Universities from Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been ranked the best in the Arab world in a new global higher education league table.
Seven institutions across the region made the top 250 of the QS World University Rankings 2025, with three from Saudi Arabia and two from Qatar making up the top five in the Middle East.
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals led the way in 101st position – up from 180th last year – out of 1,500 universities worldwide.
Qatar University is the second highest-ranked university in the Arab world, rising more than 50 places from 173rd to 122nd in the list.
King Abdulaziz University, in Saudi Arabia, was ranked 149th, down from 143rd last year.
Qatar's Hamad bin Khalifa University climbed more than 100 places, from 310th to 183rd.
King Saud University, in Saudi Arabia, was ranked 200th.
Khalifa University of Science and Technology was the top performer in the UAE, ranking sixth in the region and 202nd overall, up from 230th in the 2024 rankings, released on Tuesday.
“Our programmes are specifically designed with an eye on the employability of our graduates,” Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University, recently told The National.
“In addition, we are also actively engaged in research innovation, working closely with industry partners to ensure that impactful research is taken all the way through commercialisation.
“We focus on not only improving our rankings every year but fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and attracting world class expertise and talent creation.”
United Arab Emirates University improved its position from 290 last year to 261 this year.
American University of Sharjah improved from 364th spot last year to 332nd.
University of Sharjah rose from 465th to 434 year-on-year.
How have universities in the region performed?
The Arab region has 82 universities in the latest rankings, with 43 climbing the league table this year.
Universities were judged on academic reputation, employer’s reputation, faculty staff ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, international students ratio, sustainability score, employment outcomes’ score and an international research network score.
In the Arab world, Saudi Arabia is the dominant higher education system with 20 ranked universities, four of which are new entries, and have 85 per cent of their universities in the top 1,000.
UAE’s twelve ranked universities all featured in the top 1,000 and improved their overall performance by 75 per cent, with a slight decline in some cases.
Saudi Arabia exceeds the global average in two performance indicators, for faculty staff ratio and international faculty ratio.
Qatar's two ranked universities exceeded the global average in all nine indicators measured.
Which countries have the best universities?
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology cemented its position as the world's best university for a 13th consecutive year.
Imperial College London was second, up from sixth last year.
The University of Oxford and Harvard University placed third and fourth respectively, while The University of Cambridge made up the top five.
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) was the only university to break into the world’s top 10 in this edition. The university jumped from 15th to 10th.
Switzerland and Singapore are the only countries besides the UK and the US to feature in the top 10, with ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and National University of Singapore (NUS) placing seventh and eighth respectively.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
