Phil Baty, Chief Global Affairs Officer at Times Higher Education, revealed that a record 133 Indian universities have submitted to the 2025 rankings—up from 42 in 2017—making India the 4th best-represented country in the world.
World’s Top 10 Universities in 2024: After years of disruption and havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 has so far signified a return to normal for much of the global higher education sector. The world’s top universities are once again thriving, attracting the brightest minds from around the globe and leading the charge in innovation and discovery across a wide range of disciplines.
These institutions, renowned for their academic excellence, groundbreaking research, and distinguished alumni, continue to shape the future and inspire the next generation of leaders and thinkers. The latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024 revealed the top universities in the world.
The University of Oxford in the UK has retained its position as the world’s top university for the eighth consecutive year, and closely following it is Stanford University in the United States, which has moved up to second place.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has climbed up two places to claim the third spot, and Harvard University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world, rounds out the top five, slipping from its previous second-place ranking.
Notably, among the newly ranked institutions, 20 are from India – meaning its participation has increased more than that of any other country in the 2024 rankings. Additionally, the Indian Institute of Science (IISC)– has climbed back into the top 250 for the first time since 2017.
Phil Baty, Chief Global Affairs Officer at Times Higher Education, revealed that a record 133 Indian universities have submitted to the 2025 rankings—up from 42 in 2017—making India the 4th best-represented country in the world.
Here are the world’s top 10 universities in 2024:
Source: THE