World’s Top 100 Universities 2027 — QS and THE Rankings

By Sampath Kumar · Updated 30 Sept 2026

The two most-quoted global rankings, both 2027 editions, side by side: the QS World University Rankings 2027 and the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2027, published on 30 September 2026. Every rank is exactly as the publisher printed it, ties included — with where India’s IITs, IISc and universities stand.

MITNo. 1 in QS 2027 (score 100)

OxfordNo. 1 in THE 2027 (score 97.9)

75universities in both top 100s

#118best Indian rank (QS): IIT Delhi

No Indian institution is in either top 100. In QS 2027 the highest is IIT Delhi at 118, then IIT Bombay (=134) and IIT Madras (170); 52 Indian institutions are ranked in all. In THE 2027 the highest is IISc Bangalore at =254; 170 Indian institutions are ranked, and the IITs are not in THE’s 2027 table. India in both rankings ↓

QS World University Rankings 2027 — top 100

102 universities, because several share a rank (a rank written “=2” is a tie). Score out of 100. Type a university or country to filter.

Rank	University	Country	City	Score
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	United States	Cambridge	100
=2	Imperial College London	United Kingdom	London	99.2
=2	Stanford University	United States	Stanford	99.2
4	University of Oxford	United Kingdom	Oxford	98.6
5	Harvard University	United States	Cambridge	97.4
6	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom	Cambridge	97.1
7	California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	United States	Pasadena	96.6
=8	ETH Zurich	Switzerland	Zürich	96.3
=8	UCL	United Kingdom	London	96.3
10	National University of Singapore (NUS)	Singapore	Singapore	96.2
11	The University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	95.9
12	Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore)	Singapore	Singapore	93.6
13	Peking University	China	Beijing	92.6
14	Tsinghua University	China	Beijing	92.1
15	University of Pennsylvania	United States	Philadelphia	91.7
=16	Cornell University	United States	Ithaca	91.5
=16	Yale University	United States	New Haven	91.5
18	The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	89.9
19	The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)	Australia	Sydney	89.8
=20	Johns Hopkins University	United States	Baltimore	89.7
=20	University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	United States	Berkeley	89.7
=22	EPFL – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne	Switzerland	Lausanne	89.6
=22	The University of Melbourne	Australia	Melbourne	89.6
24	University of Chicago	United States	Chicago	89.2
25	Technical University of Munich	Germany	Munich	89.1
26	Fudan University	China	Shanghai	89
27	Princeton University	United States	Princeton	88.9
28	The University of Sydney	Australia	Sydney	88.4
29	Australian National University (ANU)	Australia	Canberra	87.6
30	McGill University	Canada	Montreal	87.5
31	Monash University	Australia	Melbourne	87
32	University of Toronto	Canada	Toronto	86.8
33	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	86.4
34	Université PSL	France	Paris	86
35	The University of Edinburgh	United Kingdom	Edinburgh	85.9
36	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	China	Shanghai	85.8
37	King's College London	United Kingdom	London	85.7
38	Seoul National University	South Korea	Seoul	85.4
39	The University of Tokyo	Japan	Tokyo	84.8
=40	The University of Manchester	United Kingdom	Manchester	84.6
=40	The University of Queensland	Australia	Brisbane	84.6
42	Yonsei University	South Korea	Seoul	84.2
=43	Columbia University	United States	New York City	84
=43	Institut Polytechnique de Paris	France	Paris	84
=45	Northwestern University	United States	Evanston	83.8
=45	University of British Columbia	Canada	Vancouver	83.9
47	Zhejiang University	China	Hangzhou	83.5
48	Delft University of Technology	Netherlands	Delft	83.1
49	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	United States	Los Angeles	82.7
50	The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	82.3
51	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	United States	Ann Arbor	82.2
=52	City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK)	Hong Kong	Kowloon	81.9
=52	Korea University	South Korea	Seoul	81.9
54	National Taiwan University (NTU)	Taiwan	Taipei	81.7
55	Carnegie Mellon University	United States	Pittsburgh	81.4
56	Universiti Malaya (UM)	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	81.2
57	University of Bristol	United Kingdom	Bristol	80.9
58	New York University (NYU)	United States	New York City	80.8
59	KU Leuven	Belgium	Leuven	80.5
60	University of Amsterdam	Netherlands	Amsterdam	80.2
61	Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München	Germany	Munich	79.6
62	The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)	United Kingdom	London	78.8
63	KFUPM	Saudi Arabia	Dhahran	78.3
64	Kyoto University	Japan	Kyoto	78.2
65	KAIST	South Korea	Daejeon	77.7
66	Brown University	United States	Providence	77.4
67	The University of Auckland	New Zealand	Auckland	77
=68	University of Warwick	United Kingdom	England	75.9
=68	University of Birmingham	United Kingdom	Birmingham	75.9
70	Duke University	United States	Durham	75.8
71	Lund University	Sweden	Lund	75.7
72	University of Texas at Austin	United States	Austin	75.3
73	Sorbonne University	France	Paris	74.8
74	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	United States	Champaign	74.7
75	Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin	Ireland	Dublin	74.4
76	Université Paris-Saclay	France	Paris	73.8
=77	The University of Western Australia	Australia	Perth	73.7
=77	University of Leeds	United Kingdom	Leeds	73.7
79	Adelaide University	Australia	Adelaide	73.6
80	University of Glasgow	United Kingdom	Glasgow	73.4
81	University of California, San Diego (UCSD)	United States	San Diego	73.3
=82	KTH Royal Institute of Technology	Sweden	Stockholm	72.7
=82	The University of Sheffield	United Kingdom	Sheffield	72.7
84	Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)	Argentina	Buenos Aires	72.3
85	Durham University	United Kingdom	Durham	71.7
86	Universität Heidelberg	Germany	Heidelberg	70.6
=87	Politecnico di Milano	Italy	Milan	70.5
=87	The University of Technology Sydney (UTS)	Australia	Sydney	70.5
=87	Uppsala University	Sweden	Uppsala	70.5
=90	Nanjing University	China	Nanjing	70.4
=90	University of Copenhagen	Denmark	Copenhagen	70.4
=92	Pennsylvania State University	United States	University Park	70.2
=92	University of Washington	United States	Seattle	70.2
94	Boston University	United States	Boston	70
95	The University of Osaka	Japan	Osaka City	69.5
96	University of Alberta	Canada	Edmonton	69.3
=97	Institute of Science Tokyo	Japan	Tokyo	69.2
=97	University of Nottingham	United Kingdom	Nottingham	69.2
=98	Freie Universitaet Berlin	Germany	Berlin	69
=98	University of Zurich	Switzerland	Zürich	69
=100	Purdue University	United States	West Lafayette	68.7
=100	University College Dublin	Ireland	Dublin	68.7

THE World University Rankings 2027 — top 100

Published 30 September 2026. Score out of 100. Type a university or country to filter.

Rank	University	Country	Score
1	University of Oxford	United Kingdom	97.9
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	97.8
=3	Princeton University	United States	97.0
=3	Stanford University	United States	97.0
5	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom	96.9
6	Harvard University	United States	96.7
7	California Institute of Technology	United States	96.5
8	Imperial College London	United Kingdom	95.2
=9	University of California, Berkeley	United States	94.3
=9	Yale University	United States	94.3
11	Tsinghua University	China	93.9
12	ETH Zurich	Switzerland	93.6
13	Peking University	China	92.8
14	University of Pennsylvania	United States	91.5
15	National University of Singapore	Singapore	91.1
16	The University of Chicago	United States	90.7
=17	Johns Hopkins University	United States	90.3
=17	UCL	United Kingdom	90.3
19	Columbia University	United States	90.0
20	University of California, Los Angeles	United States	89.9
21	Cornell University	United States	89.5
22	University of Toronto	Canada	89.1
23	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	United States	87.1
24	Carnegie Mellon University	United States	85.9
25	Technical University of Munich	Germany	85.1
26	University of Washington	United States	84.6
27	The University of Tokyo	Japan	84.3
28	Nanyang Technological University, Singapore	Singapore	84.0
=29	New York University (NYU)	United States	83.5
=29	Northwestern University	United States	83.5
=29	University of Edinburgh	United Kingdom	83.5
32	Duke University	United States	83.4
33	University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	82.6
=34	University of Melbourne	Australia	80.9
=34	Zhejiang University	China	80.9
36	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Switzerland	80.5
37	University of California, San Diego	United States	80.3
38	Fudan University	China	80.2
39	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	China	80.0
40	King’s College London	United Kingdom	79.3
41	LMU Munich	Germany	78.7
42	The Chinese University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	77.8
43	McGill University	Canada	77.7
44	University of British Columbia	Canada	77.6
=45	KU Leuven	Belgium	77.5
=45	Universität Heidelberg	Germany	77.5
47	London School of Economics and Political Science	United Kingdom	77.3
48	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	United States	77.1
49	Georgia Institute of Technology	United States	77.0
50	Delft University of Technology	Netherlands	76.5
=51	The University of Sydney	Australia	76.3
=51	University of Science and Technology of China	China	76.3
=53	University of Texas at Austin	United States	76.1
=53	University of Wisconsin-Madison	United States	76.1
55	Karolinska Institute	Sweden	75.9
56	Seoul National University	South Korea	75.6
57	Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris	France	75.5
58	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong	75.4
59	Nanjing University	China	75.2
60	University of Manchester	United Kingdom	74.8
61	Monash University	Australia	74.7
=62	Kyoto University	Japan	74.6
=62	University of Amsterdam	Netherlands	74.6
64	Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)	South Korea	73.6
65	University of California, Davis	United States	73.4
=66	Wageningen University & Research	Netherlands	72.9
=66	Washington University in St Louis	United States	72.9
68	Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)	South Korea	72.7
69	Leiden University	Netherlands	72.6
70	City University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	72.3
=71	University of California, Santa Barbara	United States	71.3
=71	University of Southern California	United States	71.3
=73	Brown University	United States	71.2
=73	The University of Queensland	Australia	71.2
=75	Institut Polytechnique de Paris	France	71.1
=75	UNSW Sydney	Australia	71.1
77	Australian National University	Australia	71.0
78	Université Paris-Saclay	France	70.9
79	The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong	70.7
80	Yonsei University (Seoul campus)	South Korea	70.6
81	University of Copenhagen	Denmark	70.2
82	University of Bristol	United Kingdom	70.1
83	University of Glasgow	United Kingdom	69.9
84	Purdue University West Lafayette	United States	69.8
85	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	United States	69.7
86	Boston University	United States	69.5
87	University of Groningen	Netherlands	69.1
88	University of Minnesota	United States	68.0
89	University of Bonn	Germany	67.8
90	RWTH Aachen University	Germany	67.7
91	Humboldt University of Berlin	Germany	67.6
92	Vanderbilt University	United States	67.3
93	Michigan State University	United States	67.2
94	Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin	Germany	67.0
95	University of Vienna	Austria	66.9
96	Harbin Institute of Technology	China	66.8
=97	Aarhus University	Denmark	66.6
=97	Ohio State University (Main campus)	United States	66.6
=97	University of Birmingham	United Kingdom	66.6
=97	University of California, Irvine	United States	66.6

In both top 100s

75 universities make the top 100 of both rankings — the most consistent picks if you are shortlisting on reputation. Sorted by their two ranks combined.

University	Country	QS 2027	THE 2027
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	United States	1	2
Stanford University	United States	=2	=3
University of Oxford	United Kingdom	4	1
Imperial College London	United Kingdom	=2	8
Harvard University	United States	5	6
University of Cambridge	United Kingdom	6	5
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	United States	7	7
ETH Zurich	Switzerland	=8	12
UCL	United Kingdom	=8	=17
National University of Singapore (NUS)	Singapore	10	15
Tsinghua University	China	14	11
Yale University	United States	=16	=9
Peking University	China	13	13
University of Pennsylvania	United States	15	14
University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	United States	=20	=9
Princeton University	United States	27	=3
Cornell University	United States	=16	21
Johns Hopkins University	United States	=20	=17
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore)	Singapore	12	28
University of Chicago	United States	24	16
The University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	11	33
Technical University of Munich	Germany	25	25
University of Toronto	Canada	32	22
The University of Melbourne	Australia	=22	=34
EPFL – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne	Switzerland	=22	36
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)	Hong Kong	18	42
Columbia University	United States	=43	19
Fudan University	China	26	38
The University of Edinburgh	United Kingdom	35	=29
The University of Tokyo	Japan	39	27
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	United States	49	20
McGill University	Canada	30	43
Northwestern University	United States	=45	=29
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	United States	51	23
Shanghai Jiao Tong University	China	36	39
King's College London	United Kingdom	37	40
The University of Sydney	Australia	28	=51
Carnegie Mellon University	United States	55	24
Zhejiang University	China	47	=34
New York University (NYU)	United States	58	=29
University of British Columbia	Canada	=45	44
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong	33	58
Université PSL	France	34	57
Monash University	Australia	31	61
The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)	Australia	19	=75
Seoul National University	South Korea	38	56
Delft University of Technology	Netherlands	48	50
The University of Manchester	United Kingdom	=40	60
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München	Germany	61	41
Duke University	United States	70	32
KU Leuven	Belgium	59	=45
Australian National University (ANU)	Australia	29	77
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)	United Kingdom	62	47
The University of Queensland	Australia	=40	=73
Institut Polytechnique de Paris	France	=43	=75
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)	United States	81	37
University of Washington	United States	=92	26
Yonsei University	South Korea	42	80
City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK)	Hong Kong	=52	70
University of Amsterdam	Netherlands	60	=62
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	United States	74	48
University of Texas at Austin	United States	72	=53
Kyoto University	Japan	64	=62
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong	50	79
KAIST	South Korea	65	64
Universität Heidelberg	Germany	86	=45
University of Bristol	United Kingdom	57	82
Brown University	United States	66	=73
Nanjing University	China	=90	59
Université Paris-Saclay	France	76	78
University of Glasgow	United Kingdom	80	83
University of Birmingham	United Kingdom	=68	=97
University of Copenhagen	Denmark	=90	81
Boston University	United States	94	86
Purdue University	United States	=100	84

Top 100 universities by country

Country	In QS top 100	In THE top 100
United States	26	37
United Kingdom	16	11
Australia	9	6
China	6	8
Germany	4	7
Hong Kong	5	5
South Korea	4	4
Canada	4	3
France	4	3
Netherlands	2	5
Japan	4	2
Switzerland	3	2
Singapore	2	2
Sweden	3	1
Denmark	1	2
Belgium	1	1
Ireland	2	—
Argentina	1	—
Austria	—	1
Italy	1	—
Malaysia	1	—
New Zealand	1	—
Saudi Arabia	1	—
Taiwan	1	—

The United States has the most in both (26 in QS, 37 in THE), followed by the United Kingdom (16 and 11). The two rankings weigh different things, so a country can do noticeably better in one than the other.

Where Indian institutions stand

QS 2027 ranks 52 Indian institutions. The top 15:

QS rank	Institution	City	Score
118	Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD)	New Delhi	65.7
=134	Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB)	Mumbai	63.9
170	Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM)	Chennai	59.3
205	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP)	Kharagpur	55.1
=221	Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore	Bangalore	53.8
=221	Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK)	Kanpur	53.8
=322	University of Delhi	New Delhi	43.8
=335	Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR)	Roorkee	42.9
=349	Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG)	Guwahati	41.9
=452	Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences	Solan	34.5
=470	Anna University	Chennai	33.8
=510	Indian Institute of Technology BHU Varanasi (IIT BHU Varanasi)	Varanasi	32.1
=526	Chandigarh University (Punjab)	Mohali	31.1
=546	Indian Institute of Technology Indore	Indore	30.1
=555	Jawaharlal Nehru University	New Delhi	29.7

THE 2027 ranks 170 Indian institutions; below the top 200 THE publishes rank bands rather than exact ranks. The top 12:

THE rank	Institution
=254	Indian Institute of Science
326–350	Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences
451–500	Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences
501–550	Jamia Millia Islamia
501–550	KIIT University
501–550	Lovely Professional University
551–600	Amity University, Noida
551–600	Banaras Hindu University
551–600	Graphic Era University
551–600	Manipal Academy of Higher Education
601–650	Symbiosis International University
601–650	UPES

The two lists look very different for India mainly because the IITs appear in QS but not in THE’s 2027 table, and THE includes many private universities that QS ranks lower. Getting into an IIT is covered on our IIT admission page and the JoSAA college predictor.

Why QS and THE disagree

QS leans heavily on reputation surveys of academics and employers, plus citations per faculty, faculty-student ratio, international mix, employment outcomes and sustainability.
THE scores five pillars — teaching, research environment, research quality, industry and international outlook — with more weight on research output and citations.
So MIT is first in QS and Oxford first in THE, and the order below the top 10 shifts a lot between the two.

How to use these rankings when you choose

Look at the subject, not only the overall rank. A university outside the top 100 can be world-class in your field; both publishers also rank by subject.
Check the total cost and the visa rules for the country before you shortlist.
For medicine, a foreign degree must also meet India’s licensing rules — see our MBBS abroad guide and the cost comparison.
Use both rankings. A university high in both is a safer reputation bet than one that is high in only one.

Frequently asked questions

Which is the No. 1 university in the world in 2027?

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the QS World University Rankings 2027, and the University of Oxford in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027.

Is any Indian university in the world's top 100?

No. In QS 2027 the best Indian institution is IIT Delhi at 118; in THE 2027 it is the Indian Institute of Science at =254.

What is IIT Bombay's world ranking in 2027?

=134 in the QS World University Rankings 2027. IIT Bombay does not appear in THE's 2027 table.

Which country has the most top-100 universities?

The United States: 26 in QS 2027 and 37 in THE 2027, followed by the United Kingdom with 16 and 11.

Why are QS and THE rankings different?

They weigh different things. QS relies more on reputation surveys and employer views; THE puts more weight on research output and citations.

When was the THE World University Rankings 2027 published?

On 30 September 2026.

Sources: QS World University Rankings 2027 (topuniversities.com) and THE World University Rankings 2027 (timeshighereducation.com), read on 30 September 2026. Ranks and scores are the publishers’; the country counts and the “in both” list are computed here. QS and THE are trademarks of their owners; College Path is not affiliated with either.