Archive · 17 Jan 2026
Harvard Drops to Third in 2025 Global Ranking
Harvard University, which used to be the best in the world for science for a long time, has now fallen to third place.
Two universities from China, Zhejiang and Shanghai Jiao Tong, are now first and second.
Most of the top universities are from China.
Some famous American universities that were in the top 10 before are not even in the top 15 now.
Harvard was first replaced by Zhejiang University in 2019.
Among Indian universities, VIT is the best, followed by some IITs.
The ranking is based on data from a big science database.
Harvard University has dropped to third place in the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025 for Science.
Zhejiang University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University from China are now first and second.
Chinese universities dominate the top nine positions in the ranking.
Six prominent U.S. universities that were in the top 10 in the past are not in the top 15 now.
Among Indian universities, VIT is ranked highest, followed by IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, and IIT Madras.
- Who
- Harvard University, Chinese universities, Indian universities
- What
- Harvard University's drop in global ranking
- When
- 2025
- Where
- Global
- Why
- Not explicitly stated in the article
- Ranking
- CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025
- Category
- Science
- Top University
- Zhejiang University (China)
- Second University
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China)
- Harvard's Rank
- Third
- Top Indian University
- VIT
- Data Source
- Web of Science database
- Universities Ranked
- Over 1500
