The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona moves up the prestige and quality scale. The World University Ranking 2025, produced annually since 2012 by the American consultancy Center for World University Rankings, lists the top 2.000 universities out of a total of 21.462. It particularly assesses the quality of teaching, research and teaching staff, as well as the employment it generates, through a score.

The UAB moves up 70 places this year in this ranking, which tops a podium formed by Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, all from the United States. The Autonomous University is in 126th place and is the best in the entire state and 42nd in Europe. It scores a total of 81 points out of a possible 100 and stands out for the prestige of its teaching staff, teaching and the quality of its research.

 Other catalan universities at the top

The second Catalan educational institution in the general table is the Universitat de Barcelona, ​​which is located in 136th place with 80.6 points. It is followed by the UPC (eighth in the state) with 75.6 points, the UPF (place 432, with 75.2 points), the Rovira i Virgili, with 73.6, and the Universitat de Girona, classified in position 797 and with 71.9 points.

The World University Ranking is not based on surveys or indicators, but on objective and verifiable indicators. It began to be developed in 2012 by the Center for World University Rankings to make a classification of the best 100 universities in the world. The project was successful and was widely disseminated by both the press and university centers, which allowed it to expand and include the Top 1.000 in 2014 and the 2.000 best centers since 2019.