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Best universities in the world 2024

Find the world’s top universities in 2024 using the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings data

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September 27 2023
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The top 10 universities in the world 2024

Scroll down for the full list of best universities in the world

 World University Ranking 2024 World University Ranking 2023UniversityCountry/Region
1 1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom
2 =3 Stanford UniversityUnited States
3 5 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States
4 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States
5 =3 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom
6 7 Princeton UniversityUnited States
7 6 California Institute of TechnologyUnited States
8 10 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom
9 8 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States
10 9 Yale UniversityUnited States

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024, released on 27 September 2023, has revealed the world’s top universities. 

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A UK institution, the University of Oxford, has taken the first place position while Stanford University is in second position.

In total, 1,904 universities across 108 countries or regions are represented in the ranking and 27 of these have at least one university in the top 200.  A further 769 universities are listed with “reporter” status, meaning that they provided data but did not meet our eligibility criteria to receive a rank.

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Both in terms of the overall ranking and the highest positions, the US and the UK are well represented. Japan and India are among the best-represented countries in the ranking. Other countries such as Germany, China, Australia and the Netherlands are well represented in the top 200. 

The 2024 World University Rankings were put together using a new and improved methodology. Results are calculated using 18 performance indicators underlying five metrics: research environment, teaching (the learning environment), research quality, industry and international outlook. The full methodology can be found here.

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5. University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a prestigious university located in the UK. 

Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research institution. Its 800-year history makes it the world’s fourth oldest university and the second oldest university in the English-speaking world.

The university is split into 31 colleges, where students receive small group teaching sessions known as supervisions. 

In total, 92 affiliates of the university have been awarded Nobel Prizes, covering every category. 

4. Harvard University

Established in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest university in the US and one of the top destinations for US law degrees.

Harvard University is one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. It is part of the Ivy League, a group of eight highly regarded private universities in the US.

Harvard is connected to more than 45 Nobel laureates, at least 30 heads of state and 48 Pulitzer prizewinners. Thirteen US presidents have honorary degrees from the institution; the most recent of these was awarded to John F. Kennedy in 1956.

3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT is organised into six separate schools: architecture and planning; engineering; humanities, arts and social sciences; management; science; and computing.

The first architecture classes in the US were taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The university was founded in the mid-19th century and has always endeavoured to provide financial aid to students on a needs basis.

Its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, includes 18 student residences, many gardens and public works of art.

Admission is extremely selective. The university lays claim to 85 Nobel Laureates, 58 National Medal of Science winners, 29 National Medal of Technology and Innovation winners and 45 MacArthur Fellows. Among its alumni is Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations.

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2. Stanford University

Many graduates go on to achieve great things, including law degrees. 17 Nobel laureates are affiliated with Stanford University.

There are just under 7,000 undergraduates and 9,000 postgraduates at the university, with a 7:4 student-to-staff ratio.

Stanford University has produced many entrepreneurs and start-ups and was partly responsible for the development of the surrounding Silicon Valley.

The large campus is home to 97 per cent of undergraduates and nearly 700 university buildings, museums, gardens and recreational centres.

Research at Stanford has a $1.22 billion budget and more than 5,000 of its projects are externally funded.

1. University of Oxford

One of the most prestigious universities in the UK has come out on top for the seventh consecutive year.

The University of Oxford is the UK’s oldest university and one of the best known in the world.

There are more than 20,000 students at Oxford, with a roughly equal number of undergraduates and postgraduates.

Admission is extremely competitive; on average the university receives five applications for every place. 

The university employs staff from just under 100 countries and foreign citizens make up about 40 per cent of the student and academic body.

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Top 200 universities in the world 2024

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2024 results

 World University Ranking 2024 World University Ranking 2023UniversityCountry/Region
1 1 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom
2 =3 Stanford UniversityUnited States
3 5 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States
4 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States
5 =3 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom
6 7 Princeton UniversityUnited States
7 6 California Institute of TechnologyUnited States
8 10 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom
9 8 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States
10 9 Yale UniversityUnited States
11 =11 ETH ZurichSwitzerland
12 16 Tsinghua UniversityChina
13 13 The University of ChicagoUnited States
14 17 Peking UniversityChina
15 15 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States
16 14 University of PennsylvaniaUnited States
17 =11 Columbia UniversityUnited States
18 21 University of California, Los AngelesUnited States
19 19 National University of SingaporeSingapore
20 20 Cornell UniversityUnited States
21 18 University of TorontoCanada
22 22 UCLUnited Kingdom
23 23 University of Michigan-Ann ArborUnited States
24 28 Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States
25 =26 University of WashingtonUnited States
26 25 Duke UniversityUnited States
27 24 New York UniversityUnited States
28 =26 Northwestern UniversityUnited States
29 39 The University of TokyoJapan
=30 29 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom
=30 30 Technical University of MunichGermany
32 36 Nanyang Technological University, SingaporeSingapore
33 41 École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneSwitzerland
34 32 University of California, San DiegoUnited States
35 31 University of Hong KongHong Kong
36 38 Georgia Institute of TechnologyUnited States
37 34 University of MelbourneAustralia
=38 35 King’s College LondonUnited Kingdom
=38 33 LMU MunichGermany
40 47 Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University ParisFrance
41 40 University of British ColumbiaCanada
42 48 University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUnited States
43 52 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina
44 51 Fudan UniversityChina
45 42 KU LeuvenBelgium
46 37 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom
47 43 Universität HeidelbergGermany
48 70 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands
49 46 McGill UniversityCanada
50 49 Karolinska InstituteSweden
51 =54 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom
52 50 University of Texas at AustinUnited States
53 45 Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong
54 44 Monash UniversityAustralia
=55 68 Kyoto UniversityJapan
=55 67 Zhejiang UniversityChina
57 74 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina
58 93 Université Paris-SaclayFrance
59 63 University of California, DavisUnited States
60 =54 University of SydneyAustralia
61 60 University of AmsterdamNetherlands
62 56 Seoul National UniversitySouth Korea
63 81 University of Wisconsin-MadisonUnited States
=64 61 Brown UniversityUnited States
=64 58 The Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyHong Kong
=64 59 Wageningen University & ResearchNetherlands
67 62 Australian National UniversityAustralia
68 57 Washington University in St LouisUnited States
69 64 University of California, Santa BarbaraUnited States
70 53 The University of QueenslandAustralia
71 =95 Institut Polytechnique de ParisFrance
72 69 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States
73 =95 Nanjing UniversityChina
74 65 University of Southern CaliforniaUnited States
75 90 Sorbonne UniversityFrance
76 78 Yonsei University (Seoul campus)South Korea
77 77 Leiden UniversityNetherlands
78 =71 Boston UniversityUnited States
79 75 University of GroningenNetherlands
80 =82 University of ZurichSwitzerland
81 76 University of BristolUnited Kingdom
82 =99 City University of Hong KongHong Kong
83 =91 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)South Korea
84 =71 UNSW SydneyAustralia
85 =101 University of MinnesotaUnited States
86 127 Purdue University West LafayetteUnited States
=87 =82 University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom
=87 79 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong
=87 =86 Humboldt University of BerlinGermany
90 =99 RWTH Aachen UniversityGermany
91 89 University of BonnGermany
=92 =95 University of California, IrvineUnited States
=92 98 Vanderbilt UniversityUnited States
94 73 Charité - Universitätsmedizin BerlinGermany
=95 =86 University of TübingenGermany
=97 155 KTH Royal Institute of TechnologySweden
=97 =108 University of SouthamptonUnited Kingdom
=99 80 Erasmus University RotterdamNetherlands
=99 112 Ohio State University (Main campus)United States
101 =108 University of BirminghamUnited Kingdom
102 =91 Free University of BerlinGermany
=103 =114 University of CopenhagenDenmark
=103 85 McMaster UniversityCanada
105 =114 University of SheffieldUnited Kingdom
=106 =82 Emory UniversityUnited States
=106 =119 Lund UniversitySweden
=106 =104 University of WarwickUnited Kingdom
=109 117 Aarhus UniversityDenmark
=109 118 University of AlbertaCanada
=111 88 University of AdelaideAustralia
=111 =119 University of GöttingenGermany
=111 111 University of MontrealCanada
114 =104 University of Maryland, College ParkUnited States
115 107 Ghent UniversityBelgium
=116 94 University of BernSwitzerland
=116 106 Michigan State UniversityUnited States
118 181 Texas A&M UniversityUnited States
=119 147 Rice UniversityUnited States
=119 =124 University of ViennaAustria
121 110 University of HelsinkiFinland
122 =151 Penn State (Main campus)United States
=123 =101 University of BaselSwitzerland
=123 191 University of MassachusettsUnited States
125 121 Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNetherlands
126 =166 Technical University of DenmarkDenmark
127 126 University of OsloNorway
128 113 University of FreiburgGermany
129 =128 University of LeedsUnited Kingdom
=130 130 University of NottinghamUnited Kingdom
=130 201–250 Tohoku UniversityJapan
132 =151 University of FloridaUnited States
133 154 University of RochesterUnited States
134 =161 Trinity College DublinIreland
135 =124 Queen Mary University of LondonUnited Kingdom
=136 =128 University of HamburgGermany
=136 =156 Technical University of BerlinGermany
=138 =148 University of Colorado BoulderUnited States
=138 145 Maastricht UniversityNetherlands
=140 =189 Karlsruhe Institute of TechnologyGermany
=140 =139 Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands
=140 =148 Uppsala UniversitySweden
=143 135 University of LausanneSwitzerland
=143 =131 The University of Western AustraliaAustralia
=145 144 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campusUnited States
=145 =170 Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)South Korea
147 =139 University of YorkUnited Kingdom
148 133 University of Technology SydneyAustralia
149 =163 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)South Korea
=150 =139 University of AucklandNew Zealand
=150 =196 Sichuan UniversityChina
=152 182 University of BarcelonaSpain
=152 =187 National Taiwan University (NTU)Taiwan
=152 =114 Université Paris CitéFrance
=155 180 University of ArizonaUnited States
=155 =161 University of BolognaItaly
=155 122 Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom
=158 =176 Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina
=158 201–250 University of WaterlooCanada
160 146 University of CologneGermany
=161 =131 University of AntwerpBelgium
=161 123 Dartmouth CollegeUnited States
=161 =156 TU DresdenGermany
=164 134 Case Western Reserve UniversityUnited States
=164 173 Wuhan UniversityChina
166 =156 University of Virginia (Main campus)United States
167 160 University of Cape TownSouth Africa
=168 =170 Université Catholique de LouvainBelgium
=168 201–250 Eindhoven University of TechnologyNetherlands
=168 351–400 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina
=168 =176 University of LiverpoolUnited Kingdom
=168 =139 Newcastle UniversityUnited Kingdom
=168 =183 Scuola Normale Superiore di PisaItaly
174 =198 Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom
=175 251–300 Osaka UniversityJapan
=175 =139 University of WürzburgGermany
=177 251–300 Beijing Normal UniversityChina
=177 =137 University of ExeterUnited Kingdom
=177 =137 University of OttawaCanada
180 175 Macquarie UniversityAustralia
181 201–250 Sapienza University of RomeItaly
182 =156 Arizona State University (Tempe)United States
183 201–250 University of GenevaSwitzerland
184 251–300 University of TwenteNetherlands
=185 =176 Stockholm UniversitySweden
=185 251–300 Tongji UniversityChina
=187 136 Georgetown UniversityUnited States
=187 179 University of MannheimGermany
189 251–300 Chalmers University of TechnologySweden
190 =187 Cardiff UniversityUnited Kingdom
=191 301–350 Tokyo Institute of TechnologyJapan
=191 =151 Tufts UniversityUnited States
=193 =196 University of Erlangen-NurembergGermany
=193 201–250 University of MacauMacao
=193 185 University of MünsterGermany
=193 201–250 University of St AndrewsUnited Kingdom
=193 =148 Ulm UniversityGermany
198 =170 Indiana UniversityUnited States
=199 201–250 University of Notre DameUnited States
=199 201–250 Queensland University of TechnologyAustralia
=199 174 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)South Korea

Editor’s note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

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