Only three Nigerian universities have made it to the 2026 QS World University Rankings released on Thursday by global higher education analyst, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)—and none of them placed in the top 1,000.
The institutions listed were the University of Ibadan (UI), University of Lagos (UNILAG), and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. UI and UNILAG were both placed in the 1001–1200 band, the same range they occupied in the 2025 edition. ABU, which had no previous ranking in 2025, was ranked in the 1201–1400 category for 2026.
QS, known for providing data and insights on global higher education, evaluates universities based on factors including academic and employer reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, research citations, international student diversity, global research networks, employment outcomes, and sustainability efforts.
Out of the 297 universities in Nigeria (as recognized by the National Universities Commission), only three made the list. The 2026 rankings featured a total of 1,501 institutions from 106 countries.
Within Africa, Nigerian universities lagged behind other nations. Egypt led with 20 universities, followed by South Africa with 11, and Tunisia with four. Ghana and Morocco had two each, while Kenya, Libya, Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia had one apiece.
The highest-ranked African institutions were both South African: the University of Cape Town at 150th and the University of the Witwatersrand at 291st globally.
Top 10 Universities in the 2026 QS World University Rankings:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – United States
Imperial College London – United Kingdom
Stanford University – United States
University of Oxford – United Kingdom
Harvard University – United States
University of Cambridge – United Kingdom
ETH Zurich – Switzerland
National University of Singapore (NUS) – Singapore
University College London (UCL) – United Kingdom
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – United States