The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has made a major leap in the QS World University Rankings 2025, reaching 17th place globally. This marks the university’s highest-ever position, climbing ten places from 27th last year. The top of the list still includes academic giants like MIT, Imperial College London and Oxford, but Asia’s universities are steadily making their mark, as five of them now rank in the top 20.
Five Asian universities in the top 20
Out of 1,500 universities analysed for this ranking, The United States has the highest number of universities on the list, with 197 institutions ranked. The United Kingdom follows with 90, and mainland China has 71.
The top 20 universities in 2025 are:
| Rank 2025 | Institutions | Rank 2024 | Evolution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MIT | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Imperial College London | 6 | +4 |
| 3 | University of Oxford | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Harvard University | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | University of Cambridge | 2 | -3 |
| 6 | Stanford University | 5 | -1 |
| 7 | ETH Zurich | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | National University of Singapore | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | University College London | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | California Institute of Technology | 15 | +5 |
| 11 | University of Pennsylvania | 12 | +1 |
| 12 | University of California, Berkeley | 10 | -2 |
| 13 | University of Melbourne | 14 | +1 |
| 14 | Peking University | 17 | +3 |
| 15 | Nanyang Technological University | 26 | +11 |
| 16 | Cornell University | 13 | -3 |
| 17 | University of Hong Kong | 27 | +10 |
| 18 | University of Sydney | 20 | +2 |
| 19 | University of New South Wales | 19 | 0 |
| 20 | Tsinghua University | 25 | +5 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) leads once again with a perfect score of 100, holding its position at the top for the 13th year in a row. Imperial College London moves into second place, while the University of Oxford ranks third. Harvard and the University of Cambridge complete the top five.
HKU now ranks 17th in the world, the highest ever for the university. It joins four other Asian institutions in the global top 20: the National University of Singapore (8th), Peking University (14th), Nanyang Technological University (15th), and Tsinghua University (20th). All five Asian universities improved or maintained their positions compared to last year.
The top 20 list includes seven universities from the United States, five from Europe (including four in the UK), and three from Australia. The University of Melbourne ranks highest among Australian universities, at number 13.
How the QS ranking is calculated
The QS World University Rankings are based on a weighted scoring system designed to reflect both academic strength and broader impact. Each university is assessed across key indicators including academic reputation (30 percent), employer reputation (15 percent), faculty-to-student ratio (10 percent), citations per faculty (20 percent), and international student and staff ratios. Newer criteria like sustainability and graduate outcomes also contribute to the total score.
For instance, MIT earned a perfect score of 100 in this year’s survey while HKU received an overall score of 87.6, driven by standout performance in several key areas: International student ratio (99.3), Academic reputation (97.4) and Citations per faculty (86.4). These scores underline HKU’s strong global reputation, its appeal to international students, and its influence in research.
Header Image Credit: Adon3465 via Wikimedia Commons
