COMSATS Leads as 33 Pakistani Universities Feature in US News Global Rankings 2026–27

A total of 33 Pakistani higher education institutions have earned spots in the latest US News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings for 2026–2027, showcasing the country's academic research presence on the world stage. Leading the local contingent is COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), which emerged as Pakistan's top-ranked institution at 410th globally with an overall score of 52.0. Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) followed in second place, securing 451st worldwide with a score of 50.7. Rounding out the nation's top tier were the University of Lahore at 479th, the University of Management and Technology (UMT) at 573rd, and the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) at 590th.

Pakistani Universities in US News Best Global Universities Rankings 2026–27

S. No.	Global Rank	University	Score
1	410	COMSATS University Islamabad	52.0
2	451	Quaid-i-Azam University	50.7
3	479	University of Lahore	50.0
4	573	University of Management & Technology (UMT)	46.8
5	590	National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)	46.2
6	633	University of Agriculture Faisalabad	45.0
7	693	Islamia University of Bahawalpur	43.9
8	739	Aga Khan University	42.7
9	762	University of Punjab	42.3
10	795	Bahauddin Zakariya University	41.8
11	853	Government College University Faisalabad	40.6
12	897	Abdul Wali Khan University	39.5
13	920	Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology	39.1
14	959	International Islamic University, Pakistan	38.4
15	1,061	University of Central Punjab	36.6
16	1,081	University of Peshawar	36.3
17	1,112	Government College University Lahore	35.8
18	1,192	Air University Islamabad	34.2
19	1,274	Hazara University	32.9
20	1,298	Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)	32.5
21	1,348	University of Engineering and Technology Lahore	31.6
22	1,410	University of Gujrat	30.4
23	1,449	University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Pakistan	29.8
24	1,471	University of Sargodha	29.4
25	1,514	Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Science	28.7
26	1,599	University of Engineering and Technology Taxila	27.2
27	1,631	Bahria University	26.8
28	1,661	University of Malakand	26.3
29	1,728	University of Karachi	25.5
30	1,798	Arid Agriculture University	24.2
31	1,888	Dow University of Health Sciences	22.8
32	1,922	GIK Institute Engineering Science & Technology	22.1
33	2,189	Kohat University of Science & Technology	16.7

The global evaluation assessed over 2,250 universities across more than 100 countries, focusing heavily on scholarly impact, academic reputation, publication frequency, citation counts, and international research collaboration. Alongside the main ranked universities, eight additional Pakistani institutions were featured on the national listing without assigned global ranks or scores: Agricultural University Peshawar, Capital University of Science & Technology, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Sukkur IBA University, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, University of Engineering & Technology Peshawar, and the University of Sindh.

At the top of the global standings, Harvard University claimed the overall #1 position, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University rounding out an all-American top three. The United Kingdom’s University of Oxford and University of Cambridge took fourth and fifth places, respectively, continuing the dominance of traditional research powerhouses in global academic metrics.