Top Universities in the World 2024

Edited By Stuti Jain | Updated on Apr 24, 2024 03:58 PM IST

Top Universities in the World 2024: Students from the world over aspire to study at the top universities. A major focal point for choosing the top universities worldwide is the world university rankings released by QS and Times Higher Education (THE). QS World University Rankings 2024 ranked 1500 institutions from 104 countries worldwide. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, US has been ranked number 1 among the top universities in the world by QS World University Rankings 2024 for 12 years in a row. The University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford are ranked 2nd and 3rd position in the QS ranking, respectively.

This Story also Contains

Top Universities in the World 2024
Top Universities in the World List
Best Universities in the World in QS Rankings
QS World University Rankings Methodology
Top Universities in the World by THE 2024
Times Higher Education Ranking Methodology
Best Universities in the World in ARWU Rankings
ARWU Ranking 2023 Parameters
Top Universities in the World for Subject-Wise
Admission Requirements for Top Universities in the World

Top Universities in the World 2024 - QS, THE, ARWU Ranking

THE World University Rankings 2024 features 1904 universities across 108 countries and regions. The University of Oxford secured the first rank in THE World University Rankings 2024 for 8 consecutive years. THE ranked Stanford University 2nd and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 3rd among the top universities in the world 2024.

More than 5 million students each year travel abroad to join top universities in the world. With nearly 5 million students jumping on the study abroad bandwagon, top unis in the world are engaged in a serious competition to attract international students to their classrooms. International students are increasingly basing their decisions on the World University Rankings to select the good universities in the world for higher education. A few of the top study destinations including USA, United Kingdom, Australia, China, etc. are highly popular and have the highest number of top universities in the world. Read the article to know the top 100 universities in the World and their locations.

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The top universities abroad or local, i.e., in the world 2023 & 2024 are ranked based on various parameters by three major ranking bodies; Times Higher Education (THE), Quacquarelli Symonds(QS world rankings) and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The various parameters on which these ranking engines rank the universities are: academic or research performance, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers, papers published in Nature and Science, papers indexed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic performance of an institution.

Top Universities in the World List

The USA, UK, and Australia have the maximum number of universities in the top 100 universities for 2024 list drawn by QS or THE. USA has the maximum number of top higher education institues in the global universities ranking followed by UK and Australia. This reflects that these countries focus hugely on maintaining the quality of their higher education institutes. Also, these countries gives a lot of weightage to research, so, students attain the firsthand knowledge and not just limit their teaching to rot learning.

Apart from this, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and China are some of the popular study abroad destinations that have been included in the top universities in the world list. Ultimately, the best choice for top universities in the world 2024 depends on the requirements of an individual as well as the visa requirements of a particular country.

Top Universities in the World 2024

Country	QS	THE	ARWU
Country	2024	2024	2023
Top Universities in USA	27	36	38
To Universities in Canada	3	3	5
Top Universities in UK	17	11	8
Top Universities in France	4	4	4
Top Universities in Switzerland	3	3	5
Top Universities in Germany	4	8	4
Top Universities in Netherlands	2	6	3
Top Universities in Denmark	-	-	2
Top Universities in Italy	-	-	-
Top Universities in Spain	-	-	-
Top Universities in Ireland	1		-
Top Universities in Russia	1	-	1
Top Universities in Japan	4	2	2
Top Universities in South Korea	4	3	1
Top Universities in China	5	7	10
Top Universities in India	-	-	-
Top Universities in Malaysia	1	-	-
Top Universities in Singapore	2	2	2
Top Universities in New Zealand	1	-	-
Top Universities in Australia	9	6	6
Top Universities in Hong Kong	5	5	1
Top Universities in UAE	-	-	-

Explore top study abroad destinations

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Study in Canada	Study in Germany

Best Universities in the World in QS Rankings

Here are the 100 top universities in the world for the years 2024 and 2023 based on QS World University Rankings. Among the top 1500 institutions listed by QS, the 100 top universities in the world 2024 along with their origin of country are provided below.

Top 100 Universities in the World: QS Ranking

Name of the University	QS Ranking
	QS Ranking
	2024	2023
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA	1	1
University of Cambridge, UK	2	2
University of Oxford, UK	3	4
Harvard University, USA	4	5
Stanford University, USA	5	3
Imperial College London, UK	6	6
ETH Zurich, Switzerland	7	9
National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore	8	11
University College London	9	8
University of California, Berkeley (UCB), USA	10	27
University of Chicago, USA	11	10
University of Pennsylvania, USA	12	13
Cornell University, USA	13	20
University of Melbourne, Australia	14	33
California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA	15	6
Yale University, USA	16	18
Peking University, China	17	12
Princeton University, USA	17	16
University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia	19	45
University of Sydney, Australia	19	41
University of Toronto, Canada	21	34
University of Edinburgh, UK	22	15
Columbia University, USA	23	22
Université PSL, France	24	26
Tsinghua University, China	25	14
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore)	26	19
University of Hong Kong, China	26	21
Johns Hopkins University, USA	28	24
University of Tokyo, Japan	28	23
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA	29	44
McGill University, Canada	30	31
University of Manchester, UK	32	28
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA	33	25
Australian National University (ANU), Australia	34	30
University of British Columbia, Canada	34	47
EPFL, Switzerland	36	16
Technical University of Munich, Germany	37	49
Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France	38	48
New York University (NYU), USA	38	39
King's College London, UK	40	37
Seoul National University, South Korea	41	29
Monash University, Australia	42	57
University of Queensland, Australia	43	50
Zhejiang University, China	44	42
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK	45	56
Kyoto University, Japan	46	36
Delft University of Technology, Netherlands	47	61
Northwestern University, USA	48	32
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), China	48	38
Fudan University, China	50	34
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China	51	46
Carnegie Mellon University, USA	52	52
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands	53	58
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany	54	59
University of Bristol, UK	55	61
KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, South Korea	56	42
Duke University, USA	57	50
University of Texas at Austin, USA	58	72
Sorbonne University, France	59	60
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR	60	40
KU Leuven, Belgium	61	76
University of California, San Diego (UCSD), USA	62	53
University of Washington, USA	63	80
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA	64	85
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR	65	65
Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia	65	70
The University of Warwick, UK	67	64
The University of Auckland, New Zealand	68	87
National Taiwan University (NTU), Taiwan	69	77
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR	70	54
Université Paris-Saclay, France	71	69
The University of Western Australia, Australia	72	90
Brown University, USA	73	63
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden	73	89
University of Leeds, UK	75	86
University of Glasgow, UK	76	81
Yonsei University, South Korea	76	73
Durham University, UK	78	92
Korea University, South Korea	79	74
Osaka University, Japan	80	68
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Ireland	81	98
University of Southampton, UK	81	78
Pennsylvania State University, USA	83	93
University of Birmingham, UK	84	91
Lund University, Sweden	85	95
Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil	85	115
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia	87	76
Universität Heidelberg, Germany	87	65
The University of Adelaide, Australia	89	109
University of Technology Sydney, Australia	90	137
Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan	91	55
University of Zurich, Switzerland	91	83
Boston University, USA	93	108
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico	93	104
Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina	95	67
University of St Andrews, UK	95	96
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA	97	88
Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany	98	118
Purdue University, USA	99	129
Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH), South Korea	100	71
University of Nottingham, UK	100	114

QS Rankings are considered by many aspirants when selecting among the top universities in the world 2024 for their studies abroad. QS rankings provide an overall picture of a university. The most significant factors like student/faculty ratio, international students, employment outcomes, and sustainability. Sustainability refers to the potential of a university to stand well in the years to come. This is decided based on the research quality, presence of faculty, and curriculum adopted among others.

QS World University Rankings Methodology

Top universities in the world 2024 rankings are different for different ranking engines. The most well-known ranking methodology, the QS ranking 2024 uses six metrics.

QS uni rankings methodology

Metric	Weightage
Academic Reputation	40 %
Employer Reputation	10 %
Faculty/Student Ratio	20 %
Citation per faculty	20 %
International Faculty Ratio	5 %
International Student Ratio	5 %

Top Universities in the World by THE 2024

The "THE World University 2024 rankings" include a total of 1904 universities from across 108 countries. Among them, the 100 top universities in the world are listed with the universities and locations.

Top 100 Universities in the World: THE Ranking

Name	Rank 2024	Rank 2023
University of Oxford, UK	1	1
Stanford University, USA	2	3
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA	3	5
Harvard University, USA	4	2
University of Cambridge, UK	5	3
Princeton University, USA	6	7
California Institute of Technology, USA	7	6
Imperial College London, UK	8	10
University of California, Berkeley, USA	9	8
Yale University, USA	10	9
ETH Zurich, Switzerland	11	11
Tsinghua University, China	12	16
The University of Chicago, USA	13	13
Peking University, China	14	17
Johns Hopkins University, USA	15	15
University of Pennsylvania, USA	16	14
Columbia University, USA	17	11
University of California, Los Angeles, USA	18	21
National University of Singapore, Singapore	19	19
Cornell University, USA	20	20
University of Toronto, Canada	21	18
UCL, UK	22	22
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, USA	23	23
Carnegie Mellon University, USA	24	28
University of Washington, USA	25	26
Duke University, USA	26	25
New York University, USA	27	24
Northwestern University, USA	28	26
The University of Tokyo, Japan	29	39
University of Edinburgh, UK	30	29
Technical University of Munich, Germany	30	30
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore	32	36
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland	33	41
University of California, San Diego, USA	34	32
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong	35	31
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA	36	38
University of Melbourne, Australia	37	34
King’s College London, UK	38	35
LMU Munich, Germany	38	33
Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris, France	40	47
University of British Columbia, Canada	41	40
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA	42	48
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China	43	52
Fudan University, China	44	51
KU Leuven, Belgium	45	42
London School of Economics and Political Science, UK	46	37
Universität Heidelberg, Germany	47	43
Delft University of Technology, Netherlands	48	70
McGill University, Canada	49	46
Karolinska Institute, Sweden	50	49
University of Manchester, UK	51	54
University of Texas at Austin, USA	52	50
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong	53	45
Monash University, Australia	54	44
Kyoto University, Japan	55	68
Zhejiang University, China	55	67
University of Science and Technology of China, China	57	74
Université Paris-Saclay, France	58	93
University of California, Davis, USA	59	63
The University of Sydney, Australia	60	54
University of Amsterdam	61	60
Seoul National University, South Korea	62	56
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA	63	81
Brown University, USA	64	61
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong	64	58
Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands	64	59
Australian National University, Australia	67	62
Washington University in St Louis, USA	68	57
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA	69	64
The University of Queensland, Australia	70	53
Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France	71	95
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA	72	69
Nanjing University, China	73	17
University of Southern California, USA	74	65
Sorbonne University, France	75	90
Yonsei University (Seoul campus), South Korea	76	78
Leiden University, Netherlands	77	77
Boston University, USA	78	71
University of Groningen, Netherlands	79	75
University of Zurich, Switzerland	80	82
University of Bristol, UK	81	76
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong	82	99
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea	83	91
UNSW Sydney, Australia	84	71
University of Minnesota, USA	85	101
Purdue University West Lafayette, USA	86	127
University of Glasgow, UK	87	82
Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong	87	79
Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany	87	86
RWTH Aachen University, Germany	90	99
University of Bonn, Germany	91	89
University of California, Irvine, USA	92	95
Vanderbilt University, USA	92	98
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany	94	73
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation	95	163
University of Tübingen, Germany	95	86
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden	97	155
University of Southampton, UK	97	108
Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands	99	80
Ohio State University, USA	99	112

Times Higher Education rankings have the highest number of factors in their ranking process. If students are looking for both research quality and reputation among employers, Times Higher Education rankings are the best to consider. Teaching reputation carries the highest weightage in THE followed by research quality. Teaching in universities is ranking based on surveys regarding quality of teaching. THE rankings give an overall view of a university.

Times Higher Education Ranking Methodology

The Times Higher Education Ranking methodology for the top universities in the world 2023 considers five indicators teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income.

Ranking Parameters for Universities by THE

Indicator	Weight
Teaching (the learning environment)	30%
Research (volume, income and reputation)	30%
Citations (research influence)	30%
International outlook (staff, students, research)	7.5%
Industry income (knowledge transfer)	2.5%

Best Universities in the World in ARWU Rankings

The ARWU rankings are the Academic Ranking of World Universities published by the Center for World-Class Universities (CWCU) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. This is an Independent organization focused on higher education and intelligence. Every year it publishes the best 100 universities in the world. Among them, the top 100 universities in the world and their location details are provided below.

Top 100 Universities in the World: ARWU Ranking

Name of the University	ARWU Ranking
Harvard University, USA	1
Stanford University, USA	2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA	3
University of Cambridge, UK	4
University of California, Berkeley, USA	5
Princeton University, USA	6
University of Oxford, UK	7
Columbia University, USA	8
California Institute of Technology, USA	9
University of Chicago, USA	10
Yale University, USA	11
Cornell University, USA	12
University of California, Los Angeles, USA	13
University of Pennsylvania, USA	14
Paris-Saclay University, France	15
Johns Hopkins University, USA	16
University College London, UK	17
University of Washington, USA	18
University of California, San Diego, USA	19
ETH Zurich, Switzerland	20
University of California, San Francisco, USA	21
Tsinghua University, China	22
Imperial College London, UK	23
University of Toronto, Canada	24
Washington University in St. Louis, USA	25
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA	26
University of Tokyo, Japan	27
New York University, USA	28
Peking University, China	29
Northwestern University, USA	30
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA	31
University of Copenhagen, Japan	32
Zhejiang University, China	33
Duke University, USA	34
University of Melbourne, Australia	35
University of Wisconsin - Madison, USA	35
Karolinska Institute, Sweden	37
University of Edinburgh, UK	38
Kyoto University, Japan	39
Rockefeller University, New York, USA	39
PSL University, France	41
University of Manchester, UK	41
University of Texas at Austin, USA	43
University of British Columbia, Canada	44
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA	44
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China	46
Sorbonne University, France	46
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA	48
University of Geneva, Switzerland	49
University of Maryland, College Park, USA	50

Shanghai ARWU rankings reflect quality of research at the universities. Rankings are assigned based on Noble prize winners also. However, ARWU rankings are not based on academic reputation. So prospects who are looking to study in research-intense universities that provide world class infrastructure and resources must consider ARWU rankings when deciding the best university for them.

ARWU Ranking 2023 Parameters

Top universities in the world 2023 as ranked by the Shanghai Ranking take a similar metric as the above two but the percentage of weight allotted to each is different.

Criteria	Indicator	Code	Weight
Quality of Education	Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals	Alumni	10%
Quality of Faculty	Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals	Award HiCi	20%
Quality of Faculty	Highly cited researchers	Award HiCi	20%
Research Output	Paper published in Nature and Science*	N&S PUB	20%
Research Output	Papers indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Science Citation Index	N&S PUB	20%
Per Capita Performance	Per capita academic performance of an institution	PCP	10%
Total			100%

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Top Universities in the World for Subject-Wise

Candidates who have decided on their stream and looking for the best universities in that domain can check the best universities for subject-wise categories. The subject-wise top universities in the world for masters are listed below.

Top Universities in the World for Business

Name of the University	QS 2024 Ranking for MBA
Stanford Graduate School of Business	1
Penn (Wharton)	2
Harvard Business School	3
London Business School	4
HEC Paris	5
MIT (Sloan)	6
Columbia Business School	7
IE Business School	8
Cambridge (Judge)	9
IESE Business School	9
INSEAD	11

Top Universities in the World for MBA

Name of the University	THE 2024 Ranking for MBA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	1
Stanford University	2
Harvard University	3
University of California, Berkeley	4
University of Cambridge	5
University of Oxford	5
University of Chicago	7
Tsinghua University	8
Yale University	9
Peking University	10

Top Universities in the World for Masters

Name of the University	QS 2024 Ranking
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA	1
University of Cambridge, UK	2
University of Oxford, UK	3
Harvard University, USA	4
Stanford University, USA	5
Imperial College London, UK	6
ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Switzerland	7
National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore	8
University College London (UCL), UK	9
University of California, Berkeley (UCB), USA	10

Top Universities in the World for Engineering

Name of the University	QS 2024 Ranking for Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA	1
Stanford University, USA	2
Oxford University, UK	3
University of Cambridge, UK	4
University of California, Berkeley (UCB), USA	5
ETH Zurich, Switzerland	6
Imperial College London, UK	7
Harvard University, USA	8
California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA	9
EPFL – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne	10

Top Universities in the World for Computer Science

Name of the University	QS 2024 Ranking for Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA	1
Carnegie Mellon University, USA	2
Stanford University, USA	3
University of Oxford, UK	4
University of California, Berkeley (UCB), USA	5
National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore	6
Harvard University, USA	7
Cambridge University, UK	8
ETH Zurich, Switzerland	9
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore)	10

Candidates can apply for the admission exams of these respective universities to get enrolled in the courses. Depending on the course the entrance exams like GRE, GMAT and SAT and get varies. Each university has its own cut-off marks and selection criteria for admission purposes. Candidate can check them individually and proceed with their study abroad goals.

Admission Requirements for Top Universities in the World

Admission requirements for world’s top 100 universities vary on the basis of the course chosen by a student and the entry requirements of a university. However, each university has few general admission requirements which includes academic scores, entrance exams, and documents to make a strong application. A few of these entry requirements to study at the best universities in the world are listed below:

Academic Performance: All applicants are required to have a high academic score in their high school and their bachelor’s (if applying for a master’s degree). Admissions to the top 100 universities are highly competitive, hence students are expected to maintain a high GPA throughout their studies.
Test Scores: Depending on the university and the course chosen, students must have a valid score in SAT, ACT, GMAT or GRE exams. All international students are required to meet the English language requirement and hence must submit a valid IELTS or TOEFL score.
Extracurricular Activities: Candidates are required to have an involvement in extracurricular activities, show that they are all-rounder. In addition to having excellent academic results, students must involve in extracurricular activities by taking applying for internships, leadership positions, participating in artistic or athletic competitions.
Strong Application Documents: All applicants planning to seek admission to top 100 universities in the world are required to have a strong application along with a well written statement of purpose and letters of recommendation at the time of admission.

Entrance Exams for Studying Abroad

GRE	GMAT	AP
TOEFL	IELTS	USMLE
LSAT	ACT	MCAT
DET	CAEL	CAE

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs)

1. How does the ranking of international universities help a student to study abroad?

The ranking of universities in the world by different reputed agencies such as QS, THE or ARWU will help a student shortlist the best universities to make the application process easier.

2. How can students use university rankings to their advantage?

Students can use the rankings to differentiate between universities and choose the most suitable one. If they have shortlisted say, seven universities, they can use the rankings to narrow it down to three and proceed with their application.

3. Why are university rankings important?

University rankings help students to differentiate between colleges and find the best college suited to their needs.

4. Which is the top 1 university in the world 2024?

As per the QS World University Ranking 2024, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA is the top 1 university in the world 2024. University of Oxford is ranked number 1 university by THE World University Ranking 2024.

5. What is the world's oldest university?

According to UNESCO, the world's oldest university is the University of Bologna, located in Italy. The university of Bologna was established in 1088 and is regarded as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. According to some historians and scholars, AL-Qarawiyyin is also known as the world's oldest existing educational institution.

6. Is the University of Oxford expensive?

The cost of attending the University of Oxford depends on a variety of factors which includes housing, food, transportation and many more. For international students, the cost of tuition at Oxford ranges from GBP 28,000 to GBP 44,000 per year. Students must have a budget of approximately GBP 1300 to GBP 1850 per month to cover the cost of studying at Oxford.