Top Universities in the World 2020

Launched today, the QS World University Rankings® 2020 features 1,000 of the most prestigious universities in the world, ranked based on a methodology which assesses each institution on six metrics, including its reputation amongst academics and employers.

But which 10 institutions stood out amongst the rest to be ranked the top 10 in the world? Read on as we count down, and find out the top university in each location below.

QS World University Rankings 2020 – Top 10
2020 Rank	2019 Rank	University	Location
1	1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	United States
2	2	Stanford University	United States
3	3	Harvard University	United States
4	5	University of Oxford	United Kingdom
5	4	California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	United States
6	7	ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)	Switzerland
7	6	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom
8	10	UCL (University College London)	United Kingdom
9	8	Imperial College London	United Kingdom
10	9	University of Chicago	United States

 

10. University of Chicago

Down one place this year but remaining in the top 10, the US’ University of Chicago earns its best score for the academic reputation indicator.

9. Imperial College London

The UK’s Imperial College London is also down one place this year, but continues to earn a very impressive score for the employer reputation indicator.

8. UCL (University College London)

Up two places this year, UCL (University College London) is now the highest-ranked institution in UK capital London, earning its highest score for academic reputation.

7. University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge goes down a spot in the 2020 world university rankings, but remains one of the 10 best universities in the world, with perfect scores for its academic and employer reputations.

6. ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)

Switzerland’s ETH Zurich is up one place this year and continues to be the highest-ranked institution in continental Europe, with its best score in the citations per faculty indicator (a measure of research impact).

5. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Caltech is down one place in 2020, but has the distinction of earning the best scores in the top 10 for the faculty/student ratio and citations per faculty member indicators.

4. University of Oxford

The University of Oxford climbs one place in the world university rankings this year, and continues to be the highest-ranked in the UK, with perfect scores for its reputations among academics and graduate employers.

3. Harvard University

Harvard retains its position of third in the world, as well as being first for the academic and employer reputation indicators.

2. Stanford University

Stanford University, located near Silicon Valley, continues to rank second among the top universities in the world and earns its best score for its academic reputation (fourth).

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

And finally, MIT is once again the leader in the world university rankings, taking the spot for the eighth year running, with top-10 scores for its academic reputation, employer reputation, and citations per faculty member.  

Best universities in the world by location

Outside of the US, the UK and Switzerland, 82 other locations were featured in the world university rankings – discover the highest-ranked institution in each of these below.

Argentina: Universidad de Buenos Aires – ranked 74^th in the world

Australia: Australian National University (ANU) – ranked joint 29^th

Austria: Universität Wien (University of Vienna) – ranked joint 154^th

Azerbaijan: Baku State University – ranked 801-1000

Bahrain: University of Bahrain – ranked 801-1000

Bangladesh: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and the University of Dhaka – both ranked 801-1000

Belarus: Belarus State University – ranked 351^st

Belgium: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven – ranked 80^th

Brazil: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) – ranked joint 116^th

Brunei Darussalam: University of Brunei Darussalam – ranked joint 298^th

Bulgaria: Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – ranked 751-800

Canada: University of Toronto – ranked joint 29^th

Chile: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – ranked 127^th

China: Tsinghua University – ranked 16^th

Colombia: Universidad de Los Andes Colombia – ranked joint 234^th

Costa Rica: Universidad de Costa Rica – ranked 511-520

Croatia: University of Zagreb – ranked 751-800

Cuba: Universidad de la Habana – ranked 501-510

Czech Republic: Charles University – ranked joint 291^st

Denmark: University of Copenhagen – ranked joint 72^nd

Ecuador: Universidad de San Francisco de Quito – ranked 751-800

Egypt: American University in Cairo – ranked joint 395^th

Estonia: University of Tartu – ranked 301^st

Finland: University of Helsinki – ranked 107^th

France: Paris Sciences et Lettres Research University (PSL) – ranked 53^rd

Germany: Technische Universität München – ranked 55^th

Greece: National Technical University of Athens – ranked joint 454^th

Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong (HKU) – ranked joint 25^th

Hungary: University of Szeged – ranked 501-510

India: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) – ranked 152^nd

Indonesia: University of Indonesia – ranked joint 296^th

Iran: Sharif University of Technology – ranked joint 407^th

Iraq: University of Baghdad – ranked 701-750

Israel: Hebrew University of Jerusalem – ranked 162^nd

Italy: Politecnico di Milano – ranked joint 149^th

Japan: University of Tokyo – ranked joint 22^nd

Jordan: University of Jordan – ranked 601-650

Kazakhstan: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University – ranked joint 207^th

Kuwait: Kuwait University – ranked 801-1000

Latvia: Riga Technical University – ranked 701-750

Lebanon: American University of Beirut (AUB) – ranked 244^th

Lithuania: Vilnius University – ranked joint 458^th

Macao, S.A.R., China: University of Macau – ranked joint 387^th

Malaysia: Universiti Malaya (UM) – ranked 70^th

Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) – ranked 103^rd

Netherlands: Delft University of Technology – ranked 50^th

New Zealand: University of Auckland – ranked 88^th

Norway: University of Oslo – ranked 119^th

Oman: Sultan Qaboos University – ranked joint 379^th

Pakistan: Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) – ranked 375^th

Panama: Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP) – ranked 801-1000

Paraguay - Universidad Nacional de Asunción – ranked 801-1000

Peru: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú – ranked joint 474^th

Philippines: University of the Philippines – ranked joint 356^th

Poland: Jagiellonian University – ranked joint 338^th

Portugal: University of Lisbon – ranked joint 338^th

Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico – ranked 801-1000

Qatar: Qatar University – ranked 276^th

Republic of Ireland: Trinity College Dublin (TCD) – ranked joint 108^th

Romania: Babes-Bolyai University and the University of Bucharest – both ranked 801-1000

Russia: Lomonosov Moscow State University – ranked 84^th

Saudi Arabia: King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) – ranked 186^th

Serbia: University of Belgrade – ranked 801-1000

Singapore: Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) – ranked joint 11^th

Slovakia: Comenius University in Bratislava and Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava – both ranked 751-800

Slovenia: University of Ljubljana – ranked 591-600

South Africa: University of Cape Town – ranked joint 198^th

South Korea: Seoul National University (SNU) – ranked 37^th

Spain: Universitat de Barcelona (UB) – ranked joint 165^th

Sri Lanka: University of Peradeniya – ranked 801-1000

Sweden: Lund University – ranked 92^nd

Taiwan: National Taiwan University (NTU) – ranked 69^th

Thailand: Chulalongkorn University – ranked joint 247^th

Turkey: Koç University – ranked joint 451^st

Ukraine: V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University – ranked joint 491^st

United Arab Emirates: Khalifa University– ranked joint 268^th

Uruguay: Universidad de Montevideo – ranked joint 491^st

Venezuela: Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) – ranked 701-750

Vietnam: Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) – ranked 701-750

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