The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) officially released its latest global university rankings on June 2, 2025. In this highly anticipated list, Harvard University once again claimed the top spot, achieving 14 consecutive years of dominance as the world's leading university.
In Asia, the most outstanding performance came from the University of Tokyo, maintaining its 13th place ranking from last year and continuing to lead Asian institutions, while Kyoto University rose 2 positions to rank 24th globally.
CWUR conducted a comprehensive evaluation of 21,462 higher education institutions worldwide, primarily based on the following four core indicators:
1. Education Quality (25%): Including alumni achievements, teaching reputation, etc.
2. Employability (25%): Graduate employment rates, employer evaluations, etc.
3. Faculty Resources (10%): Faculty academic achievements, awards, etc.
4. Research Output (40%): Number of published papers, citations, etc.
Global Top 10: U.S. Institutions Dominate
1. Harvard University (USA)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
3. Stanford University (USA)
4. University of Cambridge (UK)
5. University of Oxford (UK)
6. Princeton University (USA)
7. University of Pennsylvania (USA) ↑
8. Columbia University (USA)
9. Yale University (USA)
10. University of Chicago (USA) ↑
The University of Pennsylvania and University of Chicago both showed ranking improvements this year, demonstrating strong development momentum.
Japanese University Performance: 107 Institutions Ranked in Global Top 2000
Japanese universities showed stable overall performance, with 107 institutions making the global top 2000. Among them:
University of Tokyo (13th) continues to lead Asian institutions
Kyoto University (24th, ↑2) showed significant progress
Osaka University (107th)
Keio University (108th)
Nagoya University (123rd)
Tokyo Institute of Science (formerly Tokyo Tech, 145th)
Tohoku University (158th)
Waseda University (228th)
Hokkaido University (247th)
Kyushu University (265th)
Kyoto University and Tokyo Institute of Science were among the few Japanese institutions that improved their rankings, demonstrating that their continued investment in research and teaching is yielding results.
Complete rankings and detailed data can be found on the official CWUR website: https://cwur.org/2025.php
