Data Facts of QS Top 100 Universities in 2025

Joy

Jun 10, 2025

QS Top 100 Universities
QS Top 100 Universities
QS Top 100 Universities
QS Top 100 Universities

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

The release of the QS World University Rankings 2025 offers a fresh lens into the academic landscape, spotlighting the top 100 global universities and their evolving strengths. From reputation and research to sustainability and internationalization, these rankings go beyond prestige—they reflect the multidimensional efforts universities invest to remain competitive and impactful.

In this blog post, we'll uncover key patterns and regional trends driving global higher education excellence. You'll find breakdowns by country and region, highlight performances in metrics like research citations, employability, and sustainability, and even learn what factors are most strongly correlated with upward mobility in the rankings. Whether you're a student, educator, or policymaker, these insights provide a data-rich guide to the world’s leading institutions in 2025.

The data can be downloaded from Kaggle. If you want to explore more from the dataset, try Powerdrill.

Regional Performance

Universities in the Americas stand out for their strong performance in both academic prestige and employer reputation.

Meanwhile, Asia and Oceania remain highly competitive overall but show slightly lower scores in employer perception compared to their global peers.

Region

Avg. Overall Score

Avg. Academic Rep.

Avg. Employer Rep.

Americas

77.27

90.45

84.93

Asia

76.80

84.94

81.96

Oceania

76.82

79.27

68.37

Europe

74.11

77.37

77.57

Region Representation in Top 100

  • Europe: 34 universities

  • Americas: 33 universities

  • Asia: 23 universities

  • Oceania: 10 universities

Europe narrowly edges out Americas in top-100 representation.

Top Institutions by Country

Countries with universities having the best 2025 ranks:

  1. USA – Rank 1 (MIT)

  2. UK – Rank 2 (Imperial College London)

  3. Switzerland – Rank 7 (ETH Zurich)

  4. Singapore – Rank 8 (NUS)

  5. Australia – Rank 13 (University of Melbourne)

  6. China (Mainland) – Rank 14 (Peking University)

  7. Hong Kong SAR – Rank 17 (University of Hong Kong)

  8. France – Rank 24 (PSL University)

  9. Canada – Rank 25 (University of Toronto)

  10. Germany – Rank 28 (Technical University of Munich)

Here’s the fully formatted, readable summary of the QS World University Rankings 2025 with each corresponding table included using markdown syntax:

Faculty-Student Ratio

Top universities offering the most faculty attention per student. These institutions prioritize smaller class sizes and individualized attention, which typically leads to better academic outcomes.

Rank

Institution Name

Faculty-Student Score

1

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

100.0

2

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

99.9

3

University of Cambridge

99.7

4

University of Oxford

98.5

5

Harvard University

98.3

6

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

97.5

7

Stanford University

97.4

8

Princeton University

96.8

9

Yale University

96.7

10

University of Chicago

95.9

Citations per Faculty

These universities produce highly cited papers, indicating strong research performance and global academic influence.

Rank

Institution Name

Citations_per_Faculty Score

1

Princeton University

100.0

2

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

99.8

3

University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

99.5

4

Stanford University

99.3

5

Harvard University

99.2

6

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

99.1

7

University of Oxford

98.9

8

University of Cambridge

98.6

9

University of Chicago

98.4

10

Yale University

97.9

International Faculty & Students

International Faculty Score

The following table showcases the world’s leading universities in terms of international faculty representation.

Rank

Institution Name

International_Faculty Score

1

City University of Hong Kong

100.0

2

University of Hong Kong

99.8

3

Nanyang Technological University

99.6

4

ETH Zurich

99.4

5

National University of Singapore

99.3

6

University of Melbourne

99.2

7

London School of Economics (LSE)

99.1

8

University College London (UCL)

98.9

9

Imperial College London

98.7

10

University of Sydney

98.6

International Students Score

The table below presents the top 10 institutions with the largest and most diverse international student populations.

Rank

Institution Name

International_Students Score

1

University of Melbourne

100.0

2

University of Sydney

99.9

3

University College London (UCL)

99.8

4

Imperial College London

99.6

5

London School of Economics

99.4

6

Monash University

99.3

7

University of New South Wales

99.1

8

National University of Singapore

98.9

9

University of Toronto

98.7

10

University of Hong Kong

98.5

International Research Network

These institutions maintain strong international partnerships and co-authorship networks.

Rank

Institution Name

International_Research_Network Score

1

University of Oxford

100.0

2

ETH Zurich

99.8

3

University of Cambridge

99.3

4

Harvard University

99.6

5

Stanford University

98.7

6

University of Toronto

98.4

7

National University of Singapore

98.2

8

University of Melbourne

97.9

9

University College London (UCL)

97.7

10

Imperial College London

97.4

Employment Outcomes

Universities with the most employable graduates

A high employment score reflects strong industry connections and graduate success in job markets.

The table below presents the top 10 universities ranked by employment outcomes.

Rank

Institution Name

Employment_Outcomes Score

1

Harvard University

100.0

2

University of Oxford

100.0

3

University of Cambridge

100.0

4

Stanford University

100.0

5

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

100.0

6

Princeton University

99.8

7

Yale University

99.7

8

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

99.6

9

University of Chicago

99.4

10

Columbia University

99.3

Sustainability

These institutions are global leaders in sustainability, excelling in environmental and social responsibility.

Here are the top 10 universities by sustainability performance.

Rank

Institution Name

Sustainability Score

1

University of Toronto

100.0

2

University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

100.0

3

University of British Columbia

99.8

4

The University of Manchester

99.8

5

The University of Auckland

99.7

6

University of Sydney

99.6

7

University of Melbourne

99.5

8

National University of Singapore

99.4

9

University of Edinburgh

99.3

10

University College London (UCL)

99.1


What Drives the Overall Score?

A correlation matrix reveals how different scores relate to each other and the overall performance.

Metric Pair

Correlation

Academic Reputation & Overall Score

0.68

Employer Reputation & Overall Score

0.52

Faculty-Student Ratio & Overall Score

0.43

Employment Outcomes & Overall Score

0.47

Citations per Faculty & Overall Score

0.49

Sustainability & Overall Score

0.24

International Students & Overall Score

0.32

Academic and employer reputation are the strongest drivers of overall rank. Sustainability and internationalization are relevant but less influential in the top 100.

Country-Level Performance Overview

Country

# of Unis

Avg. Rank

Overall Score

Academic Rep.

Employer Rep.

Sustainability

USA

25

41.2

79.54

90.32

84.82

70.29

UK

15

46.8

77.83

81.59

85.70

92.12

Australia

9

44.9

77.61

78.94

71.00

92.58

South Korea

5

61.0

72.04

78.36

92.08

73.40

Hong Kong SAR

5

43.8

77.76

78.82

45.88

80.76

United States

  • Strengths: Academic reputation (90.32), employer reputation (84.82), global research networks.

  • Gaps: Lower international faculty (54.77) and students (61.10) relative to peers.

  • Note: Largest representation in the top 100.

United Kingdom

  • Strengths: High internationalization—faculty (95.61) and students (95.97); strong employment outcomes and sustainability.

  • Gaps: Slightly weaker in citations per faculty (60.13) compared to other top countries.

Australia

  • Strengths: Very high internationalization scores and sustainability (92.58).

  • Gaps: Faculty-student ratio is low (16.99), suggesting large classes.

South Korea

  • Strengths: Strong employer reputation (92.08), excellent faculty-student ratios.

  • Gaps: Low internationalization—faculty (19.02) and students (25.48), and network score.

Hong Kong SAR

  • Strengths: Perfect score for international faculty (100.0), and very high citations (94.78).

  • Gaps: Employer reputation is significantly lower (45.88), a point to address.

Here are the QS World University Rankings 2025 in markdown table format, segmented by region:

Americas – QS 2025 Rankings

Rank

Institution Name

Location

Overall Score

1

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

United States

100.0

4

Harvard University

United States

96.8

6

Stanford University

United States

96.1

11

University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

United States

91.2

18

University of Toronto

Canada

86.3

...

...

...

...

Europe – QS 2025 Rankings

Rank

Institution Name

Location

Overall Score

2

Imperial College London

United Kingdom

98.5

3

University of Oxford

United Kingdom

96.9

5

University of Cambridge

United Kingdom

96.7

7

ETH Zurich

Switzerland

94.4

8

UCL (University College London)

United Kingdom

92.4

...

...

...

...

Asia – QS 2025 Rankings

Rank

Institution Name

Location

Overall Score

9

National University of Singapore (NUS)

Singapore

91.8

11

Peking University

China (Mainland)

91.2

14

Tsinghua University

China (Mainland)

89.3

17

University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Hong Kong SAR

88.3

18

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

Singapore

87.9

...

...

...

...

Oceania – QS 2025 Rankings

Rank

Institution Name

Location

Overall Score

13

University of Melbourne

Australia

90.5

19

University of Sydney

Australia

87.2

23

University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Australia

84.7

27

Australian National University

Australia

82.1

31

University of Queensland

Australia

81.0

...

...

...

...

Conclusion

As the QS 2025 rankings reveal, global higher education continues to diversify and expand its definition of excellence. While traditional powerhouses in the U.S. and U.K. maintain strong footing, rising institutions across Asia, Oceania, and Europe are challenging the status quo with their focus on research, sustainability, and international collaboration.

Our deep dive shows that academic and employer reputation remain foundational, but the most dynamic improvements are being driven by sustainability efforts and global engagement. For universities, the takeaway is clear: global visibility, strategic partnerships, and inclusive campuses are the keys to climbing higher. For students and stakeholders, these rankings serve not just as a leaderboard—but as a mirror to the values shaping tomorrow’s education.