Our detailed methodology, trusted worldwide by students, teachers, academics, governments and industry experts, is based on:
157 million citations
18 million research publications
survey responses from more than 93,000 scholars globally
Our analysis shows that the reputations of the UK and US higher education sectors are declining.
There is more analysis on the results, including tables, charts and interviews with university leaders in our World University Rankings 2025 digital report.
To unlock the data behind THE’s rankings and access a range of analytical and benchmarking tools, visit our data and insights page.
1 University of Oxford
United Kingdom
2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States
3 Harvard University
United States
4 Princeton University
United States
5 University of Cambridge
United Kingdom
6 Stanford University
United States
7 California Institute of Technology
United States
8 University of California, Berkeley
United States
9 Imperial College London
United Kingdom
10 Yale University
United States
11 ETH Zurich
Switzerland
12 Tsinghua University
China
13 Peking University
China
14 The University of Chicago
United States
15 University of Pennsylvania
United States
16 Johns Hopkins University
United States
17 National University of Singapore
Singapore
18 Columbia University
United States
19 University of California, Los Angeles
United States
20 Cornell University
United States
21 University of Toronto
Canada
22 UCL
United Kingdom
23 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
United States
24 Carnegie Mellon University
United States
25 University of Washington
United States
26. Duke University USA
27. New York University USA
28. Northwestern University USA
29. University of Tokyo Japan
30. Technical University of Munich Germany
30. The University of Edinburgh Uk
32. Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Singapore
33. Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Switzerland
34. University of California San Diego USA
35. The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
36. Georgia Institute of Technology USA
37. The University of Melbourne Australia
38. King’s College London, University of London UK
38. Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Germany
40. PSL Universite Paris France
41. The University of British Columbia Canada
42. University of Illinois At Urbana Champaign
USA
43. Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
44. Fudan University China
45. KU Leuven University Belgium
46. London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London UK
47. University of Heidelberg Germany
48. Delft University of Technology Netherlands
49. McGill University Canada
50. Karolinska Institutet Sweden
51. University of Manchester UK
52. University of Texas at Austin USA
53. The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
54. Monash University Australia
55. Kyoto University Japan
55. Zhejiang University china
57. University of Science and Technology of China
58. Université Paris-Saclay France
59. University of California Davis USA
60. The University of Sydney Australia
61. University of Amsterdam Netherlands
62. Seoul National University South Korea
63. University of Wisconsin – Madison USA
64. Brown University USA
64. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
64. Wageningen University and Research Centre Netherlands
67. The Australian National University
Australia
68. Washington University in St Louis USA
69. University of California, Santa Barbara USA
70. The University of Queensland Australia
71. Institut Polytechnique de Paris France
72. University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill
USA
73. Nanjing University China
74. University of Southern California USA
75. Sorbonne University France
76. Yonsei University South Korea
77. Leiden University Netherlands
78. Boston University USA
79. University of Groningen Netherlands
80. University of Zurich Switzerland
81. University of Bristol UK
82. City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
83. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology South Korea
84. UNSW Sydney – University of New South Wales Australia
85. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus USA
86. Purdue University USA
87. Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
87. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong
87. University of Glasgow UK
90. RWTH Aachen University Germany
91. University of Bonn Germany
92. University of California Irvine USA
93. Vanderbilt University USA
94. Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin Germany
95. Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia
95. University of Tubingen Germany
97. KTH Royal Institute of Technology Sweden
97. University of Southampton UK
99. Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands
100. The Ohio State University USA
World University Ranking: Only one Nigerian institution makes top 1,000 list
The number of Nigerian universities in the top 1,000 spots of the Times Higher Education (THE) world universities ranking has decreased for the third consecutive year.
In the 2024 rankings last year, two Nigerian universities –Covenant University, Ogun State and the University of Ibadan— made the top 1,000 spot. The year before in 2023, three universities –University of Ibadan (UI), University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Covenant University – were in the top 1,000 spots.
In the latest ranking for 2025, however, only one Nigerian university, Covenant University, made the ranking. The private institution has consistently featured in the top 1,000 spots since 2019.
Top universities in Nigeria
Among Nigerian universities, Covenant is followed by Ahmadu Bello University, ranked between 1001–1200. Other Nigerian universities ranked between 1001-1200 are Landmark University, University of Ibadan, and University of Lagos.
Bayero University, Federal University of Technology Akure, Federal University of Technology, Minna, University of Benin and the University of Ilorin are ranked in 1201–1500.
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