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Browse the full results of the World University Rankings 2026

Two new and opposite trends from the ̽»¨ÊÓƵ World University Rankings offer insights into the changing landscape of global higher education.

The first is that the performance of the top universities in East and South-east Asia, regions that have?consistently risen up the rankings year after year, has now stalled, stopping them short of the global top 10.

The second is that the US, a country that has historically dominated the upper echelons of the global league table, is declining amid stiff global competition ¨C a drift that is not new in itself but one that reaches new depths this year and is cast in fresh light given the unprecedented attacks on US universities from the Trump administration.

It is too early to say how these patterns will develop and converge, but they raise several questions in relation to the rankings. Will the stagnation of Asia¡¯s top universities be a temporary blip or a long-term trend? If Asia¡¯s leading universities have reached their peak, will that provide a cushion to counterparts in the US that are vulnerable to decline? Or will the effects of the research funding cuts and internationalisation restrictions in the US fast-track China to finally reach the global top 10? Ultimately, are we at the brink of a reshaping of global higher education?

We attempt to answer some of those?questions in our main analysis of the 2026 results, while the extent of the damage to the US according to one metric of scientific achievement that is not included in our rankings ¨C Nobel prizes ¨C is examined in another recent feature.

Across the Atlantic, several European systems are also facing declines, although with less stormy climates than in the US. Germany is one of those, despite the fact that for two decades the country has spent billions of euros on boosting the research capacity of its top institutions. We take a look at whether its Excellence Strategy is having the desired effects.

And there are warning signs for the performance of the UK, too, where a mounting financial crisis is gripping universities.

As international education consultant Rajika Bhandari said, we are in a ¡°moment of great flux¡± for global higher education. Universities are grappling with policy upheaval, financial challenges and ongoing uncertainty. Only time will tell how all of that will shake out in the rankings when the dust settles.

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com

Countries/territories represented in the top 200