Top 30 Global Universities (2025 QS World Rankings – Summary)
Top 30 Global Universities (2025 QS World Rankings – Summary)| Rank | University | Country | Overall Score | Academic Reputation | Citations per Faculty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) | USA | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 2 | Imperial College London | UK | 98.5 | 98.5 | 93.9 |
| 3 | University of Oxford | UK | 96.9 | 100 | 84.8 |
| 4 | Harvard University | USA | 96.8 | 100 | 100 |
| 5 | University of Cambridge | UK | 96.7 | 100 | 84.6 |
| 6 | Stanford University | USA | 96.1 | 100 | 99 |
| 7 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland | 93.9 | 98.8 | 97.9 |
| 8 | National University of Singapore (NUS) | Singapore | 93.7 | 99.5 | 93.1 |
| 9 | UCL (University College London) | UK | 91.6 | 99.5 | 72.2 |
| 10 | Caltech (California Institute of Technology) | USA | 90.9 | 96.5 | 100 |
| 11 | University of Pennsylvania | USA | 90.3 | 96.3 | 74 |
| 12 | UC Berkeley | USA | 90.1 | 100 | 98.2 |
| 13 | University of Melbourne | Australia | 88.9 | 98.5 | 93 |
| 14 | Peking University | China | 88.5 | 99.5 | 97.7 |
| 15 | Nanyang Technological University (NTU) | Singapore | 88.4 | 91.9 | 92.4 |
| 16 | Cornell University | USA | 87.9 | 98.3 | 97.5 |
| 17 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong SAR | 87.6 | 97.4 | 86.4 |
| 18 | University of Sydney | Australia | 87.3 | 96.4 | 93.7 |
| 19 | UNSW Sydney | Australia | 87.1 | 90.5 | 94.9 |
| 20 | Tsinghua University | China | 86.5 | 99.2 | 99.1 |
| 21 | University of Chicago | USA | 86.2 | 99.1 | 60.8 |
| 22 | Princeton University | USA | 85.5 | 99.8 | 100 |
| 23 | Yale University | USA | 85.2 | 99.9 | 38.6 |
| 24 | Université PSL | France | 84.7 | 74.4 | 87.6 |
| 25 | University of Toronto | Canada | 84.1 | 99.7 | 50.8 |
| 26 | EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) | Switzerland | 83.5 | 84.2 | 93.6 |
| 27 | University of Edinburgh | UK | 83.3 | 98.3 | 47.7 |
| 28 | Technical University of Munich (TUM) | Germany | 83.2 | 83 | 75.9 |
| 29 | McGill University | Canada | 83.0 | 94.3 | 57.9 |
| 30 | Australian National University (ANU) | Australia | 82.4 | 93.8 | 84.6 |
Key Observations:
Key Observations:MIT holds the #1 rank with perfect scores in both academic reputation and citations.
Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, and Princeton all scored 100 in citations per faculty, indicating strong research impact.
UK and USA dominate the top 10 spots, but Asian universities like NUS, NTU, and Tsinghua are rapidly climbing.
Australian universities are very prominent in the top 30, with four entries (Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, ANU).
France, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada are also well-represented in the top 30.
Top Global Universities: Ranks 31–60 (QS 2025)
| Rank | University | Country | Overall Score | Academic Reputation | Citations per Faculty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Seoul National University | South Korea | 82.3 | 98.5 | 71.7 |
| =32 | Johns Hopkins University | USA | 82.1 | 86 | 84.2 |
| =32 | University of Tokyo | Japan | 82.1 | 100 | 57.3 |
| =34 | Columbia University | USA | 82 | 99.6 | 31.7 |
| =34 | University of Manchester | UK | 82 | 95.6 | 45.1 |
| 36 | Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) | Hong Kong SAR | 81.3 | 86.7 | 92.9 |
| 37 | Monash University | Australia | 81.2 | 89.2 | 87.6 |
| 38 | University of British Columbia (UBC) | Canada | 81 | 98.3 | 57.7 |
| 39 | Fudan University | China | 80.3 | 85.7 | 80.7 |
| =40 | King’s College London (KCL) | UK | 80.2 | 90.3 | 53.6 |
| =40 | University of Queensland (UQ) | Australia | 80.2 | 86.7 | 90.2 |
| 42 | UCLA | USA | 79.8 | 100 | 74 |
| 43 | New York University (NYU) | USA | 79.6 | 96.3 | 28.6 |
| 44 | University of Michigan–Ann Arbor | USA | 79 | 97.9 | 47.6 |
| 45 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China | 77.8 | 84 | 99.6 |
| 46 | Institut Polytechnique de Paris | France | 77.5 | 44.7 | 86.1 |
| =47 | HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology) | Hong Kong SAR | 77.1 | 81.1 | 99.7 |
| =47 | Zhejiang University | China | 77.1 | 75.3 | 99.5 |
| 49 | Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) | Netherlands | 77 | 74.4 | 79.7 |
| =50 | Kyoto University | Japan | 76 | 98.8 | 39.3 |
| =50 | Northwestern University | USA | 76 | 84 | 67.7 |
| =50 | London School of Economics (LSE) | UK | 76 | 67.2 | 69.4 |
| 53 | KAIST | South Korea | 75.7 | 87.7 | 96.2 |
| 54 | University of Bristol | UK | 75.4 | 75.8 | 75.9 |
| 55 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands | 73.7 | 83.8 | 92.2 |
| 56 | Yonsei University | South Korea | 72.9 | 81.5 | 44.1 |
| 57 | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong SAR | 72.1 | 68 | 94.9 |
| 58 | Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) | USA | 72 | 69.8 | 98.9 |
| 59 | Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) | Germany | 71.6 | 92.2 | 50 |
| 60 | Universiti Malaya (UM) | Malaysia | 71.2 | 82.9 | 29.1 |
Quick Insights:
Asian universities are making major strides, especially in research citations: Shanghai Jiao Tong, Zhejiang, and HKUST all score very high in citations.
Columbia University has an exceptional reputation but one of the lowest citation scores in the top 60.
UCLA and University of Tokyo both have perfect or near-perfect reputation scores but only moderate citation metrics.
European schools like Delft, LMU, and Amsterdam are strong in balanced performance between citations and reputation.
KAIST and CMU stand out with strong research performance (citations), making them good tech/research-focused options.