NUS ranked 17th in Times Higher Education world university rankings, highest position ever

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has soared to rank 17th in the Times Higher Education (THE) world university rankings 2025.

This is up two spots from its previous ranking of 19th and the highest position it has ever achieved in THE's rankings.

Meanwhile, the Nanyang Technological University is ranked 30th, also up two spots from its last year's rank.

Top universities

The top 10 universities are all universities from the United States and the United Kingdom.

The University of Oxford took the top spot for the ninth consecutive year.

The best-ranked Asian universities are China's Tsinghua University and Peking University, at 12th and 13th respectively.

Methodology

THE looks at research-intensive universities across all their "core missions", which include teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

18 performance indicators are grouped into five areas:

• Teaching (the learning environment);
• Research environment (volume, income and reputation);
• Research quality (citation impact, research strength, research excellence and research influence);
• International outlook (staff, students and research);
• Industry (income and patents)

NUS rejoices

In a statement to the media, President of NUS Professor Tan Eng Chye said that they were "immensely proud".

"This achievement is the result of the relentless pursuit of excellence by the NUS community," Tan said.

Noting that higher education has witnessed significant shifts and disruptions in recent years, he said it had opened doors for the university to reinvent its approach to education and research.

"A renewed emphasis on innovative, interdisciplinary research has propelled us towards contributing impactful solutions to the most pressing global challenges," he added.

"Today, NUS continues on a strong and confident trajectory. As Singapore’s largest and flagship university, we remain focused in our mission to shape young minds and create positive outcomes for future generations."

NTU making steady progress

NTU continues to make steady progress in the THE's world university rankings, an NTU spokesperson said in a statement to the media.

It is the youngest university in the Top 30, the spokesperson noted.

"With this latest ranking, NTU is now ranked in the Top 30 of each of the world’s major university indices — THE, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), and US News & World Report."

Top photo by Khine Zin Htet