The world's best universities have been revealed in the 21st edition of the QS World University Rankings. The list is once again topped by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the US and has led the ranking for 13 years in a row. The next two universities were located in the United Kingdom and are Imperial College London, which moved from 6th position to secure second place, and the University of Oxford in third.
Harvard University came in fourth again this year with a score of 96.8, closely followed by the University of Cambridge, which rounded out the top 5 with a score of 96.7.
This year's annual assessment is the largest ever, including more than 1,500 universities. It was based on the analysis of millions of academic papers and expert opinions. Metrics used for the ranking included academic and employer reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, faculty citations, international faculty ratio, international student ratio, international research network, employment outcomes and sustainability. Here is a summary of the top 10 universities this year based on their results in the ranking indicators.
QS World University Rankings 2025: Best Global Universities

While the United States was the most represented country this year, with 197 institutions ranked and some of the highest rankings, Europe achieved comparable success. European institutions, mainly in the UK, claimed half of the top 10 positions. The UK had the second highest number of universities in the rankings, with four of them in the top 10.