TU Delft drops one place in Times ranking

With eleven universities, the Netherlands is still well represented in the top 200 of the World University Rankings 2026. However, eight of them have once again had to take a step back. As in the past two years, TU Delft ranks highest among Dutch universities, but it has also dropped one place: from 56 to 57. Last year, TU Delft dropped eight places, after climbing 22 places the year before.

Last year, eight of the twelve participating Dutch universities lost ground, the year before that seven, and this year another eight. Only the universities of Wageningen, Leiden and Maastricht have risen slightly. Erasmus University has maintained its position.

The Utrecht University has not participated in the world rankings for two years. The institution is critical of such lists and therefore no longer provides data.

According to Times Higher Education, the quality of research at Dutch universities is declining: publications are generally cited less often. By 2023, the institutions’ revenues will also have fallen. The editors expect this negative trend to continue in the coming years as the effects of cuts in higher education funding become increasingly felt.

US is also losing ground

The top of the rankings is still dominated by universities from the United Kingdom and the United States. For the tenth year in a row, the University of Oxford is number one, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. Princeton and Cambridge are tied for third place this year.

However, ‘Despite a strong position at the top of the rankings, the US as a whole continues to lose ground in the rankings, and there are also warning signs for the UK,’ reports Times Higher Education. ‘Asia, on the other hand, is climbing rapidly.’

HOP, Naomi Bergshoeff