The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2025 has been revealed, and the U.S. has once again scored high with 55 universities ranking among the top 200—and seven universities in the top 10. This list ranks over 2,000 institutions across 115 countries, using metrics like faculty-to-student ratio, gender balance, research environment, research quality, international outlook and full-time enrollment.
For the ninth consecutive year, Oxford University in England holds the top spot. But the U.S. dominates the next three positions. MIT rose from number three to number two, boasting leadership in innovation and ranking first globally in social sciences and business. Its overall score is 98.1.
In third place—also in Cambridge, Massachusetts—is Harvard, the oldest U.S. university (founded in 1636). Known for its top-tier faculty and research, it leads in engineering, law and life sciences, scoring 97.7. Princeton in New Jersey takes fourth place (97.5), climbing from number six last year. Rounding out the top five is the University of Cambridge in the U.K. Stanford, California Institute of Technology, University of California Berkeley and Yale all made the top ten.
Find the full ranking here.
U.S. universities in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2025
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Harvard University
4. Princeton University
6. Stanford University
7. California Institute of Technology
8. University of California, Berkeley
10. Yale University
14. Tie: University of Chicago & University of Pennsylvania
16. Johns Hopkins University
18. Tie: Columbia University & University of California, Los Angeles
20. Cornell University
22. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
24. Carnegie Mellon University
25. University of Washington
27. Duke University
31. Northwestern University
33. New York University
34. University of California, San Diego
40. Georgia Institute of Technology
46. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
50. University of Texas, Austin
56. University of Wisconsin, Madison
58. Brown University
62. University of California, Davis
67. University of California, Santa Barbara
69. Washington University in St. Louis
70. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
72. University of Southern California
75. Boston University
79. Purdue University, West Lafayette
84. University of Massachusetts
87. University of Minnesota
90. Tie: University of California, Irvine & Vanderbilt University
98. Emory University
100. Penn State