It was a mixed — but mostly positive — bag for Egyptian universities in this year’s international rankings, with both advancements and declines across the board. While some universities achieved higher standings, others faced setbacks compared to their previous ranking.

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There are three key ranking systems globally that are considered most authoritative: The QS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), often referred to as the Shanghai Ranking.

Nine more Egyptian universities make it to THE’s list: THE 2025 rankings have expanded their representation of Egypt’s institutions to include 47 Egyptian universities, up from 38 last year. Universities that joined the ranking this year include Al Ryada University for Science and Technology, Arish University, ESLSCA University, Luxor University, Sphinx University, Deraya University, all entering as reporter universities. Reporter universities contribute data for the rankings but are not themselves ranked. Menoufia University and Damanhour University also joined the list, making it to the rank 1201-1500, while New Valley University was also added straight to the 1001-1200 rank.

THE’s ranking methodology: The Times Higher Education ranking evaluates universities using 18 performance indicators that cover five main areas: 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), THE ranking methodology notes.

E-JUST remains on top in the THE rankings: The Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) retained the top spot for Egyptian institutions for the second consecutive year, being ranked in the top 501-600 universities worldwide. Aswan University, which had consistently been ranked as Egypt’s top university for several years, is now ranked among the top 1001-1200 universities worldwide, down from its 401-500 ranking for 2023. The American University in Cairo, Future University in Egypt, Kafrelsheikh University, and Mansoura University all rose to the 601-800 rank, behind E-JUST in the list.

Several institutions saw declines in their standings: Alexandria University slipped to 1001–1200 from its 800-1000 position in the previous year. Similarly, Nile University dropped to 1201-1500 from 1001–1200, while Zagazig University dropped to 1001-1200 from 801-1000 last year.

Two more local universities added and another dropped from the ShanghaiRankings rankings: ARWU’s most recent ranking — also known as the also called the ShanghaiRanking — listed eight Egyptian institutions, with the Suez Canal University and Tanta University both being added to the list and Beni Suef University being dropped. Cairo University maintained the top spot with a ranking in the world top 301-400 universities, followed by Ain Shams, Alexandria University, and Mansoura University in joint second place with a ranking of 601-700.

The methodology: The ShanghaiRanking bases its rankings on four main indicators — quality of education, quality of faculty, research output, and per capita performance. To assess these, the ranking looks at the number of alumni and staff that have received prestigious awards, the number of citations, and the university’s presence in prominent journals.

Fifteen local universities made it on to the QS Rankings once again: Cairo University once again topped the QS World University Rankings for 2025 among the fifteen universities listed this year. Cairo University creeped up the tables to rank as the top 350th university in the world, up from 371. AUC also climbed 5 spots to rank 410 in second place, marking itself as the top ranked private institution. Ain Shams jumped from ranking between 721-730 to 592nd place.

Pushing up local universities in global rankings is also an important part of the state’s education plans: The government is working towards having at least 28 Egyptian universities on the QS World University Rankings by the end El Sisi’s third term in 2030.

Your top education stories for the week:

  • The American University in Cairo launched a new cybersecurity major, which it says comes in response to a growing demand in the job market for those who can “safeguard digital infrastructure and protect data from cyberattacks.” (Statement | pdf)
  • The cabinet approved a draft presidential decree amending the executive regulations governing private and national universities, splitting the council governing the universities into two — with one governing private and one governing national universities.
  • MPs approved USD 60 mn in foreign education financing, including USD 35 mn from USAID to back higher education initiatives and EUR 25 mn from the EU to improve vocational school graduates’ skills and offer them training programs.
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