Abu Dhabi University and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia are the best-ranked higher education institutions in the region.
Both universities have been counted among the top 200 universities in the world for the first time, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 released early on Wednesday show. Globally, the University of Oxford is the world’s highest ranked university for the ninth-consecutive year.
Abu Dhabi University – which was ranked among the world's top 350 in 2023 and rose to the 201-250 position in last year’s tables – took 191st spot this year. King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals was ranked in the 201-250 position for the last two years, and took the 176th spot in the 2025 standings.
“For a long time I’ve highlighted the incredible growth of higher education in the Arab region and in particular the Gulf states," Phil Baty, Times Higher Education chief global affairs officer, said. “This year is a momentous one as two Arab universities, from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have broken into the top 200.
“This is a huge testament to the tremendous work taking place to radically improve higher education in those countries and the region, especially with the backing of transformative plans, namely Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the UAE’s Vision 2031. With the continued investment in higher education in the region, we hope, if the region can remain stable over the coming years, that we should see more universities breaking into the top 200, and even higher.”
How did Arab universities fare?
The representation of Arab universities in the league tables has increased steadily from 63 universities in 2020 to 163 in 2025.
Prof Ghassan Aouad, chancellor of Abu Dhabi University, told The National "to be among the top 200 universities in the world is a significant achievement".
"It's an achievement for the UAE, not only for the university,” he said. "We have increased our research publications, citations, the number of patents, the quality of teaching and learning, and the engagement with industry."
He said the university had worked hard on faculty professional development while its business college had double accreditations from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in the US and the EFMD Quality Improvement System based in Brussels.
“Only one per cent of business schools and colleges at global level have achieved double accreditation,” said Prof Aouad. “We have two initiatives. We have the Global Engagement Programme in which over 3,000 international and local faculties are part of this network. We do a lot of joint research with them.
“We have the industry engagement programme and have over 200 industries from the UAE and beyond, and this has helped us immensely to improve the university's academic reputation, where our students are getting good jobs and it’s easy for them to enter the job market.
"I think there is strong support from government in the GCC. In the West, maybe they may have reached the peak now, and maybe the investment is not that much. There are some problems in the West in terms of funding."
Khalifa University took the third spot, with a 201-250 position, up from the 251-300 category in last year’s rankings. Qatar University also jumped from the 251-300 grouping last year to a 201-250 rank this year, and King Saud University rose from the 401-500 category to 251-300.
Lebanese American University, Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University and United Arab Emirates University were all ranked in the 251-300 category this year, while Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain featured in the league tables for the first time at the 501-600 position.
“It’s wonderful to see yet another country enter the ranking for the first time and Bahrain’s Arabian Gulf University has done especially well as a first-time entrant,” said Mr Baty. “While Gulf states dominate the top of the rankings in the region, it’s great to see Morocco’s highest placed university get into the top 500, highlighting the breadth and depth of wealth, demographics and education models in the region."
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco entered the league tables this year at 401-500 spot.
What are the world’s best universities?
The world’s best higher education institution is the UK’s Oxford. Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US is the second-highest-ranked in the world, up from the third place last year, while Harvard University moved to third, an improvement from fourth spot last year. Princeton University came fourth, up from sixth in 2024, while the University of Cambridge took fifth position.
Despite Oxford's success, the reputation of the UK's top universities has declined for the second year in a row and the report revealed that the UK recorded the worst year-on-year decline in research reputation among large nations. Indeed, some British universities could face closure due to the falling numbers of international students, as recently reported on by The National.
"While, overall, the picture of UK higher education in our rankings is positive, the sector is being battered by numerous prevailing winds," said Mr Baty. "Chief among them is the extremely stretched finances it is facing and the restrictions on recruiting international students making it harder for them still, making it almost impossible to see how the sector can sustain its position in the coming years without significant help."
“The UK’s reputation among academics, while still very high, is likely to weaken further in future years if universities' funding environment doesn’t improve, which can have worrying consequences for partnerships, investment and collaborations," he added.
The 2025 league table included 2,092 universities from 115 countries, ranking universities based on 18 performance indicators covering teaching, research, knowledge transfer and internationalisation, which is the process of integrating an intercultural aspect into teaching.
