Best universities in South America 2026

Find the best universities in South America using Times Higher Education’s Latin America University Ranking data. This table was created using a trusted methodology ranking universities on teaching quality and international outlook

December 3 2025

Top universities in South America 2026

South America Rank 2026	LatAm Rank 2026	University	Overall	Teaching	Research Environment	Research Quality	Industry	International Outlook
1	1	University of São Paulo	62.8	65.5	56.1	69.9	96.6	43.4
2	2	University of Campinas	58.1	58.7	52.3	69.1	78.1	41.5
3	3	Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile	50	38	43.6	72.6	80.2	58.1
=4	=4	Federal University of Rio de Janeiro	47.9	50.2	38.4	56.8	84.9	37.2
=4	=4	Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)	47.9	52.1	38.1	57.5	62.7	39
6	6	Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)	44.2	42	39.1	50.7	72.8	45.4
7	8	Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul	40.9	42.1	27.4	60.1	56.7	35.6
8	10	Federal University of Minas Gerais	39.8	45.6	26.5	50.2	53	36.9
=9	=11	Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina	39.3	40.9	26.1	54.5	65.5	37
=9	=11	Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)	39.3	40.7	28.6	51.6	59.2	36.3
11	13	University of Chile	38.4	33.6	25	61.6	56.5	49.3
12	14	University of the Andes, Colombia	38	30.8	27	60.7	43.2	57.8
13	15	Federal University of São Carlos	36.9	38.1	26.5	50	55.4	33.1
14	16	UEES, Espiritu Santo University	36.6	42.2	17	39.3	39.9	88.7
15	17	Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR)	34.5	41.1	20.4	43	51.9	35.4
16	18	University of Tarapacá	34	16.4	31.4	62.2	21.7	58.7
17	19	Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)	33	39	22	35	57.8	36.1
18	20	University of Brasília	32.1	37.7	19.2	42.4	33.2	35.7
19	21	Universidade Federal de Pernambuco	32	38.7	19.3	36.8	62.5	28.8
20	22	Federal University of Lavras	30.9	34.8	21.8	38.9	32.8	29.9
21	23	Adolfo Ibáñez University	30.8	19.5	22	55.1	22.7	62.5
22	=24	Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso	29.6	21.4	21.7	48.1	33.8	51.3
23	26	Unisinos University	29.5	26.1	25.3	36.6	55.3	30.7
24	27	Federal University of Goiás	29.3	36	23.3	28.2	25.4	30.6
25	28	Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP)	29.2	25.6	29.8	34.5	35.2	26
26	29	University of the Andes, Chile	28.8	29.6	19.7	36.4	22.4	48.1
=27	=30	National University of Colombia	28.4	27.5	17.5	41.7	35.9	41
=27	=30	Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC)	28.4	22.2	20.2	46.7	28.9	45.1
=29	=32	Federal University of Santa Maria	28.3	28.4	17.5	44.6	37.2	27.7
=29	=32	University of Concepción	28.3	22.2	19.7	40.9	47.7	50.8
31	34	University of Antioquia	28	25.7	21.2	36.2	39.9	40.3
32	35	Universidad San Francisco de Quito	27.9	26.3	14	42.2	19.3	63.7
33	36	University of La Frontera	27.8	22.6	24.9	34	24.1	50.2
34	37	Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)	27.7	36.8	13.8	35.1	23.2	29.7
35	38	Catholic University of Brasília	27.6	32.8	26.2	18	22.2	37.4
=36	=39	Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)	27	31.2	16.5	31.8	43.3	33.2
=36	=39	University of Santiago, Chile (USACH)	27	20.9	19.2	42.3	30.1	47.5
38	41	Austral University of Chile	26.8	19	19.9	39.6	41.8	52.4
39	42	Del Rosario University	26.7	24.4	18.8	34.6	30.5	49.8
40	43	University of the North, Colombia	26.6	23.8	18.1	37.1	24	51
=41	=44	Federico Santa María Technical University	26.5	19.4	15	45.2	40.7	53.8
=41	=44	Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná	26.5	27.4	16	35.8	52.4	31.4
=41	=44	Universidade Estadual de Maringá	26.5	35.1	16.3	29.5	26.8	23.7
44	47	University of Talca	26.4	22.2	16.5	38.4	37.6	52
=45	=48	Federal University of Espírito Santo	26.3	28.6	15.2	34.3	53	30
=45	=48	Fluminense Federal University	26.3	27.9	15.4	39.9	27.2	31.5
47	50	Federal University of Pelotas	26.2	27.8	16.9	38.7	25	27.2
48	51	Federal University of Viçosa	26	33.4	13.7	32.6	28.7	27.5
49	53	Catholic University of the North	25.8	17.6	18.2	41	19.9	61
50	54	Universidade Federal da Bahia	25.6	30.2	15.6	31.7	25.1	33
=51	=55	Diego Portales University	25.5	18.7	14.5	46.3	19.2	54.1
=51	=55	Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia	25.5	22.9	18.2	31.6	33.7	49.7
=53	=57	Universidad Católica del Maule	25.3	18.5	20.3	36.2	17.8	54.6
=53	=57	University of la Costa	25.3	15.5	16.6	47.1	17.4	55.6
55	=59	Federal Rural University of Pernambuco	25.1	36	12.1	28.2	24.1	24.6
56	61	Federal University of Uberlândia	25	28.2	15.1	32.6	39.4	25.9
=57	=62	National University of La Plata	24.9	24.7	13.6	30	26.5	62.6
=57	=62	Pontifical Catholic University of Peru	24.9	26.9	11.4	37.5	24.1	42.7
=59	=64	Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral	24.7	23.6	10.7	36.6	31.3	56.7
=59	=64	Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul	24.7	26.9	16.3	29.4	37.8	32.3
=59	=64	Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora	24.7	27	15.4	33.9	25.1	31.5
=62	=67	Universidad del Desarrollo	24.6	19.9	14.4	39	28	51
=62	=67	Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro	24.6	32.2	14	25.9	21.9	35
64	69	Londrina State University	24.5	32.6	13.7	27.6	26.9	25.9
=65	=70	Alberto Hurtado University	24.4	17	21.8	38.4	16	37.7
=65	=70	Federal University of Pará	24.4	28.6	14.7	31.5	28.4	26.5
=65	=70	Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina	24.4	34.5	13.5	24.5	27.4	23.9
=68	=73	Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB)	24.3	18.6	12.5	43.9	22.4	52.5
=68	=73	Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA)	24.3	26.5	16.4	30.4	30.4	30.3
=70	=75	Pontificia Universidad Javeriana	23.9	24	14.9	31.7	24.4	43
=70	=75	Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción	23.9	13.4	23.5	34.2	17.6	50.3
72	77	Yachay University for Experimental Technology and Research (Yachay Tech)	23.8	23.6	13.2	24.6	20.8	70.9
=73	=78	State University of Ponta Grossa	23.3	27.7	19.7	20.2	20.6	28.1
=73	=78	Universidad Autónoma de Chile	23.3	16.7	15.3	36.5	20.7	55.5
=73	=78	Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam	23.3	24.1	10.5	28.7	16.1	65.9
76	81	University of La Serena	23.2	18.3	11.9	41.4	17.3	50.3
77	82	Austral University	23	24.8	13.3	25.2	22	52.5
=78	=83	University of Las Américas (UDLA)	22.8	22.2	11.1	27.6	25.2	63
=78	=83	University of Los Lagos	22.8	19	18.3	28.5	16.6	48.5
80	85	Escuela Politécnica Nacional	22.7	21.8	11.1	33.9	24.6	47.4
81	87	University of Valparaíso	22.6	20.3	15.9	29.4	20.6	46.7
82	88	Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB)	22.4	28.4	13.9	18.7	36.1	34.8
=83	=89	National University of San Martín	22.2	25	12.4	24	27.6	45.2
=83	=89	Universidad UTE	22.2	20	9.5	35.1	17.4	56.9
85	=91	Antonio Nariño University	22.1	19.8	9	37.9	17.1	51.5
86	93	University of La Sabana	21.9	24	13.2	25.5	21.3	41.8
87	94	University of Antofagasta	21.6	23.9	11.1	23.3	18.1	55
=88	=95	University of Medellín	21.5	21.8	14	24.7	23	44.5
=88	=95	University of Passo Fundo (UPF)	21.5	22.9	14.9	28.4	19	27.9
90	97	EAFIT University	21.1	22.1	13	23.5	21.3	46.5
91	98	Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar	20.8	16.2	15.1	29.2	34.7	38.2
=92	=99	Icesi University	20.7	22.5	14	20.5	21.4	41.8
=92	=99	State University of Santa Cruz	20.7	27.9	11.6	18	19.3	36.1
=94	101–125	Arturo Prat University	18.1–20.6	16.1	13.9	16.9	23.6	47
=94	101–125	Catholic University of Uruguay	18.1–20.6	22.7	10.4	16.5	18.5	58.7
=94	101–125	Ceará State University	18.1–20.6	26.3	13.8	15	19.8	22
=94	101–125	El Bosque University	18.1–20.6	24.2	10	13.3	17.7	42.5
=94	101–125	Externado University of Colombia	18.1–20.6	25.5	10.5	15.8	16.1	46.1
=94	101–125	Finis Terrae University	18.1–20.6	22.7	10.6	18.2	16.2	47.9
=94	101–125	Mackenzie Presbyterian University	18.1–20.6	24.5	13.9	18.4	27.2	29.9
=94	101–125	National University of Córdoba	18.1–20.6	20.7	10.8	17.7	21.3	38
=94	101–125	National University of Cuyo	18.1–20.6	19.3	11.5	20.6	23.5	40.3
=94	101–125	National University of Loja	18.1–20.6	15.5	9.5	33.9	16	50.7
=94	101–125	PUC-Campinas	18.1–20.6	24.7	13.4	14.2	18.5	24.1
=94	101–125	Temuco Catholic University	18.1–20.6	22.7	13	20.9	18.8	45.1
=94	101–125	Universidad César Vallejo	18.1–20.6	27.9	11.2	17.6	16	21.6
=94	101–125	Universidad Científica del Sur	18.1–20.6	22.3	10.4	15.1	16.3	41.4
=94	101–125	Universidad del Pacífico	18.1–20.6	22.5	9.3	20.7	17.7	52.7
=94	101–125	Universidad del Valle	18.1–20.6	26	10.1	15.4	21.1	40.1
=94	101–125	Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS)	18.1–20.6	21.8	12.9	20.8	24.2	39.1
=94	101–125	Universidad Mayor	18.1–20.6	20.9	10	23.5	17.6	48.2
=94	101–125	Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina	18.1–20.6	25.2	8.5	12.2	16.8	44.8
=94	101–125	Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos	18.1–20.6	21.9	11.7	21.6	16.6	34
=94	101–125	Universidade Cidade de São Paulo	18.1–20.6	17.6	15.2	15.9	17.6	47.2
=94	101–125	Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (Unioeste)	18.1–20.6	28	10.8	11.8	17.9	21.7
=94	101–125	Universidade Federal de Sergipe	18.1–20.6	21.3	12.6	24.5	22.8	29.9
=94	101–125	University of Cuenca	18.1–20.6	16.8	12.1	18	35.2	46.3
=94	101–125	University of Vale do Itajaí	18.1–20.6	20	16.6	16.3	40.4	32.3
=119	126–150	Bernardo O’Higgins University	17.3–18.0	16.8	12.2	14.6	22.6	48.6
=119	126–150	Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET-RJ)	17.3–18.0	18.1	11.3	21.9	18.6	36.3
=119	126–150	CES University	17.3–18.0	23.7	10.8	10.6	16.9	37.9
=119	126–150	Ecotec University	17.3–18.0	16	9.9	20.6	19.4	54.1
=119	126–150	EIA University	17.3–18.0	21.3	8.5	13.8	23.4	47.9
=119	126–150	ORT Uruguay University	17.3–18.0	23.9	9.2	10.5	17.1	44
=119	126–150	Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina	17.3–18.0	24.9	8.7	9.8	16.7	46.8
=119	126–150	Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador	17.3–18.0	17	10.3	18.4	16.7	53.3
=119	126–150	Universidad Nacional de Asunción	17.3–18.0	23.1	9.9	7.7	20.4	47.2
=119	126–150	Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola	17.3–18.0	15.3	12	24.2	16.7	40.9
=119	126–150	Universidad Santo Tomás	17.3–18.0	16.2	12.1	19	16.6	45.6
=119	126–150	Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS)	17.3–18.0	23.4	11.2	15.7	17.9	28.3
=119	126–150	Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA)	17.3–18.0	18.6	12.9	19.4	24.6	24.2
=119	126–150	University of Bío-Bío	17.3–18.0	19.1	7	23.7	18.7	46.8
=133	151+	Catholic University of Córdoba	11.4–17.2	21.9	9.5	7.9	17.1	40.8
=133	151+	Cruzeiro do Sul University	11.4–17.2	13.9	9.6	9.8	16.8	41.9
=133	151+	EAN University	11.4–17.2	14.7	8.5	5.8	18.7	40.3
=133	151+	Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo	11.4–17.2	17.6	8.1	7.3	16.3	47.9
=133	151+	Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo	11.4–17.2	15.1	7.2	6	17.5	23.3
=133	151+	Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA)	11.4–17.2	23.8	7.5	4.7	17.9	53.7
=133	151+	Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano	11.4–17.2	15.5	8.2	10.7	18.7	30.9
=133	151+	La Salle University (Colombia)	11.4–17.2	18.2	9.5	7.7	16.2	29.4
=133	151+	National University of Quilmes	11.4–17.2	16	10	11.8	22.3	32.9
=133	151+	National University of Rosario (UNR)	11.4–17.2	17.1	9.3	9.6	21.1	41.2
=133	151+	Nueva Granada Military University	11.4–17.2	23	9	10.5	17.3	28.1
=133	151+	Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais	11.4–17.2	19.4	11.7	17.7	19.5	25.5
=133	151+	Positivo University	11.4–17.2	24.1	9.3	6.4	16.5	32.1
=133	151+	Regional Autonomous University of the Andes (UNIANDES)	11.4–17.2	22.3	11.5	8.9	16.3	24.7
=133	151+	Simón Bolívar University (Colombia)	11.4–17.2	17.6	9.9	8.4	18.9	49.4
=133	151+	State University of Bahia	11.4–17.2	23.6	9.8	6.5	17.1	22.3
=133	151+	State University of Southwestern Bahia (UESB)	11.4–17.2	28.8	9.6	8.2	16.5	19.5
=133	151+	Technical University of Cotopaxi (UTC)	11.4–17.2	14	8.2	4.2	16.6	34.4
=133	151+	Technical University of the North	11.4–17.2	14.9	13.1	9.5	16	36.3
=133	151+	Technological University of Pereira	11.4–17.2	20.3	8.4	9.6	20.5	34.3
=133	151+	Tiradentes University	11.4–17.2	17.1	9.9	12.4	17.3	43.2
=133	151+	UNESC	11.4–17.2	21.9	10.2	13.8	23.7	31.4
=133	151+	Unichristus	11.4–17.2	20.9	9.9	7.1	16.3	22.3
=133	151+	Universidad Católica de Colombia	11.4–17.2	18	9.8	17.9	16	28.7
=133	151+	Universidad Católica de Cuenca	11.4–17.2	20.2	9.8	7.8	17.6	41.9
=133	151+	Universidad Católica San Pablo	11.4–17.2	14.7	9	10.4	17.4	46.8
=133	151+	Universidad de Cartagena	11.4–17.2	16.4	11.1	13.5	18.9	39.8
=133	151+	Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas – ESPE	11.4–17.2	15.5	8.6	12.5	21.1	35.5
=133	151+	Universidad de Pamplona	11.4–17.2	31.8	8.5	2.8	16.1	27
=133	151+	Universidad del Magdalena	11.4–17.2	17.7	15.4	10.7	16.3	39
=133	151+	Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas	11.4–17.2	19.7	10.1	14.6	19.3	30.8
=133	151+	Universidad Internacional del Ecuador	11.4–17.2	17.7	9.8	8.4	16.1	52.1
=133	151+	Universidad Libre de Colombia	11.4–17.2	15.5	9.8	7.7	16	29.1
=133	151+	Universidad Manuela Beltrán	11.4–17.2	15.5	9.2	4.8	16.1	41
=133	151+	Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia (UNAD)	11.4–17.2	11.7	8.3	5	16	40.1
=133	151+	Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo	11.4–17.2	18.1	10.6	9.6	17.3	47.2
=133	151+	Universidad Nacional del Litoral	11.4–17.2	16.9	10.7	20.1	25.2	33.3
=133	151+	Universidad Pedagogica y Tecnologica de Colombia - UPTC	11.4–17.2	16.3	8.6	7.8	16.4	34.1
=133	151+	Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC)	11.4–17.2	16.1	9.8	22.6	17.2	33.5
=133	151+	Universidad Politécnica Salesiana	11.4–17.2	15.8	10.5	19.6	20.3	33.2
=133	151+	Universidad Técnica de Manabí	11.4–17.2	12.5	10.4	11.1	16.1	60
=133	151+	Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja	11.4–17.2	15.7	9.4	15	20.1	44.9
=133	151+	Universidade Estadual do Maranhão	11.4–17.2	17.3	10.4	9.3	16.2	24
=133	151+	Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Arido	11.4–17.2	20.6	9.3	11	16.3	19.1
=133	151+	Universidade Nove de Julho (Uninove)	11.4–17.2	22.8	9.6	9.7	17.8	32.1
=133	151+	University of Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano	11.4–17.2	17	10.3	11.4	16.8	39.7
=133	151+	University of Cauca	11.4–17.2	20.9	9.7	11	34.7	36.8
=133	151+	University of Caxias do Sul	11.4–17.2	21.8	10.5	14.3	23.5	23.4
=133	151+	University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR)	11.4–17.2	17.9	11.2	18.4	19.6	29.7
=133	151+	University of Franca	11.4–17.2	13.8	9.3	6	16.9	21.8
=133	151+	University of Pernambuco	11.4–17.2	19.8	10.4	16.8	19.7	27.2
=133	151+	University of San Martín de Porres	11.4–17.2	17.6	9.7	8.9	18.4	36.6
=133	151+	University of Santander	11.4–17.2	18.8	9.7	13	16.3	46.5
=133	151+	UNNOBA	11.4–17.2	19.8	9.4	3.4	16.2	33.9
=133	151+	Vila Velha University	11.4–17.2	21.5	11.4	9.7	16.4	22.2

Key insights from the South America University Ranking

Just under half of these South American universities are in Brazil, including the University of São Paulo in first place. There are 68 Brazilian universities in total
Colombia is the second most represented country with 38 institutions in the full ranking, followed by Chile with 31, Ecuador with 23, Argentina with 12, and Peru with 11.
The main language of instruction at these South American universities is either Portuguese or Spanish, with increasing numbers of English-taught courses.

How to choose a university in South America

South America is not an obvious choice for international students but the universities have a lot to offer. It is home to Brazil which is the fastest growing economy in South America. Public education is free in some South American countries such as Brazil, while countries such as Chile and Colombia have much lower tuition fees than traditional study-abroad locations.

The table for the best universities in South America was derived from data collected from the THE Latin America University Rankings. The results are calculated using 18 performance indicators underlying five metrics: research environment, teaching (the learning environment), research quality, industry and international outlook. For more insights and a detailed breakdown of our ranking methodology, visit our methodology page. Use the South America university ranking table above to explore the right institution for you.

Best universities in South America 2026

Find the best universities in South America using Times Higher Education’s Latin America University Ranking data. This table was created using a trusted methodology ranking universities on teaching quality and international outlook

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Top universities in South America 2026

Key insights from the South America University Ranking

How to choose a university in South America

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Top universities in South America 2026

Key insights from the South America University Ranking

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Top Universities in the US 2026 - US College Rankings