The QS World University Rankings 2027 were published today. The American institution MIT once again holds the number one position, a spot it has occupied for fifteen years. Imperial College London and Stanford University share second place.

The top ten remains dominated by British and American universities. The only exceptions are Switzerland’s ETH Zurich and the National University of Singapore, which rank eighth and tenth, respectively.

Ten years ago, twelve Dutch universities were ranked among the world’s top 200. Today, only nine remain in that group. TU Delft continues to lead among Dutch universities but has slipped one place to number 48. TU/e has dropped twelve places, falling from 140th to 152nd.

Making progress

Most other Dutch universities have also fallen in the rankings, with the exception of Leiden University, which maintained its position, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, which improved slightly this year.

That said, the Netherlands continues to perform relatively well. According to the ranking’s creators, universities in other countries are simply making progress more quickly than Dutch institutions, causing the latter to move down the list despite their own performance.

Reputation

The QS rankings take several factors into account, including a university’s reputation among academics, the proportion of international students and faculty members, and graduates’ performance in the labor market. Sustainability has also been included in recent years, with topics such as climate and social equality playing a role.

The academic reputation of Dutch universities, already strong, improved further this year. By contrast, their reputation among employers declined, as did citation scores for scientific publications and levels of internationalization among staff and students.