The Saudi universities have continued to improve their positions in the THE World University Rankings achieving a qualitative leap, with an increase of 40% compared to 2022, according to a report from the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Twenty-one Saudi universities were listed among international universities in the rankings, where six universities entered the rankings for the first time, seven other universities achieved progress in their positions, and six universities maintained their previous rankings.

King Abdulaziz University (KAU), which missed out by one spot from being listed among the world's top 100 universities, ranked 101, topping the Saudi universities, followed by King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), which ranked in the 201-250 band.

The King Saud University finished in the 251-300 band, Alfaisal University in the 301-350 band, while Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University was the fifth Saudi university and within the 351-400 band. It entered the rankings for the first time.

The top 100 list has been seeing a drastic change. In 2018, the US boasted close to half of the world’s top 100 positions in the world rankings, with 43 universities. In the 2023 edition, the US has just 34, as household names like Dartmouth College, and great regional powerhouse universities including Ohio State and Michigan State lost their top 100 status.

Meanwhile, mainland China’s share of the world top 100 positions has risen from just two in 2018, to an impressive seven. Hong Kong has a further five top 100 institutions, up from just three in 2018. South Korea has three top 100 places, up from two in 2018. Singapore and Japan both taking two top 100 places each.

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are leading what some are calling a new renaissance driven by innovation and knowledge creation, backed by heavy investment. Saudi Arabia’s KAU is one of the fastest rising universities in the world, rocketing to 101st position this year, from 190th last year, and the Kingdom is the most improved nation, by national average score, in the world rankings this year.

In the UAE, of the six UAE universities included in the overall world rankings for 2023, five are on the rise — led by the United Arab Emirates University and the University of Sharjah, which have both surged this year into the world top 300 list.

The Times Higher Education’s (THE) world ranking has become a closely watched barometer of the shifts in the global innovation and knowledge economy, supporting governments policymaking and university leaders’ strategic decisions, as well as supporting millions of internationally-mobile students to decide on who to trust with their education.

So, should the data be a cause for alarm for the US and its Western allies in an increasingly polarized world? No, said Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, because there are simply more outstanding universities in the world and a rising tide lifts all boats.

“There’s no evidence that US research is weakening in an absolute sense,” Marginson told Times Higher Education. “This continues to be the most prestigious system in the world.”

Top of the World University Rankings for the seventh consecutive year, is a university renowned for its international knowledge sharing — the UK’s University of Oxford. Oxford is followed by Harvard University in second, while the University of Cambridge (up from 5th) and Stanford University (up from 4th) share third place. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology holds fifth place.

In a further nod to the US decline, the University of Chicago has lost its world top-10 place, falling to 13th, with the UK’s Imperial College London taking its place, moving up from 12th last year, to 10th in 2023.