Arab University Rankings 2027: results announced

Browse the full Arab University Rankings 2027

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have maintained their dominance in the Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings, as they continue to set the standard in the Middle East’s education sector.

For a record fourth year in a row, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, a postgraduate-only institution, has retained the top spot. Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, a rankings newcomer, made its debut in second place, while Saudi Arabia’s KFUPM (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals) dropped one place from last year’s rankings to third.

Hamad Bin Khalifa University is one of just three institutions in the top 10 from outside Saudi Arabia and the UAE; the others are Qatar University, in fifth spot, and Bahrain’s Ahlia University, which has entered the top 10 in ninth place, after coming joint 12th in last year’s rankings.

Top 10 universities overall in the Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings 2027 

Find out where your university ranks. Explore the full 2027 Arab University Rankings

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have seen an increase in their overall number of ranked universities in recent years. In Saudi Arabia’s case, this reflects a commitment to expand its higher education sector as part of its Vision 2030, which outlines its strategy for moving from an oil economy to a knowledge economy.

Similarly, the UAE has bolstered its commitments to higher education, and the country recently celebrated a record 218,000 students enrolled across its institutions.

Saudi Arabia has maintained a strong presence in the top 20 of the ranking while steadily reducing its number of universities ranked outside the top 100. Overall, it has 36 universities in the 2027 Arab ranking, two more than last year.

The UAE is represented by 16 ranked institutions (three more than last year), but all of these were ranked within the top 100. In the top 20, UAE universities are well represented.

Cameron Mirza, executive project director at the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), praised the improved performances of both countries, saying they are helping to bolster the region’s global reputation.

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Volodymyr Dvornyk/Alamy

“The Middle East HE sector has experienced significant expansion through increased numbers of providers and seats available; Saudi and UAE are at the forefront of this growth,” he said.

While both countries have boosted their regional standings, their regional success is yet to translate into major success in the global Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Saudi Arabia has seen substantial growth in its world rankings representation in recent years, especially in the 501-1,000 bracket – with 18 ranked in that tier of the 2027 global league tables, compared with just five in the 2022 edition. The country has also achieved gradual growth in the top 500. However, it is still some distance from achieving its Vision 2030 ambition of placing five universities among the top 200 institutions globally by 2030. So far, it has just one, KFUPM (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals), at joint 176th place.

Although the UAE has fewer universities in the global ranking, a larger proportion of its institutions are concentrated in the higher ranking bands.

Catherine Tushabe, data scientist at Times Higher Education (THE), said that the “clearest gaps” separating Saudi universities from others in the world top 200 are in their performance on the teaching and the research environment pillars, “where almost all of the candidate Saudi universities remain well below the top 200 average”.

Meanwhile, she continued, research quality is “comparatively strong” – several institutions are already in or close to entering the global top 200 of that pillar. Saudi Arabia’s performance in the industry category is more mixed, but many of its institutions are performing at or above the top 200 benchmark. “This suggests that further progress towards the top 200 will depend particularly on strengthening teaching and research environment,” Tushabe said.

On the teaching measure, Saudi institutions have the largest gaps in the metrics on teaching reputation, doctorate-to-bachelor ratio and doctorate-to-staff ratio. In those categories, most institutions remain “substantially below” the global top 200 average.

Most Saudi institutions are already above the top 200 benchmark for student-to-staff ratio, suggesting that improving their average teaching performance will “depend particularly on strengthening academic reputation and doctoral activity, rather than student-to-staff ratios or institutional resources”, Tushabe added.

Annalisa Pavan, an independent researcher and consultant on Saudi Arabia, described the country’s Vision 2030 goals as a “work in progress”, adding that despite Saudi universities’ relatively strong performance in the research metrics, they still had room for improvement.

“Important investments on research cannot replace a productive research environment, which requires free investigation, open communication and strong international networks. Saudi universities should be more transparent if they want to improve their international rankings,” she said.

Saudi Arabia could also do more to enhance its international outlook, Pavan added, noting that “the escalating conflict” in the region could deter international students.

In the THE World University Rankings, the UAE’s strongest representatives are Khalifa University and the United Arab Emirates University, which share the 235th position.

But similar to Saudi Arabia, the UAE’s biggest gaps compared with their peers in the world rankings are in the teaching and the research environment categories, which “appears most important for translating the UAE’s strong regional performance into higher world rankings positions”, said Tushabe.

Teaching reputation is the most “pronounced gap, with all candidate institutions well below the world rankings top 200 average”. Doctorate-to-bachelor and doctorate-to-staff ratios are also typically below the benchmark.

IREX’s Mirza said that there are “several structural challenges” that can limit the “global competitiveness” of Saudi and Emirati universities, including finance and a lack of data-informed decision-making.

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“Many leading universities [globally] have built substantial endowments over decades, supported by a strong culture of giving from corporations, alumni and philanthropists. This culture is still developing in the Middle East, yet a strong financial foundation is often essential for institutions seeking to compete globally,” he said.

He added that there is “significant untapped potential” in engaging alumni and employers to strengthen academic and research partnerships.

“Research output and quality are improving, but the shift from research to innovation will take time. Greater collaboration with industry, governments and private equity can help universities move beyond producing research to leading vertical innovation across the region, and internationally would support enhancing reputation,” he said.

Elsewhere in the region, Bahrain made notable headway in the rankings, celebrating its first top 10 university, and every Bahraini university that participated in both this year’s and last year’s rankings recorded a rise in ranking position and score.

Bahraini institutions chalked up a sizeable year-on-year increase of 3.2 points, which was significantly above Saudi Arabia’s and the UAE’s year-on-year rises of 1.6 and 1.8 points, respectively. Research strength accounted for the largest share of the gain, alongside research productivity, student-to-staff ratio and teaching reputation, while the country registered small declines across institutional income, doctorate-to-staff ratio and international co-authorship.

Egypt had four new entrants into the rankings, and while many of its institutions fell in ranking, their scores remained relatively stable compared with last year, highlighting the strong performance – and improvement – of universities across the region.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com

See the full results of the Arab University Rankings 2027