11 Vietnamese schools in the top best universities in the world in 2026

On October 9, Times Higher Education (THE) announced the World University Rankings 2026. Vietnam has 11 representatives in this list, an increase of 5 schools compared to the 2024 ranking and 2 schools compared to the 2025 ranking.

This year, the ranking surprisingly recorded a record number of ranked educational institutions with 2,191 universities participating, up 5% compared to 2025.

In Vietnam, the rankings of all schools remain basically the same. Of which, the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City has the highest ranking, in the 501-600 group. Following are Duy Tan University and Ton Duc Thang University, both ranked in the 601-800 group.

Last year was the first year that Hanoi Medical University and Ho Chi Minh City Open University entered the rankings. This year, the two schools are in the 801-1000 and 1201-1500 groups, respectively, higher than Hanoi National University (1201-1500 group), Ho Chi Minh City National University (1501+ group), Hanoi University of Science and Technology (1501+ group)...

Two new names stand out in THE 2026: Nguyen Tat Thanh University (ranked 1001-1200) and Danang University (ranked 1501+).

Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics ranked highest among Vietnamese higher education institutions in the "World University Rankings 2026"

In the world rankings, Oxford University (UK) continues to hold the number 1 position, marking the 10th consecutive time. Ranked 2nd is Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA).

Princeton University (USA) ranked 3rd, tied with Cambridge University (UK). Harvard University and Stanford University ranked 5th. The remaining positions in the top 10 belonged to the California Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, University of California, Berkeley and Yale University.

China has five schools in the top 40, with Tsinghua and Peking Universities closing in on the top 10. India, in particular, is the country with the second highest number of universities, after the US.

This year's THE World University Rankings 2026 includes 2,191 higher education institutions from 115 countries and territories, evaluated based on 18 criteria, divided into 5 groups: Teaching (29.5%), Research environment (29%), Research quality (30%), International outlook (7.5%) and Technology transfer (4%).

The three criteria groups with the highest weighting are: Research quality (30%), teaching (29.5%) and research environment (29%). According to THE, the ranking data is based on scientific citations, research publications, scholar surveys and many other public sources.

Trang Nhung

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/11-truong-viet-nam-lot-top-dai-hoc-tot-nhat-the-gioi-nam-2026-ar970184.html