It’s official: these are the best universities in the world for 2025

There’s plenty to assess when it comes to the best universities in the world, from the go-to place for your field of study to wider student satisfaction. And one of the most prestigious rankings out there has just revealed its list for 2025. 

This year, the QS World University Rankings evaluated more institutions than ever, with 1,500 unis being put under the microscope. But the same American institute has claimed the top spot for the thirteenth year.

That’s right – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (also known as MIT) has ranked as the world’s best university, yet again. About MIT, QS Top Universities said: ‘At its founding in 1861, MIT was initially a small community of problem-solvers and science lovers eager to bring their knowledge to bear on the world. Today, MIT has evolved into an educational behemoth, with some 1,000 faculty members and more than 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students.’

In fact, six American institutions make the top 20, including the likes of Harvard, Stanford and Cornell. Imperial College London claimed second place, beating both Oxford and Cambridge (although they both made the top 10, too). Two Singaporean, two Chinese and three Australian institutions also made the top 20. You can see the rest of the list below. 

These are the 20 best universities in the world for 2025

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
2. Imperial College London
3. University of Oxford
4. Harvard University
5. University of Cambridge
6. Stanford University
7. ETH Zurich
8. National University of Singapore
9. University College London
10. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
11. University of Pennsylvania
12. University of California, Berkeley
13. The University of Melbourne
14. Peking University
15. Nanyang Technology University, Singapore
16. Cornell University
17. The University of Hong Kong
18. The University of Sydney
19. The University of New South Wales
20. Tsinghua University

To read QS Top Universities full top 50 ranking, head to the website. 

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