Twenty nine Nigerian universities have been ranked in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, up from 24 institutions in the 2026 edition.
Covenant University, the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos jointly emerged as the highest-ranked Nigerian universities, with the three institutions placed in the 801-1,000 band globally.
The rankings, published by Times Higher Education Wednesday, showed that Nigeria recorded five additional institutions in the latest edition.
The newly ranked universities are Osun State University, the University of Maiduguri, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Kwara State University and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike.
Covenant University returned to the top position among Nigerian universities after dropping to third place in the previous edition, when the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos shared the top position.
The three South-West-based institutions are now jointly positioned in the 801-1,000 global band, making them Nigeria’s highest-ranked universities in the 2027 edition.
Following the trio are Ahmadu Bello University and Bayero University, which occupy fourth and fifth positions among Nigerian institutions respectively.
The Times Higher Education rankings assess research-intensive universities based on five broad areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook and industry.
The 2027 rankings cover 2,297 universities across 118 countries and territories, using 17 performance indicators under the five broad pillars.
The ranking also highlighted the research strength of individual Nigerian institutions, with the University of Lagos recording the highest score among Nigerian universities for research quality at 67.8.
Globally, the University of Oxford retained the number one position for the 11th consecutive year.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the University of Cape Town was the highest-ranked institution, moving up to joint 147th position from joint 164th in the previous edition.
The number of ranked universities in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 55 in the previous edition to 69 in the 2027 rankings.
It added, “Nigeria has the most universities ranked, with 29 in total.”
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