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Top Universities in the World 2018

12:45PM Jun 8, 2017

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Top Universities in the World 2018 main image

Click here to discover the top universities in the world in 2019.

It’s here. Nearly 1,000 universities from 84 destinations around the world are included in the QS World
University Rankings® 2018, providing you with the only resource you need to refer to when deciding
which universities to apply to. If you really want to be among the best of the best, these are the ten
universities you should attend.

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

It’s six years in a row at the top for MIT, with the US university continuing to show everyone else how its
done. At the heart of its incredible record in our rankings is an extremely strong reputation among both
fellow academics and employers, as well as the fact MIT is responsible for an impressive number of
academic citations per faculty.

2. Stanford University

There’s no change at number two either, with the Silicon Valley-based Stanford University continuing to
hold off the challenge from Harvard. Stanford goes toe-to-toe with MIT in multiple of the indicators used
to compile the rankings, but loses ground because of the university’s low international student ratio.

3. Harvard University

Having been second two years ago, Harvard is now cemented in third place in the rankings. The US
university can at least take comfort from the fact it’s ranked best in the world for its reputation among
academics surveyed for this ranking, a title it retains from previous years.

4. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Our first mover and shaker in the top 10 is Caltech, which rises one place from last year. At the heart of
this improvement is a particularly good student to faculty ratio and an impressive number of citations
produced per faculty.
5. University of Cambridge

Finally! After a clean sweep for the US in the top four, we eventually reach a university from another
country. Cambridge was fourth last year so won’t be entirely happy with their slip down the ladder. It’s
not all bad news though: the UK university is ranked best in the world for employer reputation and can
at least enjoy bragging rights over a certain rival. Speaking of which…

6. University of Oxford

Still in sixth and still behind their arch-rivals Cambridge, the University of Oxford still has some ground to
make up if they want to be the best in Britain. It does out-perform Cambridge in its ratio of international
students and international faculty though, so maybe they can brag about that for the next year?

7. UCL (University College London)

Three UK universities in a row and it’s another non-mover from last year, suggesting fears British
universities would suffer because of Brexit may have been overblown (for now). UCL has one of the
most internationally diverse student bodies in the world.

8. Imperial College London

Climbing up the rankings one place is another London university, Imperial. The university is particularly
well-regarded for its scientific and technical teaching, as well as its business school.

9. University of Chicago

It’s back to the US for ninth-placed University of Chicago, an improvement of one place from last year’s
ranking. The university enjoys a particularly strong score for its reputation among academics.
10. ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)

The UK-US duopoly is finally broken by the Swiss, and 10th-placed ETH Zurich. The university has fallen
two places since last year and is let down by a poor student to faculty ratio, but out-performs at least
one of the universities above it in every other category.

Top universities in the world by location

Obviously, the above top ten isn’t much use if studying in the UK, US or Switzerland either doesn’t
interest you or isn’t practical. Fortunately for you, we’ve also rounded up the best university from each
of the other 81 locations included in this year’s ranking. Find a top university near to you in the list
below.

Argentina: Universidad de Buenos Aires – ranked 75th

Australia: Australian National University (ANU) – ranked 20th

Austria: Universität Wien – ranked 154th

Azerbaijan: Khazar University – ranked 701-750

Bahrain: Arabian Gulf University – ranked 411-420

Bangladesh: University of Dhaka – ranked 701-750

Belarus: Belarus State University – ranked joint 334th

Belgium: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven – ranked joint 71st

Brazil: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) – ranked 121st

Brunei Darussalam: University of Brunei Darussalam – ranked joint 349th

Bulgaria: Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – ranked 701-750

Canada: University of Toronto – ranked 31st

Chile: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – ranked joint 137th

China: Tsinghua University – ranked 25th

Colombia: Universidad Nacional de Colombia – ranked joint 254th

Costa Rica: Universidad de Costa Rica – ranked 411-420

Croatia: University of Zagreb – ranked 601-650

Cuba: Universidad de la Habana – ranked 601-650

Czech Republic: Charles University – ranked joint 314th

Denmark: University of Copenhagen – ranked joint 73rd

Ecuador: Universidad de San Francisco de Quito – ranked 701-750

Egypt: American University in Cairo – ranked joint 395th

Estonia: University of Tartu – ranked joint 314th

Finland: University of Helsinki – ranked joint 102nd

France: Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (ENS Paris) – ranked 43rd

Germany: Technische Universität München – ranked 64th

Ghana: University of Ghana – ranked 801-1000

Greece: National Technical University of Athens – ranked 401-410

Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong (HKU) – ranked 26th

Hungary: University of Szeged – ranked 501-550

India: Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) – ranked 172nd

Indonesia: University of Indonesia – ranked joint 277th

Iran: Sharif University of Technology – ranked 471-480

Iraq: University of Baghdad – ranked 501-550

Israel: Hebrew University of Jerusalem – ranked 145th

Italy: Politecnico di Milano – ranked 170th

Japan: University of Tokyo – ranked joint 28th

Jordan: University of Jordan – ranked 551-600

Kazakhstan: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University – ranked joint 236th

Kenya: University of Nairobi – ranked 801-1000

Kuwait: Kuwait University – ranked 651-700

Latvia: Riga Technical University – ranked 651-700

Lebanon: American University of Beirut (AUB) – ranked 235th

Lithuania: Vilnius University – ranked 401-410

Macao, S.A.R., China: University of Macau – ranked 501-550

Malaysia: Universiti Malaya (UM) – ranked joint 114th

Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) – ranked joint 122nd

Morocco: Université Mohammed V de Rabat – ranked 801-1000

Netherlands: Delft University of Technology – ranked 54th

New Zealand: University of Auckland – ranked joint 82nd

Norway: University of Oslo – ranked joint 142nd

Oman: Sultan Qaboos University – ranked 451-460

Pakistan: National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Islamabad – ranked 431-440

Palestine: Birzeit University – ranked 801-1000

Peru: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú – ranked 431-440

Philippines: University of the Philippines – ranked joint 367th

Poland: University of Warsaw – ranked 411-420

Portugal: University of Porto – ranked joint 301st

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

Qatar: Qatar University – ranked joint 349th

Republic of Ireland: Trinity College Dublin (TCD) – ranked 88th

Romania: University of Bucharest – ranked 701-750

Russia: Lomonosov Moscow State University – ranked joint 95th

Saudi Arabia: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) – ranked joint 173rd

Serbia: University of Belgrade – ranked 801-1000

Singapore: Nanyang Technological University (NTU) – ranked 11th

Slovakia: Comenius University in Bratislava – ranked 701-750

Slovenia: University of Ljubljana – ranked 651-700

South Africa: University of Cape Town – ranked 191st

South Korea: Seoul National University (SNU) – ranked joint 36th

Spain: Universitat de Barcelona (UB) – ranked 156th

Sri Lanka: University of Colombo – ranked 751-800

Sweden: Lund University – ranked joint 78th

Taiwan: National Taiwan University (NTU) – ranked joint 76th

Thailand: Culalongkorn University – ranked joint 245th

Turkey: Bilkent University – ranked 421-430

Uganda: Makerere University – ranked 801-1000

Ukraine: V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University – ranked 401-410

United Arab Emirates: United Arab Emirates University – ranked 390th

Uruguay: Universidad de Montevideo – ranked 501-550

Venezuela: Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB) and Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) –
both ranked 651-700

What are the big trends and surprises in this year's rankings?

university rankings

Philip M, Mavluda K & 42 others saved this

Written by Craig OCallaghan

As editor of TopUniversities.com, Craig oversees the site's editorial content and network of student
contributors. He also plays a key editorial role in the publication of several guides and reports, including
the QS Top Grad School Guide.

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32 Comments

Okolie P 3 months ago

i love MIT a lot https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings-articles/world-university-

rankings/top-universities-world-2018

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rabeia e 4 months ago

Thanks for this good topic

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Okolie P

very true https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings-articles/world-university-rankings/top-

universities-world-2018

Aisha A 4 months ago

Hi My name is Aisha Abdullahi i am from ethiopia i am study BSC nursing i am interested study in Canada

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Brandon S 7 months ago

Thanks for sharing this posting.

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john r 7 months ago

I wanna study in MIT can anyone help me please with there respective advice plz

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Ryan V 8 months ago

Clearly this is written in the USA, when the top 4 are American, yet the country ranks 19th in education.

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Jun B

I checked their "Contact" link and none of the 7 worldwide offices is in the US. Five in Europe and two in
Asia.

Krishna S 8 months ago

Hi I m kisan chauhan from india.and I want to study in Australia.. So I want help someone to get
admission there plz. Help me...

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Roopansh G

What is the issue?

Kirangwa G 9 months ago

Ready to devote my energy and time at Harvard university.

0

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Harish R 9 months ago

Caltech is no 1 and k2tech is no 2 as of today due to the solar back panel Hatent, 2 fundoo papers,
shadow locate, funding size and publications potential impact factor. It will take 3 years for you to to
realize that Caltech will be rising and well the second will be where I am. How was the DNA sequencer?
See you in the next train.

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M Aman U 1 year ago

what is worth of ETH (Zurich Uni) degree and education in the world ?

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Waddia S

It's where Einstein studied, just to give you a perspective. It's a very respectable institute for sciences
even today. But most of their coursework at undergrad is in German.
Rushabh D 1 year ago

Hello i am doing my engineering nd after completed my engineering in civil i want to take my higher
education in out of india so how can i research for top unvercities and which one is best for me

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neha g 1 year ago

hello i m completed my engineering nd want to study MBA which college nd country is best for MBA

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Sabrina C

Hi Neha, you can find MBA rankings over on our sister site, TopMBA.com. :)

amin a 1 year ago

i am a libyan i would like to get admission in MS civil engineering program in US or europ

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Harish R

I have k2tech which can offer something called fun and education. I think it's no2 now for two nights.

Huining C 1 year ago

Where can I download the file of the rankings?

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Sabrina C

Hi Huining, I'm afraid you can't download a file of the rankings, however they are available to view in full
here and you can download our supplement here for additional insights into the results.

chifundo m 1 year ago

Hi everyone,am chifundo minjale l completed my studies in diploma in environmental management in

Malawi and diploma in agricultural trading in Israel. Currently am looking for a degree scholarship from
different countries .......please help me

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Aldyan H 1 year ago

I think I'm not completely agree with these ranking over the years because the result is often too strange
for me. Lots of developing countries got their universities on the top 100s or top 200s while universities
in several more developed countries have only got top 500. The example is Indonesia and Phillipine,
where the highest university is reaching top 200 and top 300, it's ridiculous I think because both country
are still developing country, and moreover, I've been seen the study at University of Indonesia, the study
there still far left behind than Warsaw University in Poland. The research also still left behind, my mom is
finnish her master at University of Indonesia, once she going to Semmelweis University in Hungary, she
says that the research in UI is still left behind than SU in Hungary. The thing is I think QS ranking are very
confusing, and strange.

Measurement for developed is highly seen from the education, and mostly from research of the
university, and as Indonesian student, not meaning to drop my country, but I completely know the
education in here, especially the higher education, and I think QS need to change the ranking method, or
review the survey carefully, because the result is always strange for me. I think the Times Higher
Education still much more make sense than QS.

My comments is critique and piece of my opinion, not for insult, and through this comments, I just give
my opinion.

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Nirmal G 1 year ago

Hi everyone my name is Nirmal Gupta I'm from India I have completed my graduation in civil engineering
thank you !! I'm searching a job in India or any other country like this Australia ,US ,Singapore etc.thank
you !!

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Hamed g 1 year ago

only sharif university in Iran

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Fonji C 1 year ago

Hi.. My name is fonji clovis am from cameroon an i study electrical engineering in the university of buea.
This is my graduating this year and i have always wanted to come and do my masters in canada so
please i dont know if u can help me with the name name of any moderate university university in canada
that offers electrical engineering please.....

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Alexandre N

Salut Fonji!

A l'école de technologie supérieur à Montréal ils offrent un très bon programme et en plus si tu veux
une ville bilingue un peu comme le Cameroun ca pourrait être une combinaison parfaite pour vous.

Renseigner vous auprès du site officiel de ÉTS de Montreal pour les échanges étudiants. Vérifiez aussi
comment l'accès à l'éducation est facile et moins cher au Québec qu'ailleurs.
Rehoboth E 1 year ago

What about Nigeria? Surely the number 1 economy in Africa cannot be ignored. We are expecting you
people.

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Paul N

This is not a fun , Nigeria has more number of universities and colleges ,

But not even One was find merited to be in the list , not to say last position .

Dharmik P 1 year ago

Hi, I was wondering what sort of program or university would be best for astrobiology?

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Sabrina C

Hi Dharmik, you can browse our ranking of the top universities in the world for physics and astronomy
here. :)

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