The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 are now live! This version is the largest QS has ever conducted.
In the 15th edition of the rankings, we have continued to measure five broad subject areas: Arts and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences and Management. Within these five areas, there are 55 specific subject areas.
The top 10 institutions in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025
Below are the top ranked universities in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025’s five broad subject areas.
Arts and Humanities
1. Harvard University, US
2. University of Oxford, UK
3. University of Cambridge, UK
4. Stanford University, US
5. University of California, Berkeley (UCB), US
6. Yale University, US
=7 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
=7 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), US
9. New York University (NYU), US
10. University of Edinburgh, UK
Engineering and Technology
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
2. University of Oxford, UK
3. Stanford University, US
4. University of Cambridge, UK
5. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland
6. University of California, Berkeley (UCB), US
7. Tsinghua University, China (Mainland)
8. Imperial College London, UK
9. Harvard University, US
10. EPFL, Switzerland
Life Sciences and Medicine
1. Harvard University, US
2. University of Oxford, UK
3. Johns Hopkins University, US
4. Stanford University, US
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
6. University of Cambridge, UK
7. University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), US
8. Imperial College London, UK
9. University College London (UCL), UK
10. Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Natural Sciences
1. Harvard University, US
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
3. University of Oxford, UK
4. University of Cambridge, UK
5. Stanford University, US
6. ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland
7. California Institute of Technology (Caltech), US
8. University of California, Berkeley (UCB), US
9. Imperial College London, UK
10. Tsinghua University, China (Mainland)
Social Sciences and Management
1. Harvard University, US
2. University of Oxford, UK
3. Stanford University, US
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
5. University of Cambridge, UK
6. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK
7. University of California, Berkeley (UCB), US
8. Yale University, US
9. University of Chicago, US
10. National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore
QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 results analysis
Global trends
The global picture shows significant improvement among institutions in Eastern Asia, with half of the region’s institutions improving their rank across all subject areas. QS analysis suggests that improvements in Academic Reputation have driven this. Eastern Asia also has the largest proportion of both debuting institutions and new rankings.
The largest decrease in ranking is seen in Eastern Africa. 11 of the 12 Eastern African subjects saw a drop in their Citations per Paper score; Employer Reputation and H-Index scores also mostly decreased. However, as we will explore in our in-depth analysis, Western Europe has also seen significant downward movement.
Further emphasising the subject area’s importance, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence has more than 100 ranked entries for the first time.
Arts and Humanities – trends in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025
827 institutions are ranked in this broad subject area – 348 of them are new to the ranking.
The headlines:
- The US and UK lead in this area, but Asian institutions show signs of growth in the top 50.
- Moving up 20 and 15 places respectively, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the University of Hong Kong improve the most in Arts and Humanities. This aligns with the overall trend of Eastern Asian universities improving in this year’s ranking.
Arts and Humanities departments and courses are increasingly under threat in big international student destination markets, with closures and cuts seen in the Netherlands, the US, the UK, and New Zealand. This has not adversely affected performance in this year’s Ranking as Academic and Employer Reputation accounts for 80% of an institution’s rank. However, if they stop offering programmes in this area, they risk dropping or losing their rank. Dr Ludovic Highman, QS Rankings Consultant, argues that the next generation of actors, artists, illustrators and musicians may not be taught:
“What would replace artists as we move towards a world dominated by AI solutions, much of which has been built on the contributions of those it replaces? The original and creative contributions to the public good these disciplines have made for many generations is too big to be erased in a pencil stroke at any given moment with minimal consultation at local and national levels. Their loss is irreplaceable.”
Ludovic points to institutions in the “knowledge powers of tomorrow” improving their Arts and Humanities rank as a cautionary tale for institutions looking to cut these departments. Flagship universities in China, Singapore and Japan have all improved Arts and Humanities performance, indicating that these countries still, and perhaps increasingly, value this area.
Engineering and Technology – trends in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025
997 institutions have been ranked in the Engineering and Technology subject area – 344 of them are new for this year’s edition.
The headlines:
- China and Singapore show improvements among the top 50, with Tsinghua University entering the top 10, and Peking University climbing 17 places to 20.
- Institutions from Western Europe see big drops in Engineering and Technology, with 168 institutions moving down.
- Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, one of the narrow subject areas, has more than 100 ranked entities for the first time.
Ludovic Highman, QS Ranking Consultant, writes: “Engineering & Technology remains dominated by predominantly technological universities, with 8 of the top 15 universities having been primarily established to produce engineers and scientists in this broad subject area, whether it be MIT topping the table yet again or the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology of Zurich and Lausanne both in the top 10.”
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In Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, the US dominates the top 10, with five institutions, including 1st and 2nd – MIT and Carnegie Mellon University respectively. As QS has explored throughout the past 12 months, artificial intelligence is increasingly important to prospective students and employers.
Life Sciences and Medicine – trends in the QS World University Rankings 2025
1,124 institutions are ranked in the Life Sciences and Medicine broad subject area. 378 institutions are new to the ranking.
The headlines:
- The top 25 show little change.
- Aligning to broader trends, Western Europe has seen significant downward moves.
- 291 US institutions moved down in the rankings, while only 231 moved up.
- Of all the narrow subject areas, Medicine has the highest number of ranked subjects (850). It also has the most ranking debuts compared to the 2024 edition, increasing by 129 rankings.
The US Government imposed restrictions on medical research funding in January 2025, with the National Institute of Health cutting funding for US colleges’ “indirect costs” of conducting medical research. Should this lack of funding continue, it will undoubtedly have an impact on US ranking performance in Life Sciences and Medicine – a significant portion of this subject ranking is built on research impact and quantity.
Big Four: Ranked subjects in Life Sciences and Medicine (Broad subject area & narrow subjects)
| Location | Top 20 | Top 50 | Top 100 | Total in Life Sciences and Medicine |
| Australia | 6 | 40 | 70 | 183 |
| Canada | 12 | 31 | 57 | 143 |
| United Kingdom | 42 | 70 | 119 | 303 |
| United States | 98 | 181 | 284 | 733 |
| Total | 158 | 322 | 530 | 1362 |
Natural Sciences – trends in the QS World University Rankings by Subject
925 institutions are ranked in the Natural Sciences broad subject area. 347 are new institutions.
The headlines:
- Big improvements seen globally across Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy – these are some of the narrow subject areas that comprise Natural Sciences.
- Over 130 new institutions have been ranked in Materials Science, another of our narrow subject areas.
- 993 North American institutions are ranked in Natural Sciences, with 796 ranked in Eastern Asia, far more than other regions.
In Natural Sciences, we see the same trend as in our other broad subject areas – institutions in the North, West, and Southern Europe have all dropped in the rankings, while Eastern Asian institutions are taking their place. Korea University has the biggest upward move across all the Natural Sciences narrow subject areas, improving their rank by 79 in Physics and Astronomy.
North America has the most ranked institutions in Natural Sciences, closely followed by Eastern Asia – though Eastern Asia is the sub-region with the largest increase of ranked institutions in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, so could be catching up.
Eastern Asia has seen exceptional growth in subjects like Natural Sciences, where the QS World University Rankings by Subject methodology gives more weight to research-oriented indicators – Citations per Paper and International Research Network. China, the top Eastern Asian country, stands out for its high investment in research and innovation over the past decade, especially through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China is pushing the development of key industries that are important to BRI countries through high investment in research and innovation since the launch of the initiative in 2013.
We’re now seeing this high level of investment bear fruit, with Chinese and other Eastern Asian universities focusing on highly economically profitable research in Natural Sciences and improving their ranking in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. With demand for innovation in natural sciences from the global economy, we expect this increased investment to continue – to remain competitive, Western universities and governments must focus on natural sciences research.
Social Sciences – trends in the QS World University Rankings by Subject
984 institutions have been ranked in Social Sciences and Management. 562 of them are new.
The headlines:
- As seen in other broad subject areas, Eastern Asian institutions have increased their subject rankings (333 improved, 72 dropped), while Western Europe has seen drops (290 dropped, while 91 improved).
- There is a significant number of new ranked institutions across Economics and Econometrics and Politics and International Studies, which reflects the popularity and universal relevance of these subjects.
- Education in Canada, Finland and the Netherlands have dropped in the rankings.
- The rank of Business and Management Studies at three UK institutions have dropped by over 20 places.
Across each of our narrow subject areas, more institutions have been ranked – 140 new institutions have joined the Economics and Econometrics narrow subject area, while 151 have entered Politics and International Studies.
QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 frequently asked questions
- How many institutions have been ranked QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025?
1,758 unique institutions have been ranked in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, an increase of 7% on the 2024 edition.
- How many subjects are ranked in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025?
The ranking consists of five broad subject areas, and 55 narrow subject rankings. Find the full list on TopUniversities.com [LINK]
- Why are subject rankings important?
Rankings like the QS World University Rankings by Subject are important because they measure and assess university and business school performance across metrics that matter to students, governments and potential partners. It’s key that a global audience can measure and understand institutional performance to make informed decisions.
