News
2025.10.25
Ranked in “THE World University Rankings” for Two Consecutive Years
(1501+, Globally)!
Times Higher Education (THE) published “THE World University Rankings 2026” on October 9, 2025. Okayama University of Science has been included in the global rankings for two years in a row. Out of 2,191 ranked universities worldwide, OUS ranked in the 1501 bracket this year. Nationally, 115 universities – 4 fewer than last year – are included in the rankings this year. We advanced to a tie for 52nd in our second year from a tie for 63rd last year.
THE World University Rankings 2026 uses 18 performance indicators to evaluate universities worldwide across the five key areas: Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, International Outlook and Industry. Of the five categories, our strongest performance was in the “Industry” category. We attribute our second consecutive inclusions in the rankings to our diverse research and active engagement with local businesses and communities.
In the Chugoku-Shikoku region in Japan, OUS is the only private university included in the rankings. We are tied for 6th among private universities in Western Japan and 17th among private universities nationwide.
Japanese Universities in THE World University Rankings 2026
| 2026 Rank | University |
|---|---|
| 26 | The University of Tokyo |
| 61 | Kyoto University |
| 103 | Tohoku University |
| 151 | The University of Osaka |
| 201-250 | Nagoya University |
| 301-350 | Kyushu University, Institute of Science Tokyo |
| 351-400 | Hokkaido University, University of Tsukuba |
| 501-600 | Juntendo University |
| 601-800 | Hiroshima University, Keio University, Kobe University, University of Aizu |
| 801-1000 | Waseda University, Wakayama Medical University |
| 1001-1200 | Okayama University, Chiba University, Yokohama City University and more |
| 1201-1500 | Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo University of Science, Yokohama National University and more |
| 1501+ | Okayama University of Science, Ehime University, Sophia University, Aoyama Gakuin University, Chuo University, Doshisha University, Kansai University, Kitasato University, Kwansei Gakuin University, Meiji University, Rikkyo University, Ritsumeikan University, Tokyo Metropolitan University and more |
Note: Not all the universities from Japan included in THE World University Rankings 2026 are shown here.