The QS World University Rankings 2027 were officially released, making this one of the most anticipated annual releases in global higher education. This edition evaluated 8,808 institutions worldwide, with 1,504 universities ultimately earning a ranked position, the most comprehensive edition to date.
What Is the QS World University Rankings?
The QS World University Rankings, compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), is one of the most widely cited and trusted university ranking systems in the world. Rankings are determined using six key indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio. These metrics make QS particularly relevant to the research community, as citation impact directly reflects research influence, a domain closely aligned with the interests of top scientists
2027 Key Highlights
The QS 2027 edition delivered several notable trends:
- MIT retains #1 for the 15th consecutive year, reinforcing its unmatched global academic reputation
- Imperial College London and Stanford University share #2, a new development in the rankings
- Stability at the top: The USA and UK hold four spots each in the top 10
- ETH Zurich is the highest-ranked institution outside the US and UK, placed joint 8th
- National University of Singapore (NUS) ranks 10th, remaining the top-ranked Asian university
- 402 universities improved their position in 2027 compared to the previous year
- Gains for East Asia, the Middle East, and India were notable trends this cycle
- 1,504 institutions across 100+ locations were ranked globally
QS World University Rankings 2027 — Top 100 Universities
Data sourced from QS World University Rankings
| Rank | Previous Rank | Institution Name | Country/Territory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | United States of America | |
| 2 | 2 | Imperial College London | United Kingdom | |
| 2 | 3 | Stanford University | United States of America | |
| 4 | 4 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | |
| 5 | 5 | Harvard University | United States of America | |
| 6 | 6 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom | |
| 7 | 10 | California Institute of Technology (Caltech) | United States of America | |
| 8 | 7 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland | |
| 8 | 9 | UCL | United Kingdom | |
| 10 | 8 | National University of Singapore (NUS) | Singapore | |
| 11 | 11 | The University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong SAR, China | |
| 12 | 12 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) | Singapore | |
| 13 | 14 | Peking University | China (Mainland) | |
| 14 | 17 | Tsinghua University | China (Mainland) | |
| 15 | 15 | University of Pennsylvania | United States of America | |
| 16 | 16 | Cornell University | United States of America | |
| 16 | 21 | Yale University | United States of America | |
| 18 | 32 | The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) | Hong Kong SAR, China | |
| 19 | 20 | The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) | Australia | |
| 20 | 24 | Johns Hopkins University | United States of America | |
| 20 | 17 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | United States of America | |
| 22 | 22 | EPFL – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne | Switzerland | |
| 22 | 19 | The University of Melbourne | Australia | |
| 24 | 13 | University of Chicago | United States of America | |
| 25 | 22 | Technical University of Munich | Germany | |
| 26 | 30 | Fudan University | China (Mainland) | |
| 27 | 25 | Princeton University | United States of America | |
| 28 | 25 | The University of Sydney | Australia | |
| 29 | 32 | Australian National University (ANU) | Australia | |
| 30 | 27 | McGill University | Canada | |
| 31 | 36 | Monash University | Australia | |
| 32 | 29 | University of Toronto | Canada | |
| 33 | 44 | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | Hong Kong SAR, China | |
| 34 | 28 | Université PSL | France | |
| 35 | 34 | The University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom | |
| 36 | 47 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China (Mainland) | |
| 37 | 31 | King’s College London | United Kingdom | |
| 38 | 38 | Seoul National University | Republic of Korea | |
| 39 | 36 | The University of Tokyo | Japan | |
| 40 | 35 | The University of Manchester | United Kingdom | |
| 40 | 42 | The University of Queensland | Australia | |
| 42 | 50 | Yonsei University | Republic of Korea | |
| 43 | 38 | Columbia University | United States of America | |
| 43 | 41 | Institut Polytechnique de Paris | France | |
| 45 | 42 | Northwestern University | United States of America | |
| 45 | 40 | University of British Columbia | Canada | |
| 47 | 49 | Zhejiang University | China (Mainland) | |
| 48 | 47 | Delft University of Technology | Netherlands | |
| 49 | 46 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | United States of America | |
| 50 | 54 | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong SAR, China | |
| 51 | 45 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States of America | |
| 52 | 63 | City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) | Hong Kong SAR, China | |
| 52 | 61 | Korea University | Republic of Korea | |
| 54 | 63 | National Taiwan University (NTU) | Taiwan | |
| 55 | 52 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States of America | |
| 56 | 58 | Universiti Malaya (UM) | Malaysia | |
| 57 | 51 | University of Bristol | United Kingdom | |
| 58 | 55 | New York University (NYU) | United States of America | |
| 59 | 60 | KU Leuven | Belgium | |
| 60 | 53 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands | |
| 61 | 58 | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | Germany | |
| 62 | 56 | The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) | United Kingdom | |
| 63 | 67 | KFUPM | Saudi Arabia | |
| 64 | 57 | Kyoto University | Japan | |
| 65 | KAIST | Republic of Korea | ||
| 66 | 69 | Brown University | United States of America | |
| 67 | 65 | The University of Auckland | New Zealand | |
| 68 | 74 | The University of Warwick | United Kingdom | |
| 68 | 76 | University of Birmingham | United Kingdom | |
| 70 | 62 | Duke University | United States of America | |
| 71 | 72 | Lund University | Sweden | |
| 72 | 68 | University of Texas at Austin | United States of America | |
| 73 | 72 | Sorbonne University | France | |
| 74 | 70 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | United States of America | |
| 75 | 75 | Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin | Ireland | |
| 76 | 70 | Université Paris-Saclay | France | |
| 77 | 77 | The University of Western Australia | Australia | |
| 77 | 86 | University of Leeds | United Kingdom | |
| 79 | 82 | Adelaide University | Australia | |
| 80 | 79 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom | |
| 81 | 66 | University of California, San Diego (UCSD) | United States of America | |
| 82 | 78 | KTH Royal Institute of Technology | Sweden | |
| 82 | 92 | The University of Sheffield | United Kingdom | |
| 84 | 84 | Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) | Argentina | |
| 85 | 94 | Durham University | United Kingdom | |
| 86 | 80 | Universität Heidelberg | Germany | |
| 87 | 98 | Politecnico di Milano | Italy | |
| 87 | 96 | University of Technology Sydney | Australia | |
| 87 | 93 | Uppsala University | Sweden | |
| 90 | 103 | Nanjing University | China (Mainland) | |
| 90 | 101 | University of Copenhagen | Denmark | |
| 92 | 82 | Pennsylvania State University | United States of America | |
| 92 | 81 | University of Washington | United States of America | |
| 94 | 88 | Boston University | United States of America | |
| 95 | 91 | The University of Osaka | Japan | |
| 96 | 94 | University of Alberta | Canada | |
| 97 | Institute of Science Tokyo | Japan | ||
| 97 | 97 | University of Nottingham | United Kingdom | |
| 98 | 88 | Freie Universitaet Berlin | Germany | |
| 98 | 100 | University of Zurich | Switzerland | |
| 100 | 88 | Purdue University | United States of America | |
| 100 | 118 | University College Dublin | Ireland |
Research-intensive universities that invest in faculty quality, international collaboration, and citation-generating scholarship dominate the global stage.
Data source: https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100
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