Harvard loses title of world's number one university, China dominates rankings

CWTS Leiden Rankings 2025, Harvard University has slipped to third place in the science category, while China dominates the top two positions. Chinese universities continue to hold the top positions in this ranking. Most American universities don't even make the top 15.

Harvard loses title of world's number one university, China dominates rankings; learn about India's rank

China dominates university rankings

CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025 : Harvard University, considered the world's most prestigious university, has suffered a major setback. In the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025 (Science category), Harvard has now slipped to third, not first or second. Surprisingly, the first and second positions this time have been secured by Chinese universities: Zhejiang University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Furthermore, except for the third spot in the top 10, most of the remaining nine positions are held by Chinese universities. This clearly indicates that the center of global education and research is rapidly shifting from the United States to China

What is the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025 and why is it so important?

The CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025 is a global online ranking platform developed by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University in the Netherlands. The ranking measures the scientific research performance of over 1,500 leading universities. The ranking is unique in that it is entirely data-driven, based on the Web of Science database. It focuses on research output, quality, and impact. This is why it is taken very seriously by governments, education experts, and students worldwide.

America once dominated

The CWTS Leiden Rankings began with data from 2006-2009. At that time, Harvard University ranked No. 1, the University of Toronto was second, and the University of Michigan was third. Most of the universities in the top 10 were from the United States. This was a period when the US dominated global research.

The picture changed regarding education-research

Today, the situation is completely different. Six major US universities that ranked in the top 10 in 2006-2009 are no longer even in the top 15: the University of Michigan, UCLA, Johns Hopkins University, Washington University (Seattle), the University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University.

When did Harvard's rankings start falling?

During the 2019-2022 period, Zhejiang University surpassed Harvard for the first time. In the 2020-2023 period, Harvard slipped to third place, having held the top spot for more than a decade from 2018-2021. The CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025 clearly demonstrates China's significant investment in research funding, increased focus on science and technology, and strengthened international collaboration, resulting in China's dominance of global science rankings today.