Best universities in the world 2021 by location
Best universities in the world 2021
10. University of Chicago
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
UK Universities
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)
top architecture schools
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)
ETH Zurich
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
UK Universities
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
dental school
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 2021 by location
Best universities in the world 2021 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 74th in the world
Australia: Australian National University (ANU) – ranked joint 29th
Austria: Universität Wien (University of Vienna) – ranked joint 154th
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 351st
Belgium: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven – ranked 80th
Brazil: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) – ranked joint 116th
Brunei Darussalam: University of Brunei Darussalam – ranked joint 298th
Bulgaria: Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – ranked 751-800
Canada: University of Toronto – ranked joint 29th
Chile: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – ranked 127th
China: Tsinghua University – ranked 16th
Colombia: Universidad de Los Andes Colombia – ranked joint 234th
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 291st
Denmark: University of Copenhagen – ranked joint 72nd
Ecuador: Universidad de San Francisco de Quito – ranked 751-800
Egypt: American University in Cairo – ranked joint 395th
Estonia: University of Tartu – ranked 301st
Finland: University of Helsinki – ranked 107th
France: Paris Sciences et Lettres Research University (PSL) – ranked 53rd
Germany: Technische Universität München – ranked 55th
Greece: National Technical University of Athens – ranked joint 454th
Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong (HKU) – ranked joint 25th
Hungary: University of Szeged – ranked 501-510
India: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) – ranked 152nd
Indonesia: University of Indonesia – ranked joint 296th
Iran: Sharif University of Technology – ranked joint 407th
Iraq: University of Baghdad – ranked 701-750
Israel: Hebrew University of Jerusalem – ranked 162nd
Italy: Politecnico di Milano – ranked joint 149th
Japan: University of Tokyo – ranked joint 22nd
Jordan: University of Jordan – ranked 601-650
Kazakhstan: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University – ranked joint 207th
Kuwait: Kuwait University – ranked 801-1000
Latvia: Riga Technical University – ranked 701-750
Lebanon: American University of Beirut (AUB) – ranked 244th
Lithuania: Vilnius University – ranked joint 458th
Macao, S.A.R., China: University of Macau – ranked joint 387th
Malaysia: Universiti Malaya (UM) – ranked 70th
Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) – ranked 103rd
Netherlands: Delft University of Technology – ranked 50th
New Zealand: University of Auckland – ranked 88th
Norway: University of Oslo – ranked 119th
Oman: Sultan Qaboos University – ranked joint 379th
Pakistan: Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) – ranked 375th
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 474th
Philippines: University of the Philippines – ranked joint 356th
Poland: Jagiellonian University – ranked joint 338th
Portugal: University of Lisbon – ranked joint 338th
Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico – ranked 801-1000
Qatar: Qatar University – ranked 276th
Republic of Ireland: Trinity College Dublin (TCD) – ranked joint 108th
Romania: Babes-Bolyai University and the University of Bucharest – both ranked 801-1000
Russia: Lomonosov Moscow State University – ranked 84th
Saudi Arabia: King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) – ranked 186th
Serbia: University of Belgrade – ranked 801-1000
Singapore: Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) – ranked joint 11th
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 198th
South Korea: Seoul National University (SNU) – ranked 37th
Spain: Universitat de Barcelona (UB) – ranked joint 165th
Sri Lanka: University of Peradeniya – ranked 801-1000
Sweden: Lund University – ranked 92nd
Taiwan: National Taiwan University (NTU) – ranked 69th
Thailand: Chulalongkorn University – ranked joint 247th
Turkey: Koç University – ranked joint 451st
Ukraine: V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University – ranked joint 491st
United Arab Emirates: Khalifa University– ranked joint 268th
Uruguay: Universidad de Montevideo – ranked joint 491st
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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This article was originally published in June 2019 . It was last updated in August 2021
