Seven Dutch universities have made it into the top 100 universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education (THE) 2021 rankings. 

THE World University Rankings 2021

Every year, Time Higher Education assembles a ranking of universities around the world. Institutions are assessed according to 13 performance indicators, which cover the areas of teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and industry income.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, British and American universities dominate the rankings, nabbing the coveted top spots year after year. For the fifth year in a row, the University of Oxford won the top spot. For 2021, the top 10 universities worldwide are as follows:

1. University of Oxford (UK)
2. Stanford University (USA)
3. Harvard University (USA)
4. California Institute of Technology (USA)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
6. University of Cambridge (UK)
7. University of California, Berkeley (USA)
8. Yale University (USA)
9. Princeton University (USA)
10. University of Chicago (USA)

The best universities in the Netherlands

For the second year in a row, seven Dutch universities have made it into the top 100. Wageningen University & Research holds on to the top spot that it stole from Delft University of Technology  in the 2020 rankings. 

It seems that the 2021 rankings have seen all the top Dutch universities drop a few places. The University of Amsterdam, which last year came in at number 62, ranks 66th in 2021. Delft University of Technology, which ranked 58th in 2019 and 67th in 2020, now comes in 78th place. 

Eleven Dutch universities in the top 200

Similarly to last year, 11 Dutch universities have made it into the top 200 of the World Rankings, with Tilburg University and University of Twente both achieving spots between 201 and 250. The Dutch universities in the top 200 are as follows:

• 62. Wageningen University & Research
• 66. University of Amsterdam
• 70. Leiden University 
• 72. Erasmus University Rotterdam 
• 75. Utrecht University
• 78. Delft University of Technology 
• 80. University of Groningen 
• 116. VU Amsterdam 
• 121. Maastricht University 
• 136. Radboud University Nijmegen
• 187. Eindhoven University of Technology