The ranking of the 1,000 best universities in the world in 2024 has been released. In first place is, once again, Harvard University, in the USA, followed by two other North American higher education institutions. This ranking also includes six Portuguese universities, with the highest ranked being the University of Lisbon.

At the top of the table that brings together the 1,000 best universities in the world is Harvard University, in the USA, being the highest ranked of all, as it was last year. Next in line are Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both also in the USA, according to the 2024 Academic Ranking of World Universities.

The top 10 of this ranking is dominated by North American universities, with two exceptions located in the United Kingdom: the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, which are ranked 4th and 6th, respectively.

There are also six universities in Portugal considered in this ranking. The highest ranked is the University of Lisbon, followed by the University of Porto, the University of Aveiro, the University of Coimbra and the University of Minho, which are ranked between 201 and 300. The NOVA University of Lisbon is the lowest ranked, ranked between 701 and 800.

It should be recalled that the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) was first published in June 2003 by the Center for World-Class Universities (CWCU), Graduate School of Education (formerly Institute of Higher Education) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, and is updated annually.