Full list: Oxford named best university in the world rankings 2025

Oxford University, MIT and Harvard made the top three .. Photo credit: Carl Court/Sergi Reboredo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group.. Source: Getty Images

• The Times Higher Education has released it's World University Rankings for the best universities in 2025
• According to the latest ranking, Oxford University in the United Kingdom is the best university in the world
• 17 universities in the United States of America (USA) make the list of the 25 best universities in the world

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 has ranked Oxford University in the United Kingdom as the number one tertiary institution of learning in the world.

Oxford University holds on to the top spot for the ninth consecutive year with this latest rankings.

The 2025 World University Rankings ranked more than 2,000 institutions from 115 countries and territories.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States occupies the second position after overtaking Stanford, which drops to sixth.

Another American university, Harvard University made up the top three world best universities for the year 2025.

While a UK university is ranked the best in the world, only four universities from the United Kingdom made the top 25 list.

17 universities in the United States make up the 25 best universities in the world.

China edges closer to the top 10 with two Chinese universities occupying the 12 and 13 positions.

This development further boosts Chinese global research influence

Top 25 universities in the world

1. University of Oxford
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Harvard University
4. Princeton University
5. University of Cambridge
6. Stanford University
7. California Institute of Technology
8. University of California, Berkeley
9. Imperial College London
10. Yale University
11. ETH Zurich
12. Tsinghua University
13. Peking University
14. The University of Chicago
15. 14. University of Pennsylvania
16. Johns Hopkins University
17. National University of Singapore
18. Columbia University
19. 18. University of California, Los Angeles
20. Cornell University
21. University of Toronto
22. UCL
23. 22. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
24. Carnegie Mellon University
25. University of Washington

2024 ranking: 20 best universities in the world

Legit.ng earlier reported that the QS World University Rankings released the 2024 edition of its top global universities rankings.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford were ranked the top three universities in the world.

The ranking featured 1,500 institutions across 104 locations with an emphasis on employability and sustainability

.. Source: Legit.ng