According to data from 2026, the University of Oxford has been recognized as the best in the world for the tenth consecutive year by the British publication Times Higher Education. While American universities occupy seven of the top ten positions in this ranking, there is a noticeable decline further down the list: 62 institutions ranked lower than the previous year, while only 19 improved their results.
“We are witnessing significant changes, a sort of new world order in the dominance of higher education and scientific research,” noted Phil Baty, a leading expert on global issues at Times Higher Education, a well-known British organization that compiles one of the most authoritative global university rankings.
Dynamics of American and Chinese Universities in Rankings
In the early 2000s, seven American institutions led by Harvard were in the top ten universities in the world, while only one Chinese university—Zhejiang University—was in the top 25.
Today, however, Zhejiang province has taken first place in the ranking compiled by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands, with seven Chinese universities in the top ten.
Despite Harvard conducting significantly more research than two decades ago, it has fallen to third place. The issue is not a decrease in the number of graduates. According to Leiden University, six of the leading American universities that were in the top ten in the early 2000s continue to conduct more research than before, but Chinese universities have significantly improved their performance.
The Leiden Centre has also begun to form an alternative ranking based on the OpenAlex database. In this list, Harvard ranks first, but 12 of the next 13 universities are Chinese.
According to academic metrics compiled by the Informatics Institute of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Harvard again finds itself in first place. However, only Stanford University among American institutions made it into the top ten, which also includes four Chinese universities. In the Nature Index ranking, Harvard also holds the first position, followed by ten Chinese universities.
Reduction of Grants in the U.S. and China's Investment in Education
Harvard and other leading universities in the country are facing new challenges due to the reduction of research grants implemented by the Trump administration, as well as travel restrictions and tightening anti-immigration policies, which have negatively impacted foreign students and scholars. Thus, in August 2025, the number of foreign students in the U.S. decreased by 19 percent compared to 2024, as reported by The New York Times.
The reduction in research funding at U.S. universities occurs against the backdrop of the Trump administration's policy aimed at cutting unnecessary expenses and reassessing research priorities. In 2025, university leaders warned that such cuts could have catastrophic consequences for science in the country.
In contrast, China is actively investing billions of dollars in its universities and is striving to make them more attractive to foreign researchers. Since the fall, China has begun issuing special visas for graduates of leading science and technology universities, allowing them to come to the country for study or business.
Ten years ago, two well-known universities in Beijing—Peking University and Tsinghua University—ranked 42nd and 47th in the Times Higher Education ranking. Currently, they are close to the top ten: Tsinghua University is in 12th place, while Peking University is in 13th.
