MIT And Stanford University Lead Times Higher Education World University Rankings By Subject 2025

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University in the United States top three each of eleven separate subject rankings
• Oxford takes top spot in two subjects: Medical and Health, and Computer Science
• California Institute of Technology is first for Physical Sciences
• Stanford, Harvard and Cambridge universities are the only institutions represented in top 10s across all 11 subjects
• Peking University in China achieves best ever performance in Business and Economics, rising to fourth place
• ETH Zurich is the only continental European university to feature in top 10s – represented in Engineering, Computer Science, and Physical Sciences
• China makes steady progress with good representation and position rises
• National University of Singapore is first Asian university to feature in top 10 for Physical Sciences
• Engineering remains subject with highest participation – from more than 70 per cent of ranked universities
• Scroll down for regional highlights for Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and Latin America

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University in the United States lead in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject 2025, released today. Each university tops three subject rankings. 

MIT takes first place in Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics and Social Sciences. Meanwhile, Stanford University, which was overtaken in the overall World University Rankings 2025 by MIT and pushed down to sixth place from second last year, still rivals the east-coast institution when it comes to subject performance. Stanford is number one for Education Studies, Law and Psychology. 

Harvard University takes first place in Engineering and Life Sciences, and California Institute of Technology is number one for Physical Sciences. This means that the US takes nine of the 11 number one spots in the THE World University Rankings by Subject 2025.

The remaining two subjects, Computer Science and Medical and Health, are led by the University of Oxford, maintaining long-held top positions for the UK institution. It has topped the Medical and Health ranking since 2016, and Computer Science since 2019. Oxford, which is the overall THE World University Rankings 2025 global number one ranked university, is in the top eight across the 10 subject rankings in which it is represented. 

The US dominates in the top 10s across all 11 subjects and is the most represented country for each subject overall as well as in the top 50 for each subject. Stanford, Harvard and Cambridge (in the UK) universities are the only institutions represented in top 10s across all 11 subjects. 

But while the US is top at a global level, China is leading the way for Asia in terms of representation overall and in top 50s. China has top-10 institutions in Business and Economics, and Education Studies, and representation in the top 50 for every subject. 

In the subjects of Physical Sciences and Engineering, China has the second highest representation of any country for universities in the top 50s, behind the US. China has six top-50 universities in Physical Sciences, and six in Engineering. 

Peking University reveals its strength in the subject rankings with a best-ever performance in Business and Economics, rising to fourth place from 10th, and edging closer to the top 10 in Computer Science, in 12th place up from 16. The university is also newly ranked for Law and goes straight into the top 20 in 14th place. 

Elsewhere, ETH Zurich in Switzerland is the only university in continental Europe to make it into the top 10s – in Engineering (10th), Computer Science (fourth) and Physical Sciences (ninth). Brazil leads in Latin America for overall representation with at least 10 universities ranked for each subject, and in Africa: Egypt and North Africa demonstrate strength in numbers in STEM subjects, while South Africa has the highest number of ranked universities in the region for Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, Education Studies, Law, Psychology and Social Sciences.

Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, said: “Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings are the most balanced, comprehensive and rigorous in the world, using 18 separate performance indicators to cover the full range of global, research-intensive university activities, including teaching, research, industry links and international outlook. These 11 separate subject tables complement the overall world rankings, published last October, to give even richer, trusted insights to a wide range of users: from students choosing where to study to university leaders’ benchmarking performance to governments analysing funding and policy decisions.“

While the western world continues to dominate the subject rankings, this new data release demonstrates the continued rise of China and east Asian nations in the global knowledge economy, and a global levelling up of excellence.” 

Global top 10s for each of the 11 subject rankings 

More on the US 

At the tops of the tables there have been some small position changes and swaps among US universities. In Business and Economics, Harvard has dropped from position three to seven, but still has a high score for teaching. In Education Studies, Stanford University has taken the top spot from the University of California, Berkeley, which is now at number two. Stanford has the top scores for teaching and research environment. In Social Sciences, Stanford University has dropped from joint number one to third place, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology maintaining the top spot. 

In Law, the US boasts all top three spots with Stanford University, Harvard University and New York University ranked first, second and third in the world.

More on the UK 

Cambridge University, the UK’s second best performing institution in the overall World University Rankings (fifth place), features in the top 10 across all 11 subject rankings, and takes second place in four of the subjects: Arts and Humanities, Computer Science, Life Sciences, and Psychology. The UK performs strongly across the top 10s with at least two institutions making the top 10 for each subject ranking, and four making the top 10 for Medical and Health. In Arts and Humanities, the UK boasts nine institutions in the top 50, the second highest number behind the US; and in each subject ranking it has at least four universities ranked in the elite top 50s. A number of rises at the top of some subject tables and top pillar scores reveal the UK’s continuing excellence and progress in certain areas. In Business and Economics, the University of Oxford is now number two, up from joint fifth last year – it leads the world on research environment. In Computer Science, the University of Cambridge has seen a large improvement, rising from seventh place to second thanks to high scores in research environment, industry and international. 

In Law, the UK now has three universities in the top ten as UCL moves from rank 12 to 10. In Life Sciences, the University of Greenwich has the highest score under the international pillar, and in Medical and Health, the University of Bristol has the highest score for research quality. In Social Sciences, The London School of Economics and Political Science remains in the top 10 but drops from position eight to nine. 

Australia: steady performance at the top of the rankings 

Australia performs relatively well at the tops of the rankings with institutions in the top 50s of nine of the 11 subject rankings. It is best represented at the top of the tables for Education Studies and Law with four top-50 universities in each, making it the third most-represented country in the top 50 for those subjects, behind the US and the UK.

However, in Law, the University of Melbourne drops out of the top 10 and is now in position 11 (formerly eight). In Psychology, Australian Catholic University has the world’s highest score for research quality and is ranked in band 126–150. 

Asia: China, Singapore and Hong Kong all take elite top-10 positions 

China is making steady progress in the THE World University Rankings by Subject 2025 with institutions ranked in the top 10s for Business and Economics, and Education Studies, and representation in the top 50 for every subject. In the subjects of Physical Sciences and Engineering, China has the second highest representation of universities in the top 50s, just behind the US. China has six top-50 universities in Physical Sciences, and six in Engineering

Peking University (China’s second-best performer in the overall World University Rankings) is demonstrating its prowess in a number of subjects with significant rises at the top of the rankings. The university is newly ranked for Law and goes straight into the top 20 in 14th place. Peking University has also achieved its best ever performance in Business and Economics, rising to fourth place from 10th, and the university is edging closer to the top 10 in Computer Science, rising to 12th place up from 16. In Physical Sciences, China’s two best-performing institutions are on the rise and getting very close to the top 10. Peking University is 11th up from 15, and Tsinghua University (China’s number one in the overall World University Rankings) is in joint-12th place up from 14. Peking and Tsinghua Universities also perform well in Social Sciences with top-20 places: Peking is 16, up from 17, and Tsinghua joins the top 20 in joint-20th position up from 21. China demonstrates a strong performance overall in the subjects, and in Business and Economics, Computer Science, Engineering, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences its participation and performance are better than the world average. Elsewhere, National University of Singapore is the first Asian university to feature in the top 10 for Physical Sciences and takes 10thplace. It also ranks ninth for Engineering. China, Singapore and Hong Kong are the only Asian countries represented in the top 10s. Hong Kong’s University of Hong Kong is in sixth place for Education Studies. Asia achieves impressive representation in the top 50s with China and Singapore appearing in the top 50s for all 11 subjects. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is represented in nine of the top 50s, while Japan appears in the top 50 for eight subjects. South Korea is represented in the top 50s for Medical and Health, Computer Science, and Engineering, and Taiwan appears in the top 50 for Education Studies. 

Canada: well-represented in the top 50s, but suffers falls in top 100s 

Canada appears in two of the subject top 10s, both times represented by the University of Toronto (Canada’s best ranked institution in the overall THE World University Rankings 2025, in 21st place), which is number nine for both Medical and Health, and Education Studies. Canada performs steadily at the tops of the subject tables with at least one university in the top 50 for each subject. For Medical and Health, Canada is the third most represented country in the top 50, behind the US and UK, with four institutions ranked highly. Its second-best performer in Medical and Health is University of British Columbia, which jumps forward to 28th place, up from 34. Canada experiences a number of significant rises and slips in the top 100s. In Arts and Humanities, Université de Montréal joins the top 100 in 99th position, up from band 101-125. In Business and Economics, University of British Columbia moves up to 29 from 35. In Education Studies, McGill University rises to 38 from joint 43. In Life Sciences, University of Alberta joins the top 100 in 100th place, up from band 101-125.

In Computer Science, Canada has three institutions in the top 50, down from four last year, as University of British Columbia has slipped down from 49th position to 51. In Law, Université de Montréal has dropped out of the top 100 and is now in band 101-125, down from 88. In Psychology, University of Toronto has dropped out of the top 10 and is now ranked joint-11th. But both Western University and McMaster University leap forward into the top 100 at joint-92nd (up from band 101- 125) and 95th (up from band 126-150) respectively.

Continental Europe: Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands are top performers 

Switzerland stands out as the only continental European country represented in top 10s of the subject rankings. ETH Zurich makes the elite group for Engineering (10th), Computer Science (fourth) and Physical Sciences (ninth). Continental Europe is well-represented across the subject rankings‘ top 50s. Germany appears in all 11 top 50s, and has the third-highest representation in the top 50 for Arts and Humanities, behind the US and UK, with five institutions highly ranked. Overall in Arts and Humanities, ten European countries (not including the UK) appear in the top 50. In Law, Germany impresses with two newly ranked universities at the top of the table: Universität Heidelberg goes straight into the top 50 in 50th place, and University of Bonn is newly ranked at joint-95. However, Germany also loses an institution from the top 50, as University of Hamburg falls to joint-66th place, down from 42. In Computer Science Germany’s University of Tübingen joins the top 100 in joint-86th place, while in Education Studies, LMU Munich in Germany joins the top 50 at 46, up from 61, and newly ranked Netherlands university, University of Twente, heads straight into the elite top-100 at joint-78. The Netherlands is the joint second most-represented country in the top 50 for Psychology, and joint third in top 50 for Law and Social Sciences. However, in Arts and Humanities, Medical and Health and Social Sciences, the Netherlands loses institutions from the top 50. The University of Groningen drops out of the top 50 for Arts and Humanities, coming at 66, down from 47; while Erasmus University Rotterdam slips from 47 to 52 in Medical and Health. In Social Sciences, the University of Groningen slips down out of the top 50 into 51 position (down from joint 49) and University of Twente falls from 88 last year to band 101-125. 

Brazil: stands out on overall representation in Latin America 

Brazil impresses with representation in the THE World University Rankings by Subject 2025, with at least 10 universities ranked for each subject. Brazil leads the region for representation and has its highest number of universities ranked for Life Sciences, 48 – up from 44 last year, but less than its 2022 and 2023 figures. In Law, Brazil increases its representation by five, with 14 universities now ranked. It’s highest ranked institution for Law, University of São Paulo, has made an impressive leap up the rankings to 58th position, up from band 101-125; and the same university also joins the top 100 in Social Sciences at 97, up from band 101-125. 

Chile, Mexico and Colombia also perform well for representation. Chile now has 21 ranked institutions for Education Studies, an increase of five on last year. Mexico does well in STEM subjects, coming second in terms of representation in Latin America for Engineering (18 ranked universities) and Life Sciences (18 ranked institutions). In Physical Sciences, Mexico is the third-most represented country in the region with 17 universities, behind Brazil and Chile. Colombia has its highest representation in Medical and Health with 13 universities ranked, and has at least 10 institutions ranked in Engineering, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences. 

Africa: Egypt and North Africa demonstrate strength in STEM 

Egypt is the best performer in the African region when it comes to overall representation in the THE World University Rankings by Subject 2025. Egypt is particularly well represented in STEM subjects with 17 ranked universities in Computer Science, 23 ranked for Medical and Health, 28 ranked in Engineering, 23 for Life Sciences and 28 for Physical Sciences. In Physical Sciences, Egypt moves into the top 400 with Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) ranked in band 301-400, up from 601-800. Egypt also boasts six newly ranked universities in Medical and Health and five in Life Sciences. South Africa also performs consistently well for representation with at least 10 ranked universities in nine of the subject rankings, and nine institutions ranked in both Computer Science and Engineering. It is the most represented country in Africa for Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, Education Studies, Law, Psychology and Social Sciences. In Business and Economics, South Africa moves into the top 200 with University of Johannesburg entering band 176-200, up from 201-250. Nigeria also demonstrates strong representation with 13 universities ranked for Medical and Health (up from 10) making it the second most-represented nation in that region. It also boasts 15 ranked institutions for Engineering, 11 in Life Sciences and 17 in Physical Sciences. It also has at least one ranked university in every subject ranking. In Physical Sciences, Nigeria’s best ranked university is newly ranked Landmark University in band 501-600. Nigeria has six debutants in Physical Sciences. North Africa is becoming a standout sub-region for African universities in the subject rankings, especially in certain STEM subjects. Morocco is the second-most represented country in the African region for Computer Science, behind Egypt, with 12 universities ranked; meanwhile, Tunisia has eight ranked and Algeria is represented by five institutions. In Engineering, Algeria has an impressive 24 universities ranked, up from 21, and is behind only Egypt in the region in terms of representation. Morocco also boasts 12 ranked institutions for Engineering, and Tunisia has seven.

For Physical Sciences, Algeria is once again in second place in the region for representation, behind Egypt, with 24 universities ranked, up from 22; and Morocco has 12, up from 11. Tunisia performs well in Business and Economics with seven universities ranked. In Life Sciences, Morocco’s newly ranked Mohammed VI Polytechnic University goes straight into the top 400 in band 301-400, and in Physical Sciences the same university is newly ranked in the top 500, in band 401-500. 

Methodology 

The THE World University Rankings by Subject 2025 are derived from the latest World University Rankings 3.0 methodology, which is recognised as the world’s most comprehensive evaluation of university performance. The subject tables employ the same range of 18 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings 2025, brought together with scores provided under five categories. However, the overall methodology is carefully recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields. Two criteria determine eligibility for the THE subject rankings: a publication threshold by discipline and an academic staff threshold by discipline. For each of the 11 subject rankings, the publication thresholds are different. The academic staff eligibility criterion also changes depending on the subject. An institution needs to have either a minimum proportion of its staff or a minimum number of staff in this discipline to be included in the subject ranking. Two of the subject rankings have new names for 2025: Medical and Health (formerly Clinical and Health) and Education Studies (formerly Education). These are changes in name only; the rankings are based on the same subject areas as in previous years. 

View the World University Rankings by Subject 2025 methodology: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/world-universityrankings-subject-2025-methodology 

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