10 Best Universities in the World in 2026: Latest Ranking

2) Imperial College London

Imperial College London is #2nd best university in world. It was established in year 1907 and offers courses related to four disciplines, namely Science, and Business. ICL acceptance rate is just 15%. This shows that it is really hard to get admission here. It's placement stands at 95%. It indicates that 95 out of every 100 graduates get employed within 3 months of graduation.

3) Stanford University

Stanford University is a private research university founded in the year 1891. This university is among the top five universities in the world. The student to faculty ratio of Stanford is 7:1. It is better than other universities. Stanford University is located near Northern California’s Silicon Valley. Here, multiple top tech giants and multinational companies like Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard.

4) University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is not only an elite but one of the oldest universities in the world. As per THE World University Ranking 2026, U of Oxford is number 1 university. It offers courses related to arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. It has a great reputation for academic quality and research. Albert Einstein, Bill Clinton, and T.S. Eliot are some of the top alumni of Oxford University.

5) Harvard University

Harvard University is on number 5 among top 10 universities in world. Students from over 150 countries are studying here. Some of popular majors offered by Harvard are Computer Science, and Mathematics. Harvard University’s acceptance rate is 5%, so it is difficult for international students to get into this university. Barack Obama, Ratan Tata and George W Bush are some of the popular alumni of Harvard University.

6) University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is 6th best university in the world. It was founded in the year 1209. The research university is the second-oldest English-speaking University. Cambridge offer courses related to social sciences, arts, humanities, sciences, and engineering. It is extremely difficult to get into Cambridge University as the acceptance rate is low.

7) ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is a popular public university in Switzerland. It was founded in the year 1855 and holds the 7th rank in the list of top ten universities in the world, released by QS ranking 2026. Apart from quality education and a diverse course range, ETH Zurich offers scholarships to meritorious students. More than 22 thousand students are enrolled in different STEM courses offered here. Around 43% of students are from across the world. ETH Zurich is also known as the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.

8) National University of Singapore

National University of Singapore is at 8th rank. It is a national public university. 33,000 students are studying here currently. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs across various subjects. National University of Singapore has strong partnerships with other popular universities. 33,000 students are studying here currently. Goh Chok Tong (2nd Prime Minister of Singapore) and Abdul Razak Hussein (Second Prime Minister of Malaysia) are some of notable alumni of NUS.

9) University College London

In the list of the top 10 universities in the world by QS, UCL holds the 9th rank. It offers UG, PG and PhD courses related to Arts and Humanities, Brain Sciences, Engineering, Education, Laws, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Medical Sciences. More than 41,000 students are currently enrolled in these courses and 61% of them are international students. The tuition fees for UG programs in University College London range between INR 22L-INR 40L and the range for PG programs is INR 23L and INR 47L. Due to the standard facilities and resources available at UCL, students get a high-quality education. Also, this makes the institute a good place to learn and do research.

10) California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

The California Insitute of Technology was founded in the year 1891. This reputed private research university is one of the dream universities for students who want to study in USA. The university offers science and engineering-related courses. QS has been placing Caltech University in the global top 10 universities since 2019. The student-to-faculty ratio here is 3:1, and the acceptance rate of the California Institute of Technology is just 3%. It shows that the university is very selective when it comes to offering admission to international students.

Popular Universities Among Top 100 in the World

Here are some other top ranked universities, for studying abroad, that provide excellent academic and research opportunities along with good career outcomes:

As we see, Universities in the USA dominate in the top ranked universities in the world. Therefore, we can conclude that the USA is top study destination in world, followed by the United Kingdom (UK). Regular contenders, Australia and Canada, have proved their mettle in the field of higher education. Singapore has emerged as top study destination for international students in Asia. China is also emerging as a preferred destination for international students.