Score - 79
RWTH Aachen University
Germany
Outcomes60Salary58Faculty60Selectivity56Employers63Network6059.8Score - 80
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Netherlands
Outcomes60Salary59Faculty58Selectivity59Employers59Network5759.0Score - 81
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Mexico
Outcomes58Salary59Faculty60Selectivity54Employers61Network5858.3Score - 82
University of São Paulo
Brazil
Outcomes59Salary54Faculty55Selectivity57Employers61Network5857.8Score - 83
Tel Aviv University
Israel
Outcomes61Salary56Faculty60Selectivity57Employers61Network5457.4Score - 84
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel
Outcomes54Salary59Faculty60Selectivity55Employers60Network5756.9Score - 85
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Israel
Outcomes58Salary54Faculty58Selectivity53Employers58Network5256.2Score - 86
University of Cape Town
South Africa
Outcomes56Salary59Faculty60Selectivity57Employers54Network5855.6Score - 87
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Saudi Arabia
Outcomes55Salary57Faculty56Selectivity53Employers56Network5154.9Score - 88
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
India
Outcomes59Salary52Faculty54Selectivity52Employers51Network5854.2Score - 89
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan
Outcomes49Salary55Faculty52Selectivity57Employers55Network5653.9Score - 90
Tohoku University
Japan
Outcomes53Salary56Faculty58Selectivity51Employers55Network5653.3Score - 91
University of Bristol
United Kingdom
Outcomes50Salary53Faculty55Selectivity53Employers54Network5052.9Score - 92
University of Glasgow
United Kingdom
Outcomes54Salary56Faculty52Selectivity54Employers55Network5152.5Score - 93
Durham University
United Kingdom
Outcomes56Salary49Faculty49Selectivity49Employers49Network5651.9Score - 94
Universidade de Buenos Aires
Argentina
Outcomes54Salary51Faculty53Selectivity51Employers53Network5651.6Score - 95
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Chile
Outcomes49Salary47Faculty55Selectivity47Employers48Network5351.3Score - 96
Universitat de Barcelona
Spain
Outcomes55Salary49Faculty52Selectivity54Employers50Network4950.9Score - 97
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Spain
Outcomes52Salary52Faculty51Selectivity52Employers53Network4750.1Score - 98
Sapienza University of Rome
Italy
Outcomes50Salary53Faculty53Selectivity48Employers51Network5349.8Score - 99
Politecnico di Milano
Italy
Outcomes52Salary53Faculty48Selectivity50Employers53Network4949.5Score - 100
University of Bologna
Italy
Outcomes49Salary45Faculty51Selectivity48Employers47Network5349.0Score
World 2026: frequently asked questions
- Which institution is number one in the 2026 world ranking?
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, based in United States, ranks first with an overall score of 99.1 out of 100.
- How is this ranking calculated?
- Every entry is scored on the same six weighted indicators — Graduate outcomes (30%), Salary uplift (20%), Faculty & research strength (15%), Selectivity (15%), Employer reputation (10%), Cohort & network reach (10%) — each normalised across the table and combined into an overall score out of 100. Nothing is reweighted table by table.
- How many institutions are ranked, and how often is the table updated?
- 100 institutions appear in the 2026 edition. A new edition is published every year on 30 September, with all six indicators re-collected for that edition.
- Can an institution pay to appear or move up?
- No. No institution pays to be assessed, to appear in a table, or to change its position, and no score is shown to an institution before publication.
Related rankings
Scored on the composite set out in our methodology. See also all rankings.