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Top Universities in the World 2019
Sabrina Collier
Updated Jan 25, 2021Save
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Click here to discover the top universities in the world in 2020.
The QS World University Rankings® 2019 is out now, showcasing 1,000 of the world’s best universities in 85 countries, based on a methodology which assesses each university on six metrics, including its reputation among academics and employers.
Read on as we count down to discover this year’s top 10 or watch the video below.
10. UCL (University College London)
Down three spots but nonetheless included among the 10 best universities in the world, the UK’s UCL earns its best score in the academic reputation indicator, and also achieves a strong score for its proportion of international students, making it a diverse place to study.
9. University of Chicago
The US’ University of Chicago retains its position of ninth in the world in 2019, with a particularly high score for its reputation among academics.
8. Imperial College London
Imperial is ranked eighth in the world this year and is now London’s highest-ranked university. Like UCL, it boasts an excellent score for the international students indicator, meaning you’ll be in good company if you study at either university as an international student.
7. ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
Switzerland’s ETH Zurich is the highest-ranked university in continental Europe and climbed three places in this year’s ranking, with its best score for citations per faculty member, a measure of research impact.
6. University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge slips one place in this year’s ranking but does achieve higher scores than rival Oxford for its reputations among academics and employers, ranked second in the world for both after Harvard.
5. University of Oxford
The 2019 results see Oxford overtake Cambridge in our list of the world's best universities, climbing one place to rank fifth in the world and first out of the UK’s 76 entries, with top-10 scores for its academic and employer reputations as well as its faculty/student ratio.
4. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
The smallest university in the top 10, Caltech retains its position of fourth in the world this year. Students benefit from an excellent student/faculty ratio, and Caltech also beats rival MIT in the citations per faculty member indicator, for which it’s ranked fifth in the world.
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3. Harvard University
Harvard continues to rank third in the world as of the 2019 results but remains first in the world for both employer and academic reputation.
2. Stanford University
Also retaining its position from last year is Stanford, which achieves its best scores for its reputation among academics and employers (fifth for both).
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
And finally, MIT appears to be unbeatable as the world’s highest-ranked university, holding on to the top spot for a record seventh year in a row this year. MIT also gets its highest scores for its reputations with academics and employers, at third and fourth respectively.
Best universities in the world by location
Looking beyond the UK, US and Switzerland, see below to find out the top university in each of the other 82 countries included in the ranking.
Argentina: Universidad de Buenos Aires – ranked 73rd in the world
Australia: Australian National University (ANU) – ranked 24th
Austria: Universität Wien (University of Vienna) – ranked joint 175th
Azerbaijan: Baku State University – ranked 801-1000
Bahrain: University of Bahrain – ranked 801-1000
Bangladesh: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and the University of Dhaka – both ranked 801-1000
Belarus: Belarus State University – ranked 354th
Belgium: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven – ranked 81st
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo School of Science and Technology – ranked 571-580
Brazil: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) – ranked 118th
Brunei Darussalam: University of Brunei Darussalam – ranked joint 323rd
Bulgaria: Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – ranked 801-1000
Canada: University of Toronto – ranked 28th
Chile: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – ranked joint 132nd
China: Tsinghua University – ranked 17th
Colombia: Universidad de Los Andes Colombia – ranked joint 272nd
Costa Rica: Universidad de Costa Rica – ranked 501-510
Croatia: University of Zagreb – ranked 801-1000
Cuba: Universidad de la Habana – ranked 511-520
Czech Republic: Charles University – ranked joint 317th
Denmark: University of Copenhagen – ranked joint 79th
Ecuador: Universidad de San Francisco de Quito – ranked 701-750
Egypt: American University in Cairo – ranked joint 420th
Estonia: University of Tartu – ranked joint 321st
Finland: University of Helsinki – ranked 110th
France: Paris Sciences et Lettres Research University (PSL) – ranked 50th
Germany: Technische Universität München – ranked 61st
Greece: National Technical University of Athens – ranked joint 446th
Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong (HKU) – ranked 25th
Hungary: University of Szeged – ranked joint 470th
India: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) – ranked 162nd
Indonesia: University of Indonesia – ranked joint 292nd
Iran: Sharif University of Technology – ranked 432nd
Iraq: University of Baghdad – ranked 651-700
Israel: Hebrew University of Jerusalem – ranked 154th
Italy: Politecnico di Milano – ranked joint 156th
Japan: University of Tokyo – ranked 23rd
Jordan: University of Jordan – ranked 601-650
Kazakhstan: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University – ranked 220th
Kenya: University of Nairobi – ranked 801-1000
Kuwait: Kuwait University – ranked 801-1000
Latvia: Riga Technical University – ranked 751-800
Lebanon: American University of Beirut (AUB) – ranked joint 237th
Lithuania: Vilnius University – ranked 488th
Macao, S.A.R., China: University of Macau – ranked joint 443rd
Malaysia: Universiti Malaya (UM) – ranked joint 87th
Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) – ranked 113th
Morocco: Al Akhawayn University Ifrane – ranked 801-1000
Netherlands: Delft University of Technology – ranked 52nd
New Zealand: University of Auckland – ranked 85th
Norway: University of Oslo – ranked 135th
Oman: Sultan Qaboos University – ranked joint 450th
Pakistan: Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) – ranked joint 397th
Palestine: Birzeit University – ranked 801-1000
Peru: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú – ranked 551-560
Philippines: University of the Philippines – ranked joint 384th
Poland: University of Warsaw – ranked joint 394th
Portugal: University of Porto – ranked 328th
Puerto Rico: Universidad de Puerto Rico – ranked 801-1000
Qatar: Qatar University – ranked joint 332nd
Republic of Ireland: Trinity College Dublin (TCD) – ranked joint 104th
Romania: Has five universities all ranked 801-1000, including Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
Russia: Lomonosov Moscow State University – ranked 90th
Saudi Arabia: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) – ranked 189th
Serbia: University of Belgrade – ranked 801-1000
Singapore: National University of Singapore (NUS) – ranked 11th
Slovakia: Comenius University in Bratislava and Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava – both ranked 751-800
Slovenia: University of Ljubljana – ranked 651-700
South Africa: University of Cape Town – ranked joint 200th
South Korea: Seoul National University (SNU) – ranked 36th
Spain: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid – ranked 159th
Sri Lanka: University of Colombo – ranked 801-1000
Sweden: Lund University – ranked 92nd
Taiwan: National Taiwan University (NTU) – ranked 72nd
Thailand: Culalongkorn University – ranked 271st
Turkey: Koç University – ranked joint 448th
Ukraine: V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University – ranked joint 481st
United Arab Emirates: Khalifa University– ranked 315th
Uruguay: Universidad de Montevideo – ranked 531-540
Venezuela: Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) – ranked 751-800
Vietnam: Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) – ranked 701-750
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The former Assistant Editor of TopUniversities.com, Sabrina wrote and edited articles to guide students from around the world on a wide range of topics. She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Aberystwyth University and grew up in Staffordshire, UK.
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