The Massachusetts Institute of Technology secured the top spot, and ranked first again in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for Business and Economics, outperforming Stanford University and Tsinghua University in a global assessment.
THE evaluated 1,000 universities across 91 countries based on teaching, research, industry partnerships, and international character. To assess the overall strength of business education at each institution, the ranking combines three disciplines; business and management, accounting and finance, and economics and econometrics.
MIT had the highest score in research quality, backed by strong citation impact and research influence. It also scored well in teaching and industry engagement, which THE measures through income from partnerships and patents.
On the other hand, Stanford University ranked second overall, followed by Tsinghua University in third, while the University of Oxford and UC Berkeley completed the top five. Other U.S. institutions in the top 10 include Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania.
THE based the rankings on five core pillars: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry income, and international outlook. While the rankings offer a broad view of institutional performance, critics note that the methodology prioritizes research output over student experience. THE does not include student or alumni surveys, limiting insights into classroom quality, career outcomes, and long-term satisfaction.
Rankings this year also highlighted the growing presence of Asian Universities. Tshingua University, Peking University, and National University of Singapore have earned their places in the top 10, showing higher scores across multiple evaluation pillars.
Beyond business and economics, MIT topped THE rankings in arts and humanities and social sciences, maintaining its lead beyond traditional strengths in engineering and technology. Stanford University led in education and law, while the University of Oxford stands on first place in computer science and medical and health disciplines.
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