Two Nigerian universities have made a significant leap in global higher education rankings, securing spots among the world’s top 1,000 universities, according to the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) rankings.
The University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos, both federal universities, were ranked between 801 and 1000 in the new ranking that placed Oxford University as the best in the world.
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This year, 2,191 institutions from 115 countries were ranked, THE said.
Last year, only one Nigerian university, Covenant University, made it into the top 1,000, raising concerns about the quality of Nigerian universities.
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Since 2023, the number of Nigerian universities in the top 1,000 places has continued to drop –from three in 2023 to two in 2024 and only one in 2025.
This year, however, two Nigerian universities leapt in the global rankings, displacing Covenant University’s top spot in Nigeria. Covenant University, a private institution, has emerged as Nigeria’s best university since 2019.
“Nigeria has a growing presence in global higher education with 24 universities featured in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026,” the organisation said. “That’s three more universities featured than last year’s ranking.”
Top universities in Nigeria
According to the ranking, Bayero University Kano, Covenant University, Ogun State, and Landmark University, Kwara, came third in Nigeria and ranked 1001-1200 globally.
They are followed by the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Federal University of Technology, Minna; University of Ilorin; University of Jos; and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka at 1201-1500.
Ranked above 1501 include Babcock University; Delta State University, Abraka; Ekiti State University; Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta; Federal University of Technology, Akure; Federal University of Technology, Owerri; Federal University, Oye-Ekiti; Ladoke Akintola University of Technology; and Lagos State University.
Others ranked above 1501 are Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Benin, University of Calabar, and the University of Port Harcourt.
Global Top Ten
Oxford University has retained the spot of the best university in the world for a decade. It is followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which also retained the second position from last year.
Princeton University and the University of Cambridge tied in third place, the ranking showed.
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In the fifth place are Harvard and Stanford Universities. The California Institute of Technology is ranked seventh, Imperial College London is ranked eighth, the University of California, Berkeley is ranked ninth, and Yale University is ranked 10th.
Methodology
The organisation said it used 18 performance indicators to rank the universities based on their core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
“One of the metrics (study abroad) currently has zero weight, but we intend to include it in future, subject to review and consultation,” it said.
Times Higher Education listed the five core pillars of the evaluation as: “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), and Industry (income and patents)”.
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