Despite the federal government’s claim of prioritising education, Nigeria is not in the world’s best 1000 universities according to the latest Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings 2025 featuring over 1,500 institutions across 105 higher education systems.
The University of Ibadan and University of Lagos are the only two top Nigerian higher institutions both ranked in the 1100-1200 group.
The University of Cape Town, South Africa, ranked 171 is the highest ranked African country, followed by the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa ranked 267, and Stellenbosch University, South Africa ranked 296.
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Other African universities at the 1000 of QS ranking are the University of Johannesburg, South Africa ranked 312, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt ranked 350, University of Pretoria, South Africa ranked 354, and the American University in Cairo, Egypt ranked 410.
The University of Kwazulu-Natal, Pinetown, South Africa ranked 587, Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt ranked 592 and Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia ranked 771–780 completed the number.
The United States leads with 197 institutions featured in the rankings, followed by the United Kingdom with 90 and mainland China with 71.
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At peak of the ranking is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is leading the pack for the 13th year in a row. Imperial College London moved four steps up to secure the second position in the ranking, while the University of Oxford and Harvard University are in third and fourth place, respectively.
The top universities in QS World University Rankings 2025 are Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Imperial College London, University of Oxford, Harvard University, Cambridge- United States; University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Others are Stanford University, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, UCL London, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, United States
African Universities in QS World University Rankings 2025:
University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa (ranked #171)
University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (ranked #267)
Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa (ranked #296)
University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa (ranked #312)
Cairo University, Giza, Egypt (ranked #350)
University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (ranked #354)
The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt (ranked #410)
University of Kwazulu-Natal, Pinetown, South Africa (ranked #587)
Ain Shams University in Cairo (ASU, Cairo) Cairo, Egypt (ranked #592)
Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ranked #771–780)
In 2023, the University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria, University of Lagos, and Ahmadu Bello University were recognised as among the best universities globally, according to the Centre for World University Rankings.
The University of Ibadan emerged as the top-ranked university in Nigeria, placing 1,163rd globally.
The University of Nigeria, Nsukka was placed 1,784th on the worldwide ranking and second in Nigeria. While Ahmadu Bello University was ranked fourth nationally and 1,881 globally, whereas the University of Lagos was ranked third in Nigeria and 1,875 in the world.
In April 2024, Covenant University ranked as the best university in Nigeria for the second time, according to Times Higher Education’s 2024 rating, which includes 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions.
The University of Ibadan and the Federal University of Technology, Akure, followed closely as the second and third-best universities in Nigeria, respectively.
Quacquarelli Symonds is a leading higher education analytics firm that publishes annual world university rankings, evaluating institutions based on academic excellence, reputation and global diversity.
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