The UAE's Khalifa University of Science and Technology jumped 25 places to 177th globally in the QS World University Rankings 2026.
Khalifa University, which is based in Abu Dhabi, has remained the top institution in the UAE for eight consecutive years, according to the rankings released on Thursday.
The QS rankings evaluated more than 8,467 universities from across 106 locations.
“As global academic and research landscape evolves, our consistent climb to reach the top 200 in the 2026 QS World University Rankings reinforces Khalifa University’s status as a driving force in science and technology, particularly among researchers and students seeking world-class opportunities closer to home," said Prof Ebrahim Al Hajri, president of Khalifa University.
The university noted it leads across several key indicators, including 11th in the world for "international faculty".
"The 177th rank remains a testament to our faculty and students whose work continues to make a positive impact, while highlighting our global growing presence. Through our diverse academic community and our expanding international and regional industry collaborations, we are consistently contributing to meeting the UAE’s ambitions in knowledge economy leadership," said Prof Al Hajri.
Consistent growth
More than 1,500 of the world's universities are included in the 2026 edition of the rankings. Other UAE universities saw improvements in this edition.
United Arab Emirates University, for example, was second in the UAE list and went from 261 to 229. American University of Sharjah came in at three and saw its ranking improve from 332 to 272.
AUS said the new position places it among the top 18 per cent of institutions worldwide – a consistent upwards trend since 2018.
“This achievement further validates the shared vision to develop AUS as a world-class centre of academic excellence, beneficial research and global engagement. Our steady upwards trajectory in recent years is the result of targeted investment in our people, collaborations and common purpose," said AUS president Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi.
"We will continue to grow as a research-intensive institution that’s fully committed to delivering education, competes at an international level and prepares students to lead with insight, intelligence and integrity in a complex world.”
Regional improvement
Across the Arab region, about 42 per cent of institutions improved their position, 32 per cent maintained their place from last year and 26 per cent dropped, QS said.
Eleven universities feature for the first time, with Jordan accounting for six new institutions and Iraq five.
Lebanon and Oman have three universities rank for the first time this year; Saudi Arabia has two universities debut and Palestine one.
Three Saudi Arabian institutions are in the global top 500, meaning the region is now home to 19 top 500 universities, QS said.
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals rises into the top 100 for the first time and is once again the region’s highest-ranked university at 67.
The QS World University Rankings are an independent assessment that examines universities against several key indicators, from academic reputation to employment outcomes.
Education experts told The National there are more than 100 universities from the Arab region on the list, which is noteworthy, as just about a decade ago there were very few. Dr Senthil Nathan, managing director and co-founder of the Edu Alliance consultancy, added it was essential to understand the methodology of ranking systems.
"The centre piece of the QS ranking is the academic reputation indicator (30 per cent of the weight for its world ranking), which is measured by subjective responses of 'reputation; from chosen academics. A similar indicator is the employer reputation (15 per cent of the weight). The remaining 55 per cent per cent of the weight is allocated to quantitative factors.
"The outcomes of such surveys can vary significantly depending on the quality of the selected contacts and the respondents," he said.
Looking at the overall picture, the US's Massachusetts Institute of Technology again comes out on top, while nearly 500 universities have improved their performance since last year, QS said.
The UK's Imperial College London, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and UCL all maintained their places in the global top 10. Harvard comes in at 5.
The biggest climber was Sunway University in Malaysia, which has risen over 120 places.
The boost for the UAE, meanwhile, follows news that UAE universities also had risen up the rankings in another global higher education league table.
Abu Dhabi's Khalifa University again led the way for the country, jumping up 30 places to 846th out of 21,462 higher education institutions assessed in the 2025 Centre for World University Rankings.
Khalifa University placed in the top four per cent of universities worldwide and was the 10th best in the Middle East in the annual list measured on quality of education, employability, quality of faculty and research.
