Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) has once again been crowned the best university in the Netherlands by the QS World University Rankings. The University of Amsterdam (UvA), among other Dutch universities, also made it into the top 200.
Every year, QS compiles a list of the best institutions for studying around the world to create the World University Ranking. The 2026 edition features over 1.500 universities, representing over 100 locations around the world.
Each university is assessed on 10 key metrics, each with its own weighting, to calculate an overall score out of 100:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been named the best university in the world for the 14th time in a row, with a perfect score. Imperial College London and Stanford University rounded out the top three. ETH Zurich in Switzerland and the National University of Singapore were the only universities outside of the US and the UK to make it into the top 10.
UvA was once the best Dutch university, maintaining its spot in the top for 10 years, but it was dethroned by TU Delft in the 2024 ranking. The university in Delft has retained its position for another year, coming in 47th overall (two places up since last year) and remaining in the top 50 in the world. The biggest university in Amsterdam also rose two places, but still fell short of the top 50, coming in 53rd overall.
TU Delft achieved high scores in majority of the metrics, earning a maximum possible score of 100 for the International Faculty Ratio category. It also performed well, raking in over 90 points, for Sustainability, International Student Diversity and International Student Ratio. Where its performance was subpar was in the Faculty Student Ratio (49,1) and Employment Outcomes (66) categories.
Only TU Delft and UvA made it into the top 100 for the Netherlands, but 13 institutions were featured in the list in total. This year, nine made it into the top 200, including universities in Utrecht, Leiden, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Groningen and Wageningen.
Almost all the Dutch universities on the list improved their rankings, with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (up 27 places) even making it into the top 200 for the first time since 2017. The University of Twente managed the biggest improvement, rising 30 places from 233 in 2025 to 203 in 2026.
Here are the positions of all the Dutch universities featured in the ranking:
For more information and to see the full ranking, visit the QS website.
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