The Best in the World
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The best universities in the world, from the five big world rankings: Times Higher Education, QS, ARWU (Shanghai), U.S. News and CWUR.

The 2025 editions of 5 trusted rankings. The more rankings name an entry, the higher its place; entries named by the same number of rankings share the place. Inside a shared place, votes ($1.99) decide the order. Under each entry: its place in every ranking, with the link.

  1. =1Harvard UniversityIn 5 of 5 rankings · United StatesCenter for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 1) · ShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 1) · U.S. News & World Report (No. 1) · Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) (No. 5) · Times Higher Education (No. 5)Tied with Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 1 vote puts it ahead0 votes
  2. =1Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyIn 5 of 5 rankings · United StatesQuacquarelli Symonds (QS) (No. 1) · Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 2) · Times Higher Education (No. 2) · U.S. News & World Report (No. 2) · ShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 3)1 vote ($1.99) to pass Harvard University0 votes
  3. =1Stanford UniversityIn 5 of 5 rankings · United StatesShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 2) · Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 3) · Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) (No. 3) · U.S. News & World Report (No. 3) · Times Higher Education (No. 5)1 vote ($1.99) to pass Massachusetts Institute of Technology0 votes
  4. =1University of CambridgeIn 5 of 5 rankings · United KingdomTimes Higher Education (No. 3) · Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 4) · ShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 4) · U.S. News & World Report (No. 5) · Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) (No. 6)1 vote ($1.99) to pass Stanford University0 votes
  5. =1University of OxfordIn 5 of 5 rankings · United KingdomTimes Higher Education (No. 1) · Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) (No. 4) · U.S. News & World Report (No. 4) · Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 5) · ShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 6)1 vote ($1.99) to pass University of Cambridge0 votes
  6. =2Columbia UniversityIn 3 of 5 rankings · USACenter for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 8) · ShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 8) · U.S. News & World Report (No. 10)Tied with Princeton University: 1 vote puts it ahead0 votes
  7. =2Princeton UniversityIn 3 of 5 rankings · United StatesTimes Higher Education (No. 3) · Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 6) · ShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 7)1 vote ($1.99) to pass Columbia University0 votes
  8. =2University of California, BerkeleyIn 3 of 5 rankings · United StatesShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 5) · U.S. News & World Report (No. 6) · Times Higher Education (No. 9)1 vote ($1.99) to pass Princeton University0 votes
  9. =2Yale UniversityIn 3 of 5 rankings · USACenter for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 9) · U.S. News & World Report (No. 9) · Times Higher Education (No. 10)1 vote ($1.99) to pass University of California, Berkeley0 votes
  10. =3California Institute of TechnologyIn 2 of 5 rankings · United StatesTimes Higher Education (No. 7) · ShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 9)Tied with Imperial College London: 1 vote puts it ahead0 votes
  11. =3Imperial College LondonIn 2 of 5 rankings · London, United KingdomQuacquarelli Symonds (QS) (No. 2) · Times Higher Education (No. 8)1 vote ($1.99) to pass California Institute of Technology0 votes
  12. =3University of ChicagoIn 2 of 5 rankings · USACenter for World University Rankings (CWUR) (No. 10) · ShanghaiRanking Consultancy (No. 10)1 vote ($1.99) to pass Imperial College London0 votes

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