Top 100 Universities in the World 2023: QS World University Rankings Vs Times Higher Education (THE)

What are the top 100 universities in the world in 2023? How is this determined? What makes a university good, or bad, for that matter?

When it comes to education, there are many factors to consider. But when looking at rankings of universities worldwide, one would find that these lists are largely based on reputation.

Rankings such as those published by Times Higher Education (THE) and QS World University Ranking use different metrics for determining their lists.

However, both use surveys from academics and employers, among other indicators, to analyze how well-respected each institution is. They then rank them according to these numbers.

This post will dive into more detail about what goes into ranking universities and why they’re so important.
The list below comprises QS and THE’s Top 100 Universities in 2023.

Top 100 Universities in the World – QS World University Rankings (QS WUR) 2023

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Cambridge, United States
2. University of Cambridge –  Cambridge, United Kingdom
3. Stanford University – Stanford, United States

4. University of Oxford – Oxford, United Kingdom
5. Harvard University – Cambridge, United States
6. California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – Pasadena, United States
7. Imperial College London – London, United Kingdom
8. UCL – London, United Kingdom
9. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology – Zürich, Switzerland
10. University of Chicago –  Chicago, United States
11. National University of Singapore (NUS) –  Singapore, Singapore
12. Peking University – Beijing, China (Mainland)
13. University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, United States
14. Tsinghua University – Beijing, China (Mainland)
15. The University of Edinburgh – Edinburgh, United Kingdom
16. EPFL – Lausanne, Switzerland
17. Princeton University – Princeton, United States
18. Yale University – New Haven, United States
19. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) – Singapore
20. Cornell University –  Ithaca, United States

21. The University of Hong Kong –  Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
22. Columbia University – New York City, United States
23. The University of Tokyo –  Tokyo, Japan
24. Johns Hopkins University – Baltimore, United States
25. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor – Ann Arbor, United States
26. Université PSL – Paris, France
27. University of California, Berkeley (UCB) – Berkeley, United States
28. The University of Manchester – Manchester, United Kingdom
29. Seoul National University – Seoul, South Korea
30. The Australian National University (ANU) – Canberra, Australia
31. McGill University – Montreal, Canada
32. Northwestern University – Evanston, United States
33. The University of Melbourne – Parkville, Australia
34. Fudan University –  Shanghai, China (Mainland)
35. University of Toronto –  Toronto, Canada
36. Kyoto University – Kyoto, Japan
37. King’s College London – London, United Kingdom
38. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) – Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
39. New York University (NYU) –  New York City, United States
40. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – Hong Kong,Hong Kong SAR
41. The University of Sydney – Sydney, Australia
42. KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology – Daejeon, South Korea
43. Zhejiang University –  Hangzhou, China (Mainland)
44. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) – Los Angeles, United States
45. The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) – Sydney, Australia
46. Shanghai Jiao Tong University – Shanghai, China (Mainland)
47. University of British Columbia – Vancouver, Canada

48. Institut Polytechnique de Paris – Palaiseau Cedex, France
49. Technical University of Munich –  Munich, Germany
50. Duke University –  Durham, United States
51. The University of Queensland – Brisbane, Australia
52. Carnegie Mellon University – Pittsburgh, United States
53. University of California, San Diego (UCSD) – San Diego, United States
54. City University of Hong Kong – Hong Kong,Hong Kong SAR
55. Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) – Tokyo, Japan
56. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – London, United Kingdom
57. Monash University –  Melbourne, Australia
58. University of Amsterdam – Amsterdam, Netherlands
59. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München –  Munich, Germany
60. Sorbonne University –  Paris, France
61. Delft University of Technology – Delft, Netherlands
62. University of Bristol – Bristol, United Kingdom
63. Brown University – Providence, United States
64. The University of Warwick – Coventry, United Kingdom
65. Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg – Heidelberg, Germany
66. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
67. Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) – Buenos Aires, Argentina
68. Osaka University – Osaka City, Japan
69. Université Paris-Saclay – France
70. Universiti Malaya (UM) –  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
71. Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH) – Pohang, South Korea
72. University of Texas at Austin – Austin,United States
73. Yonsei University –  Seoul, South Korea
74. Korea University – Seoul, South Korea
75. Lomonosov Moscow State University – Moscow, Russia
76. KU Leuven – Leuven, Belgium

77. National Taiwan University (NTU) –  Taipei City, Taiwan
78. University of Southampton –  Southampton, United Kingdom
79. University of Southampton –  Southampton, United Kingdom
80. University of Washington – Seattle, United States
81. University of Glasgow – Glasgow, United Kingdom
82. University of Copenhagen – Copenhagen, Denmark
83. University of Wisconsin-Madison – Madison, United States
84. University of Zurich – Zürich, Switzerland
85. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Champaign, United States
86. University of Leeds –  Leeds, United Kingdom
87. The University of Auckland – Auckland, New Zealand
88. Georgia Institute of Technology – Atlanta, United States
89. KTH Royal Institute of Technology – Stockholm, Sweden
90. The University of Western Australia – Perth, Australia
91. University of Birmingham – Birmingham, United Kingdom
92. Durham University – Durham, United Kingdom
93. Pennsylvania State University – University Park, United States
94. University of Science and Technology of China –  Hefei, China (Mainland)
95. Lund University –  Lund, Sweden
96. The University of Sheffield – Sheffield, United Kingdom
97. University of St Andrews –  St. Andrews, United Kingdom
98. Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin – Dublin, Ireland
99. Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) –  Suwon, South Korea
100. Rice University – Houston, United States

For details, please check https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2023.

Top 100 Universities in the World – Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2023 (THE)

1. University of Oxford – United Kingdom
2. Harvard University – United States
3. University of Cambridge – United Kingdom
4. Stanford University – United States
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – United States
6. California Institute of Technology – United States

7. Princeton University – United States
8. University of California, Berkeley – United States
9. Yale University – United States
10. Imperial College London – United Kingdom
11. Columbia University – United States
12. ETH Zurich – Switzerland
13. The University of Chicago – United States
14. University of Pennsylvania – United States
15. Johns Hopkins University – United States
16. Tsinghua University – China
17. Peking University – China
18. University of Toronto – Canada
19. National University of Singapore – Singapore
20. Cornell University – United States
21. University of California, Los Angeles – United States
22. UCL – United Kingdom
23. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor – United States
24. New York University – United States
25. Duke University – United States
26. Northwestern University – United States
27. University of Washington – United States
28. Carnegie Mellon University – United States
29. University of Edinburgh – United Kingdom
30. Technical University of Munich – Germany

31. University of Hong Kong – Hong Kong
32. University of California, San Diego – United States
33. LMU Munich – Germany
34. University of Melbourne – Australia
35. King’s College London – United Kingdom
36. University of California, San Diego – United States
37. London School of Economics and Political Science – United Kingdom
38. Georgia Institute of Technology – United States
39. The University of Tokyo – Japan
40. University of British Columbia – Canada
41. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – Switzerland
42. KU Leuven – Belgium
43. Universität Heidelberg – Germany
44. Monash University – Australia
45. Chinese University of Hong Kong – Hong Kong
46. McGill University – Canada
47. Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris – France
48. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – United States
49. Karolinska Institute – Sweden
50. University of Texas at Austin – United States
51. Fudan University – China
52. Shanghai Jiao Tong University – China
53. The University of Queensland – Australia
54. University of Manchester – United Kingdom
55. University of Sydney – Australia
56. Seoul National University – South Korea

57. Washington University in St Louis – United States
58. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – Hong Kong
59. Wageningen University & Research – Netherlands
60. University of Amsterdam – Netherlands
61. Brown University – United States
62. Australian National University – Australia
63. University of California, Davis – United States
64. University of California, Santa Barbara – United States
65. University of Southern California – United States
66. Utrecht University – Netherlands
67. Zhejiang University – China
68. Kyoto University – Japan
69. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – United States
70. Delft University of Technology – Netherlands
71. Boston University – United States

72. UNSW Sydney – Australia
73. Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin – Germany
74. University of Science and Technology of China – China
75. University of Groningen – Netherlands
76. University of Bristol – United Kingdom
77. Leiden University – Netherlands
78. Yonsei University (Seoul Campus) – South Korea
79. Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Hong Kong
80. Erasmus University Rotterdam – Netherlands
81. University of Wisconsin-Madison – United States
82. Emory University – United States
83. University of Glasgow – United Kingdom
84. University of Zurich – Switzerland
85. McMaster University – Canada
86. Humboldt University of Berlin – Germany
87. University of Tübingen – Germany
88. University of Adelaide – Australia
89. University of Bonn – Germany
90. Sorbonne University – France
91. Free University of Berlin – Germany
92. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) – South Korea
93. Université Paris-Saclay – France
94. University of Bern – Switzerland
95. University of California, Irvine – United States
96. Institut Polytechnique de Paris – Paris, France
97. Nanjing University – China
98. Vanderbilt University – United States
99. City University of Hong Kong – Hong Kong
100. RWTH Aachen University – Germany

For details, please check https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2023/world-ranking.