Top 15 Universities Compared by Subject — 2026
Side-by-side rankings of 15 top universities across QS Overall, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Medicine, and Business subject areas.
How to use this table: Rankings reflect QS World University Rankings 2025/26. Subject ranks are subject-specific QS or world standing. Use as a starting filter, not a final criterion — fit with research area, advisor, and country matters more. Click each university name to visit the official site. Last reviewed May 2026.
| # | University | Country | QS Overall | Engineering | Natural Sciences | Medicine | Business | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | USA | #1 | #1 | #1 | #3 | #2 | MIT |
| 2 | Stanford University | USA | #3 | #5 | #3 | #1 | #3 | Stanford |
| 3 | Harvard University | USA | #4 | #1 (Life Sci) | #7 | #1 | #1 | Harvard |
| 4 | University of Cambridge | UK | #5 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #9 | Cambridge |
| 5 | University of Oxford | UK | #3 (THE) | #4 | #10 | #9 | #4 | Oxford |
| 6 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland | #7 | #7 | #2 | #26 | #36 | ETH |
| 7 | Imperial College London | UK | #2 | #6 (Eng) | #16 | #37 | #26 | Imperial |
| 8 | UC Berkeley | USA | #12 | #3 | #9 | #21 | #17 | UC Berkeley |
| 9 | Carnegie Mellon | USA | #52 | #1 (CS world) | #34 | #88 | #159 | CMU |
| 10 | National University of Singapore | Singapore | #8 | #6 (CS) | #22 | #46 | #54 | NUS |
| 11 | Tsinghua University | China | #20 | #22 | #15 | #43 | #48 | Tsinghua |
| 12 | University of Toronto | Canada | #25 | #21 | #34 | #13 | #15 | U of T |
| 13 | Princeton University | USA | #22 (QS) | #10 | #22 | #42 | #10 | Princeton |
| 14 | Yale University | USA | #16 | #23 | #41 | #10 | #7 | Yale |
| 15 | Columbia University | USA | #23 | #33 | #36 | #7 | #11 | Columbia |
Sources: Ranks compiled from QS World University Rankings 2025/26 subject rankings. Verify current rankings at topuniversities.com.
License: Dataset compiled by Studies Multiverse, released under CC BY 4.0.