Nine Lebanese universities have earned a spot in the latest QS World University Rankings for 2027, published by the global education analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds. The list ranks more than 1,500 institutions worldwide.
QS scores each university on a set of weighted measures. These include citations per faculty, academic reputation, faculty to student ratio, employer reputation, employment outcomes, international student ratio, international research, international faculty ratio, and a sustainability score.
Who Sits at the Top
The United States and the United Kingdom held the top three spots. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology came first with a perfect score of 100.0. Imperial College London ranked second with 99.2, and Stanford University took third, also on 99.2.
The rest of the top ten featured Harvard University in fifth and the California Institute of Technology in seventh. Three British universities made the list: the University of Oxford in fourth, the University of Cambridge in sixth, and University College London in ninth. ETH Zurich placed eighth, and the National University of Singapore rounded out the top ten.
The Arab Region
Across the Arab world, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia led with a score of 78.3, placing 63rd globally. King Saud University, also in Saudi Arabia, followed with 67.4 and a world rank of 107. Qatar University came next with 67.2 and a global rank of 109.
How Lebanon Performed
The American University of Beirut topped the Lebanese group with a score of 53.7 and a world rank of 223. The Lebanese American University followed with 33.4 and a rank of 477.
Next came Université Saint-Joseph with 30.6 and a rank of 537, then the Lebanese University with 27.7 at rank 626, and Beirut Arab University with 26.3 at rank 670.
Four more institutions completed the list. The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik placed in the 761 to 770 band, the University of Balamand in the 1001 to 1200 band, and both the Islamic University of Lebanon and Notre Dame University in the 1201 to 1400 band.
Where Each School Stood Out
The American University of Beirut led all Lebanese universities in five of the nine criteria: citations per faculty, academic reputation, employer reputation, employment outcomes, and sustainability score.
Other schools led in specific areas. The Lebanese American University ranked highest among Lebanese institutions for international research. The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik came out on top for both faculty to student ratio and international faculty ratio. The Islamic University of Lebanon led the country on the international student ratio.
