File Photo: The main building of Cairo University. Al-Ahram
The latest results reflect steady gains by Egyptian universities in global competitiveness, research performance, international collaboration, and academic reputation, as the government seeks to improve the international standing of higher education institutions and strengthen scientific research.
Cairo University remained Egypt's highest-ranked institution, placing 221st globally, followed by Mansoura University at 267th, Al-Azhar University at 279th, and Ain Shams University at 290th. The four universities were Egypt's representatives among the world's top 300 institutions.
Alexandria University and Zagazig University were jointly ranked 304th, followed by Assiut University at 405th, Tanta University at 428th, and Kafr El-Sheikh University at 460th, bringing the total number of Egyptian universities in the global top 500 to nine.
Other Egyptian universities ranked within the world's top 1,000 included Benha University (620th), Menoufiya University (648th), Beni Suef University (651st), Suez Canal University (682nd), Minya University (747th), Port Said University (821st), Fayoum University (831st), Sohag University (864th), South Valley University in Qena (888th), Future University in Egypt (932nd), Capital University (949th), the American University in Cairo and Suez University (both 967th), and Aswan University (996th).
The British University in Egypt ranked 1,105th globally, followed by Damanhour University (1,210th), Damietta University (1,254th), the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (1,359th), Sadat City University (1,365th), and Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (1,490th).
The ranking also highlighted Delta University for Science and Technology for its engineering performance.
Higher Education Minister Abdelaziz Konsowa said the results reflected the growing international presence of Egyptian universities and their success in building global partnerships and enhancing competitiveness.
He added that the ministry places educational diplomacy and international cooperation among its top priorities to support the internationalization of Egyptian higher education and improve the quality of academic outcomes.
Ministry spokesman Adel Abdel Ghaffar said the progress achieved by Egyptian universities reflected sustained efforts to strengthen research systems, expand international cooperation, and increase the quality and impact of scientific publications.
The U.S. News ranking methodology is heavily research-focused, assigning 50 percent of the overall score to research impact, 25 percent to research reputation, 15 percent to research productivity, and 10 percent to international outlook.
The latest U.S. News results build on a broader trend of rising international visibility for Egyptian universities.
On Wednesday, Cairo University announced it had climbed to 221st globally in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings, up from 248th in the previous edition, while retaining its position as Egypt's top-ranked university and the second-highest ranked institution in Africa.
According to the university, its global ranking has improved steadily over recent years, advancing from 427th in 2020 to 392nd in 2021, 363rd in 2022, 271st in 2024, 248th in 2025, and 221st in 2026, reflecting sustained gains in research output, international collaboration, and academic impact.
The U.S. News & World Report ranking is considered one of the most influential international university rankings, relying primarily on indicators such as research performance, global and regional academic reputation, scientific research impact, reference citation rates, the share of highly cited papers globally, international collaboration, and publication in high-impact scientific journals.
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