Nigerian Universities Absent from Top 1000 in 2025 Global Ranking

A prominent higher education analytics company, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), has released the World University Rankings for 2025 and no Nigerian University made the top 1000 cut.

These rankings, which is released annually, include more than 1,500 universities from 105 different higher education systems.

They assess universities on the basis of academic excellence, reputation, and Global Diversity.

The United States has the most Universities in the rankings, with 197 institutions. The United Kingdom follows with 90 institutions, and mainland China is next with 71 institutions. 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology continues to hold the number one spot for the 13th consecutive year.

Imperial College London has risen four places to secure the second position. The University of Oxford and Harvard University are in third and fourth place, respectively. The University of Cambridge rounds out the top five.

Nigeria has two Universities in the rankings – the University of Ibadan and University of Lagos. They are ranked between 1100 and 1200.

 2025 Top 10 Universities Around the Globe

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, United State

2. Imperial College London, United Kingdom

3. University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

4. Harvard University, Cambridge, United States

5. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

6. Stanford University, Stanford, United States

7. ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

8. National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, Singapore

9. UCL London, United Kingdom

10. California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, United States

 2025 Top 10 Universities in Africa 

1. University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa (ranked #171)

2. University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (ranked #267)

3. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa (ranked #296)

4. University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa (ranked #312)

5. Cairo University, Giza, Egypt (ranked #350)

6. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (ranked #354)

7. The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt (ranked #410)

8. University of Kwazulu-Natal, Pinetown, South Africa (ranked #587)

9. Ain Shams University in Cairo (ASU, Cairo) Cairo, Egypt (ranked #592)

10. Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ranked #771–780)

In 2023, four Nigerian universities, namely the University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria, University of Lagos, and Ahmadu Bello University, were acknowledged as some of the world’s best institutions by the Centre for World University Rankings.

The University of Ibadan took the lead in Nigeria, securing the 1,163rd position globally. The University of Nigeria followed, ranking second in the country and 1,784th worldwide.

The University of Lagos and Ahmadu Bello University took the third and fourth spots in Nigeria, with global rankings of 1,875 and 1,881.

Forward to April 2024, Covenant University was named the top university in Nigeria for the second consecutive year, according to Times Higher Education’s 2024 rating.

This rating encompassed 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions. The University of Ibadan and the Federal University of Technology, Akure, were ranked as the second and third-best universities in Nigeria.