Asia University Rankings 2026: 929 universities, India tops representation
Times Higher Education's Asia University Rankings 2026 lists a record 929 universities from 36 countries and territories. India has the largest representation with 128 institutions but no Indian university appears inside the Asia top 40 .
Asia University Rankings 2026 — key numbers
The 2026 edition marks a jump from 853 institutions last year to 929 this year. China holds five places in the Asia top 10 , while Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan also feature strongly.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Universities featured | 929 |
| Countries/territories | 36 |
| India representation | 128 |
| Institutions last year | 853 |
| Indian institutions in Asia top 200 | 12 |
Asia University Rankings 2026 — Indian performance
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru is the highest-ranked Indian institution at =43 , down from 38 last year. IISc is the only Indian university inside Asia's top 50 in this list.
IIT Indore is the next-best Indian performer, and India has 12 institutions placed within Asia's top 200 . Several private and central universities from India appear in the 100–200 bracket.
Participation and transparency notes
Universities submit data to THE for evaluation, but participation is voluntary. BITS Pilani opted out of THE's evaluation this year. Some IITs had earlier raised transparency concerns about global ranking processes and avoided submissions in past cycles.
The rankings use THE's standard methodology across teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income, as reported by the authority. THE released the Asia University Rankings 2026 in April 2026 ; this article is published on April 25, 2026 .
What this means for you
If you are checking options or comparing institutes, use the official THE list and each university's published profile for details. Remember that some institutes did not participate in this edition, so absence from the list does not always reflect quality.