This year’s rankings cover 2,191 universities across 115 countries and regions, assessing five key areas: teaching environment, research performance, research quality, international outlook, and industry income.
The research environment considers publication volume, research income, and reputation; research quality evaluates citation impact, research strength, and academic contribution; while international outlook measures the ratio of international faculty and students, as well as cross-border collaboration.
UM’s steady climb over recent years reflects growing international recognition of its achievements in teaching, research, global partnerships, and industry collaboration. The university said it will continue to enhance its research excellence and global competitiveness, further integrating Macau’s higher education into the international academic system.
The 2026 top ten universities remain dominated by the UK and the US: the University of Oxford retained the No. 1 position for the 10th consecutive year, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in second place. Princeton University and the University of Cambridge tied for third, with Harvard University and Stanford University sharing fifth place. They were followed by the California Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University. Among the top ten, seven are from the United States and three from the United Kingdom.
Notably, research-driven universities are reshaping the global landscape. Princeton reached a record-high ranking thanks to its strong performance in both research and teaching, while the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, New York University, Northwestern University, and Cornell University also made significant gains. In contrast, Columbia University dropped to 20th, Brown University to 65th, and Dartmouth College fell to 180th.
Chinese universities continued their strong showing, with Tsinghua University maintaining its 12th position globally and 1st in Asia for the third consecutive year, and Peking University ranking 13th. The number of Chinese universities in the global top 40 rose to five, a record high.
Hong Kong universities also improved overall, with the University of Hong Kong rising to 33rd. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and City University of Hong Kong also advanced, while the Education University of Hong Kong and Lingnan University appeared in the rankings for the first time. THE noted that Hong Kong was the only region in the world where all ranked institutions improved their standings.
