Ranking at number 1 within the Middle East, is Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz University, but ranking at 186 worldwide. The Saudi university outranked Lebanon’s American University of Beirut, which beat King Abdulaziz University in 2017. QS took the initiative to rank all of the universities in the world, and found that the Saudi educational institution for high education, KAU, surpassed all of the Arab universities for 2020.
Saudi’s top university has a total number of 33,492 enrolled students, and a faculty of over 4000 members of academic staff. Established in 1967, King Abdulaziz University has jumped 45 spots within just 12 months, and is an internationally recognized university that is revered for its research and innovation.
The top 5 ranking universities in Saudi Arabia are:
1. King Abdulaziz University
2. King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
3. King Saud University
4. King Khalid University
5. Umm Al-Qura University
Across the Middle East, this is how the other Arab universities ranked overall:
1. King Abdulaziz University (No. 186 globally)
2. King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (No. 200 globally)
3. King Saud University (No. 281 globally )
4. King Khalid University (No. 501-510 globally)
5. Umm Al-Qura University (No. 501-510 globally)
6. The Top 10 Arab Universities
7. King Abdulaziz University (Saudi Arabia)
8. King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (Saudi Arabia)
9. American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
10. Khalifa University (UAE)
11. Qatar University (Qatar)
12. King Saud University (Saudi Arabia)
13. UAE University (UAE)
14. American University of Sharjah (UAE)
15. Sultan Qaboos University (Oman)
16. American University of Cairo (Egypt)
Director of Research at the QS World University Rankings, Ben Sowter, said in a statement of the study, "It is clear that the universities from the Arab Region are breaking new ground in the search for excellence, with institutions in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman all reaching record highs.”
The top universities in the world however, are American with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ranking at No.1, Stanford University at No.2 and globally renowned Harvard University at No.3.
In QS’s ranking this year, its 16th edition, 37 Arab universities made it in the list of the 1000 universities that were evaluated.
