MIT has again been named the world’s top university by the QS World University Rankings, which were announced today. This is the 14th year in a row MIT has received this distinction.
The full 2026 edition of the rankings – published by Quacquarelli Symonds, an organization specializing in education and study abroad – can be found at TopUniversities.com . The QS rankings are based on factors including academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty, student-to-faculty ratio, proportion of international faculty, and proportion of international students.
MIT was also ranked the world’s top university in 11 of the subject areas ranked by QS , as announced in March of this year.
The Institute received a No. 1 ranking in the following QS subject areas: Chemical Engineering; Civil and Structural Engineering; Computer Science and Information Systems; Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Linguistics; Materials Science; Mechanical, Aeronautical, and Manufacturing Engineering; Mathematics; Physics and Astronomy; and Statistics and Operational Research.
MIT also placed second in seven subject areas: Accounting and Finance; Architecture/Built Environment; Biological Sciences; Business and Management Studies; Chemistry; Earth and Marine Sciences; and Economics and Econometrics.