The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has returned to the top of the 2025-2026 BlueSky Ranking of University Rankings, a composite index that merges the world’s four most influential global league tables — Times Higher Education, QS, U.S. News & World Report, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities — into a unified list of the top 100 global universities. Released by the U.K.-based consultancy BlueSky Thinking, the ranking has been published annually since 2020. (Poets&Quants is owned by Times Higher Education.)
MIT reclaims the No. 1 position from Harvard University, which slips to second. Stanford University drops to No. 3 from No. 2. Oxford and Cambridge, respectively, complete the top five. The University of California at Berkeley surges to No. 6 — its highest-ever showing in the BlueSky composite — while Imperial College London leaps four places to No. 7, continuing a multiyear upward trajectory. Caltech drops to eighth, followed by Yale and Princeton, respectively, at Nos. 9 and 10.
Behind the top tier, the middle zone is fluid. Columbia, once ranked among the elite, continues to soften, falling to 17th place. Meanwhile, University College London moves up to 11, Tsinghua University breaks into a tie for 12th with the University of Chicago, and ETH Zurich climbs to 18. The ranking also shows continued strength from Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Penn, and Toronto — all inside the global top 20.
ASIAN UNIVERSITIES CONTINUE TO GAIN GROUND
While the upper echelon remains relatively stable, perhaps the most striking trend in the 2025-2026 ranking is the steady rise of Asian institutions — particularly in mainland China. Tsinghua reaches its highest-ever placement, tied at No. 12. Peking University lands at No. 18, with Zhejiang, Fudan, and Shanghai Jiao Tong all pushing upward. Chinese universities perform particularly well in the ARWU and U.S. News tables, both of which emphasize research output and citations. Altogether, nine Chinese universities now rank among the global top 100, and five are in the top 50.
The United States remains dominant across the composite: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Caltech, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Chicago, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, UCLA, Michigan, and Northwestern all occupy top-40 positions. But momentum is slipping. According to BlueSky’s analysis, 80% of the top-ranked U.S. universities have lost ground since the 2022-2023 ranking.
The United Kingdom maintains a powerful presence in the ranking, with Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, and UCL all ranked among the top 15. However, while its institutions remain strong in reputation surveys, BlueSky notes that the country’s overall performance has plateaued, with several major universities slipping from their previous positions.
REPUTATION UP, RANKING DOWN FOR AUSTRALIA
Australia’s trajectory is more mixed. While some institutions, including the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney, continue to score well on academic reputation, their overall rankings have declined. BlueSky attributes this divergence to damaged international outlook scores and weaker employer perceptions.
Elsewhere in Europe, research-intensive institutions are making small gains. ETH Zurich climbs to No. 18 from No. 16, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, another Swiss school, continues to perform well, rising to No. 40 from No. 54. Germany’s Technical University of Munich (No. 42) strengthens its position, while universities in the Netherlands, France, and Scandinavia are also registering upward movement.
The full BlueSky Ranking of the top 100 universities worldwide is now available on the BlueSky Thinking website. The report includes detailed performance breakdowns across each ranking system, individual institutional profiles, and a five-year trajectory analysis that tracks how global universities have fared since the ranking’s inception in 2020.
2025-2026 BLUESKY UNIVERSITY RANKING
BlueSky Rank (2025/26)
Rank (2022/23)
University
Country
THE 2025
QS 2025/26
U.S. News 2025/26
ARWU Shanghai 2025
1
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
USA
2
1
2
3
2
1
Harvard University
USA
3
5
1
1
3
2
Stanford University
USA
6
3
3
2
4
4
University of Oxford
UK
1
4
4
6
5
4
University of Cambridge
UK
5
6
5
4
6
7
University of California, Berkeley
USA
8
17
6
5
7
11
Imperial College London
UK
9
2
11
26
8
6
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
USA
7
10
23
9
9
10
Yale University
USA
10
21
9
11
10
8
Princeton University
USA
4
25
16
7
11
14
UCL
UK
22
9
7
16
12
13 & 18
University of Pennsylvania / Tsinghua University
USA / China
14 / 12
15 / 17
15 / 11
14 / 18
14
12
University of Chicago
USA
14
13
26
10
15
17
Cornell University
USA
20
16
16
12
16
15
Johns Hopkins University
USA
16
24
14
19
17
9
Columbia University
USA
18
38
10
8
18
16 & 22
ETH Zurich / Peking University
Switzerland / China
11 / 13
7 / 14
35 / 25
22 / 23
20
19
University of Toronto
Canada
21
29
16
25
21
19
University of California, Los Angeles
USA
18
46
13
16
22
27
National University of Singapore
Singapore
17
8
20
56
23
21
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
USA
22
45
21
33
24
26
University of Melbourne
Australia
39
19
30
38
25
23
Northwestern University
USA
31
42
24
31
26
28
University of Washington
USA
25
81
8
17
27
24
University of Edinburgh
UK
29
34
39
37
28
26
University of California, San Diego
USA
34
66
21
20
29
25
New York University
USA
33
55
32
28
30
40
University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
35
11
44
67
31
34
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
30
12
28
88
32
29
Duke University
USA
27
62
27
46
33
30
King’s College London
UK
36
31
36
61
34
49
Zhejiang University
China
47
49
45
24
35
43
Technical University of Munich
Germany
26
22
79
45
36
32
University of British Columbia
Canada
41
40
41
53
36
51
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
China
52
47
46
30
38
59
Fudan University
China
36
30
70
41
39
33
The University of Tokyo
Japan
28
36
84
31
40
54
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Switzerland
32
22
86
44
41
36
The University of Sydney
Australia
61
25
29
72
42
38
LMU Munich
Germany
38
58
57
42
43
45
Karolinska Institute
Sweden
49
52
50
—
44
35
University of Manchester
UK
53
35
68
46
45
42
Monash University
Australia
58
36
38
76
46
41
McGill University
Canada
45
27
62
76
47
44
UNSW Sydney
Australia
83
20
34
80
48
49
Université Paris‑Saclay
France
64
70
78
13
49
37
The University of Queensland
Australia
77
42
43
65
50
58
KU Leuven
Belgium
43
60
50
76
51
39
University of Texas at Austin
USA
50
68
65
49
52
48
Universität Heidelberg
Germany
47
80
59
51
53
57
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
44
32
37
125
54
51
Sorbonne University
France
76
72
62
43
55
62
University of Amsterdam
Netherlands
58
53
33
125
56
56
University of Wisconsin–Madison
USA
56
110
72
36
57
61
University of Copenhagen
Denmark
97
101
41
35
58
60
Utrecht University
Netherlands
—
103
49
56
59
55
University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign
USA
46
70
109
53
60
47
Washington University in St. Louis
USA
69
167
31
26
61
97
City University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
78
63
54
99
62
68
University of Science and Technology of China
China
53
132
71
40
63
64
University of Zurich
Switzerland
—
100
59
64
64
51
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
USA
70
140
51
39
65
66
Seoul National University
South Korea
62
38
133
81
66
46
Australian National University
Australia
73
32
86
125
67
67
Carnegie Mellon University
USA
24
52
126
125
68
109
Nanjing University
China
65
103
86
75
69
65
University of Bristol
UK
78
51
105
98
70
82
Free University of Berlin
Germany
104
88
59
—
71
73
University of Glasgow
UK
87
69
62
125
72
63
Kyoto University
Japan
55
57
187
46
73
75
Humboldt University of Berlin
Germany
84
130
47
—
74
68
University of Southern California
USA
72
146
77
70
75
89
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong
84
54
58
175
76
86
Leiden University
Netherlands
73
119
56
125
77
76
Boston University
USA
75
88
86
125
78
76
University of Groningen
Netherlands
80
147
75
73
79
74
University of California, Davis
USA
62
114
96
125
80
99
Penn State University
USA
100
82
91
125
81
70
University of California, Santa Barbara
USA
67
179
91
70
82
113
Lund University
Sweden
95
72
121
125
83
71
Georgia Institute of Technology
USA
40
123
79
175
84
79
University of Oslo
Norway
116
119
100
83
85
80
University of Minnesota — Twin Cities
USA
87
210
72
51
86
86
University of Helsinki
Finland
107
116
113
94
87
88
University of Birmingham
UK
93
76
94
175
88
101
Aarhus University
Denmark
110
131
117
85
89
78
University of Maryland
USA
112
207
72
55
90
94
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Netherlands
107
140
76
125
91
85
University of Western Australia
Australia
149
77
98
125
92
91
Ohio State University
USA
116
190
66
83
93
72
Brown University
USA
58
123
150
125
94
111
Uppsala University
Sweden
130
93
141
93
95
117
HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science & Tech)
Hong Kong
66
44
101
250
96
93
Vanderbilt University
USA
90
250
66
62
97
107
Delft University of Technology
Netherlands
56
47
191
175
98
90
Ghent University
Belgium
112
162
107
91
99
92
Emory University
USA
98
182
69
125
100
83
University of Adelaide
Australia
128
82
99
175
82
113
Lund University
Sweden
95
72
121
125
83
71
Georgia Institute of Technology
USA
40
123
79
175
84
79
University of Oslo
Norway
116
119
100
83
85
80
University of Minnesota — Twin Cities
USA
87
210
72
51
86
86
University of Helsinki
Finland
107
116
113
94
87
88
University of Birmingham
UK
93
76
94
175
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