The QS World University Rankings of 2025

The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a renowned British university ranking institution, has announced the 2025 QS World University Rankings.

Therefore, in this article, we shall present the top 100 universities in the 2025 QS World University Rankings, as well as the top 49 Japanese universities in the same ranking.

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What is the QS World University Rankings?

The QS World University Rankings, along with "THE World University Rankings" and "Academic Ranking of World Universities," is considered one of the most influential university rankings worldwide.

The 2025 QS World University Rankings include over 1,500 universities, making it the largest scale ranking ever. Like in previous years, this ranking is based on the analysis of more than 17.5 million academic papers, as well as the opinions of over 240,000 experts, including university faculty and employers.

One of the distinctive features of the QS World University Rankings is its emphasis on "employability" and "sustainability."

To this end, the 2024 edition introduced three new indicators: "sustainability," "employment outcomes," and "international research network." These indicators will continue to be used in the 2025 edition.

The QS World University Rankings assess each university based on nine evaluation criteria:

The evaluation indicators and their weights remain unchanged in the 2025 edition compared to the 2024 edition.

Evaluation Criteria	Weight in 2025 Edition
Academic Reputation	30%
Employer Reputation	15%
Faculty-Student Ratio	10%
Citations per Faculty	20%
International Faculty Ratio	5%
International Student Ratio	5%
International Research Network	5%
Employment Outcomes	5%
Sustainability	5%

Source: QS World University Rankings

The following article provides information about the 2024 edition of "THE World University Rankings," which is one of the most important rankings in the world and is presented alongside the QS World University Rankings.

【2024 Latest Edition】2024 World University Rankings

【2025 QS World University Rankings】List of the Top 100 Universities in the World

Below is the list of the top 100 universities in the world according to the 2025 QS World University Rankings, including their names, countries/regions, and overall scores.

Rank	University Name	Country/Region	Overall Score
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	United States	100
2	Imperial College London	England	98.5
3	University of Oxford	England	96.9
4	Harvard University	United States	96.8
5	University of Cambridge	England	96.7
6	Stanford University	United States	96.1
7	ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology	Switzerland	93.9
8	National University of Singapore (NUS)	Singapore	93.7
9	University College London (UCL)	England	91.6
10	California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	United States	90.9
11	University of Pennsylvania	United States	90.3
12	University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	United States	90.1
13	University of Melbourne	Australia	88.9
14	Peking University	China	88.5
15	Nanyang Technological University (NTU)	Singapore	88.4
16	Cornell University	United States	87.9
17	University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	87.6
18	University of Sydney	Australia	87.3
19	University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)	Australia	87.1
20	Tsinghua University	China	86.5
21	University of Chicago	United States	86.2
22	Princeton University	United States	85.5
23	Yale University	United States	85.2
24	PSL Research University	France	84.7
25	University of Toronto	Canada	84.1
26	EPFL - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology	Switzerland	83.5
27	University of Edinburgh	England	83.3
28	Technical University of Munich	Germany	83.2
29	McGill University	Canada	83
30	Australian National University	Australia	82.4
31	Seoul National University	South Korea	82.3
32	Johns Hopkins University	United States	82.1
32	University of Tokyo	Japan	82.1
34	Columbia University	United States	82
34	University of Manchester	England	82
36	The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)	Hong Kong	81.3
37	Monash University	Australia	81.2
38	University of British Columbia	Canada	81
39	Fudan University	China	80.3
40	King's College London	England	80.2
40	University of Queensland	Australia	80.2
42	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	United States	79.8
43	New York University (NYU)	United States	79.6
44	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	United States	79
45	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	China	77.8
46	École Polytechnique	France	77.5
47	Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong	77.1
47	Zhejiang University	China	77.1
49	Delft University of Technology	Netherlands	77
50	Kyoto University	Japan	76
50	Northwestern University	United States	76
50	London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)	England	76
53	KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology	South Korea	75.7
54	University of Bristol	England	75.4
55	University of Texas at Austin	United States	75.1
56	KU Leuven	Belgium	74.5
57	Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)	Argentina	74.2
58	University of Warwick	England	74.1
59	University of Amsterdam	Netherlands	73.7
60	University of Glasgow	England	73.3
61	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	United States	73
62	Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)	South Korea	72.9
63	Osaka University	Japan	72.8
64	University of Wisconsin-Madison	United States	72.7
65	University of Science and Technology of China	China	72.3
66	Université PSL	France	71.9
67	Lomonosov Moscow State University	Russia	71.6
68	University of Washington	United States	71.5
69	University of Adelaide	Australia	71.1
70	Purdue University	United States	70.9
71	Université Paris-Saclay	France	70.3
72	University of Western Australia	Australia	70.2
73	University of Helsinki	Finland	69.9
74	University of Auckland	New Zealand	69.3
75	University of Zurich	Switzerland	69.1
76	Durham University	England	68.9
77	University of Birmingham	England	68.7
78	University of Geneva	Switzerland	68.5
79	University of St Andrews	Scotland	68.1
80	University of Notre Dame	United States	67.8
81	University of Sheffield	England	67.5
82	University of Southampton	England	67.2
83	Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin	Ireland	67.1
84	University of Leeds	England	66.9
85	Boston University	United States	66.7
86	University of Nottingham	England	66.5
87	University of Southampton	England	66.3
88	University of Texas at Austin	United States	66.1
89	University of Glasgow	England	65.9
90	Rice University	United States	65.7
91	Universiti Malaya (UM)	Malaysia	65.5
92	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam)	Netherlands	65.3
93	University of Maryland, College Park	United States	65.1
94	University of California, San Diego (UCSD)	United States	64.9
95	University of Pittsburgh	United States	64.7
96	University of Southern California	United States	64.5
97	University of Arizona	United States	64.3
98	University of Massachusetts Amherst	United States	64.1
99	University of Miami	United States	63.9
100	University of Colorado Boulder	United States	63.7

The first place in the 2025 QS World University Rankings is occupied by the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from the United States. MIT has maintained its position at the top for 13 consecutive years.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is not only renowned as one of the most esteemed schools in the United States and the world, but it is also an exceptionally distinguished university with the highest number of Nobel Prize laureates in the field of engineering.
The rankings explain that through close collaboration between industry and academia, graduates of MIT have founded over 30,000 companies, created 4.6 million job positions, and generated an annual revenue of approximately $1.9 trillion.

In the 2025 QS World University Rankings, the second place is held by Imperial College London, the third place by University of Oxford, the fourth place by Harvard University, and the fifth place by University of Cambridge.

Imperial College London climbed 4 spots from its previous rank of 6 to secure the second position in the 2025 rankings.
In contrast, Stanford University, which ranked fifth last year, dropped one spot to sixth place.

Similar to last year, the top six positions are dominated by universities from the United Kingdom and the United States. The Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zurich) from Switzerland occupies the seventh spot, while the National University of Singapore (NUS) is ranked eighth.

Continuing from last year, the highest-ranking university in Asia is the National University of Singapore (NUS), placed at 8th, followed by Peking University from China at 14th (up from 17th last year), and the University of Hong Kong at 17th (previously 26th).

In Japan, the University of Tokyo holds the 32nd position (down from 28th last year), Kyoto University is ranked 50th (compared to 46th last year), Tokyo Institute of Technology is placed 84th (up from 91st last year), and Osaka University secures the 86th position in the 2025 QS World University Rankings (down from 80th last year).

Tokyo Institute of Technology experienced a rise of 7 places from its previous rank of 91st to 84th, while the rankings of the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and Osaka University all declined compared to last year.

A contributing factor to the decline in the global rankings of Japanese universities is the relatively low proportion of foreign faculty members and international students.

In the 2024 THE World University Rankings, only the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University made it to the top 100 universities globally. However, in the 2025 QS World University Rankings, four Japanese universities, including Tokyo Institute of Technology and Osaka University, are among the top 100 universities worldwide.

Therefore, even though the years are different, it can be said that the QS World University Rankings hold Japanese universities in higher regard.

【2025 QS World University Rankings】List of the Top 49 Universities in Japan

Now let us explore the top universities in Japan according to the 2025 QS World University Rankings.

In the 2025 QS World University Rankings, a total of 49 Japanese universities have made the list.

To facilitate understanding of the rankings of Japanese universities, we have compiled a list of their rankings along with their global positions. We have also included the classification of the universities (national, public, private).

Japanese University Ranking	World University Ranking	University Name	University Type	Overall Score
1	32	University of Tokyo	National	82.1
2	50	Kyoto University	National	76
3	84	Tokyo Institute of Technology	National	63.7
4	86	Osaka University	National	63.5
5	107	Tohoku University	National	58.8
6	152	Nagoya University	National	51.9
7	167	Kyushu University	National	50.3
8	173	Hokkaido University	National	49.8
9	181	Waseda University	Private	48.5
10	188	Keio University	Private	47.4
11	377	University of Tsukuba	National	31.1
12	465	Kobe University	National	25.8
13	474	Hiroshima University	National	25.2
14	539	Hitotsubashi University	National	22.8
15	641-650	Ritsumeikan University	Private	-
16	661-670	Tokyo Medical and Dental University	National	-
17	751-760	Tokyo University of Science	Private	-
18	771-780	Chiba University	National	-
19	851-900	Nagasaki University	National	-
19	851-900	Okayama University	National	-
19	851-900	Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology	National	-
22	901-950	Kanazawa University	National	-
22	901-950	Osaka Metropolitan University	Public	-
22	901-950	Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University	Private	-
22	901-950	Yokohama City University	Public	-
26	951-1000	Kumamoto University	National	-
26	951-1000	Niigata University	National	-
26	951-1000	Sophia University	Private	-
29	1001-1200	Gifu University	National	-
29	1001-1200	Gunma University	National	-
29	1001-1200	International Christian University	Private	-
29	1001-1200	Kagoshima University	National	-
29	1001-1200	Kyushu Institute of Technology	National	-
29	1001-1200	Shinshu University	National	-
29	1001-1200	Tokushima University	National	-
29	1001-1200	Tokyo Metropolitan University	Public	-
29	1001-1200	Yokohama National University	National	-
38	1201-1400	Aoyama Gakuin University	Private	-
38	1201-1400	Doshisha University	Private	-
38	1201-1400	Kindai University	Private	-
38	1201-1400	Kyoto Institute of Technology	National	-
38	1201-1400	Meiji University	Private	-
38	1201-1400	Nagoya Institute of Technology	National	-
38	1201-1400	Rikkyo University	Private	-
38	1201-1400	Saitama University	National	-
38	1201-1400	Tokai University	Private	-
38	1201-1400	Yamaguchi University	National	-
48	1401+	Kwansei Gakuin University	Private	-
49	1401+	Shibaura Institute of Technology	Private	-

According to the 2025 QS World University Rankings, the top 10 universities in Japan are Tokyo University (ranked 32nd worldwide), Kyoto University (ranked 50th worldwide), Tokyo Institute of Technology (ranked 84th worldwide), Tokyo University (ranked 4th worldwide), Osaka University (ranked 86th worldwide), Tohoku University (ranked 107th worldwide), Nagoya University (ranked 152nd worldwide), Kyushu University (ranked 167th worldwide), Hokkaido University (ranked 173rd worldwide), and Waseda University (ranked 181st worldwide), and Keio University (ranked 188th worldwide).

The top 8 positions are occupied by national universities, while among private universities, Waseda University (9th) and Keio University (10th) have made it into the top 10.

For reference, the distribution of national, public, and private universities among the top 49 universities in Japan is as follows:

National: 31 universities (63%)
Public: 3 universities (6%)
Private: 15 universities (31%)

Among the top 49 universities in Japan, national universities dominate with 31 institutions, accounting for 63% of the total. Private universities come next with 15 institutions (31%), followed by public universities with 3 institutions (6%).

In Japan, national universities take the lead, a trend similar to the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Summary

In this article, we have presented the top 100 universities in the world and the top 49 universities in Japan based on the 2025 QS World University Rankings released by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

In Japan, four universities, namely Tokyo University, Kyoto University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Osaka University, have made it into the top 100 of the 2025 QS World University Rankings. However, while the ranking of Tokyo Institute of Technology has improved since last year, Tokyo University, Kyoto University, and Osaka University have experienced a decline in their rankings.

Significant challenges persist for Japanese universities, as their overall scores and rankings are affected by the low proportion of foreign faculty members and international students. While it may be difficult to achieve a substantial increase in the internationalization of universities overnight, further globalization in the field of education is inevitable in Japan, given the ongoing decline in population.

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