University of Ibadan, Oyo State, has been named Nigeria’s leading university in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, regaining a position it last held in 2023.
According to the list published on THE’s website on Thursday, UI ranked within the 801–1000 globally, outperforming other Nigerian institutions in the new assessment.
THE evaluated 2,191 universities across 115 countries, using 18 performance indicators grouped under five categories: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement, and international outlook.
The University of Ibadan climbed from fourth place in 2025 to reclaim the top spot, displacing Covenant University, which had led in 2024 and 2025.
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Following UI in the 2026 ranking are the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Bayero University, Kano (BUK), and Covenant University, placed second, third, and fourth respectively.
The latest ranking reflects notable shifts in the global higher education landscape, with THE analysing over 174.9 million citations from 18.7 million research publications and drawing input from more than 108,000 scholars worldwide.
THE’s data also revealed specific institutional strengths: UNILAG recorded the highest research quality score among Nigerian universities with 66.7 points, while BUK led in international outlook, and Covenant University ranked highest for its industry connections.
Out of 51 Nigerian universities featured in the 2026 ranking, UI and UNILAG were listed between 801–1000, BUK, Covenant, and Landmark University fell between 1001–1200, while five others — including Ahmadu Bello University, Federal University of Technology, Minna, University of Ilorin, University of Jos, and University of Nigeria, Nsukka — ranked between 1201–1500.
Fourteen more institutions were placed above 1501, while 27 universities were listed as unranked.
THE, a globally recognised higher education analytics organisation, noted that universities must meet specific criteria to qualify for the World University Rankings. Eligible institutions must offer undergraduate programmes, conduct research in multiple disciplines, and publish at least 1,000 papers between 2020 and 2024, with a minimum of 100 annually.
