• 11 universities from Türkiye entered the top 500 in the QS 2026 Subject Rankings
• Özvar: “Turkish higher education will continue to rise in global competition”

March 26, 2026

A total of 11 universities from Türkiye ranked within the top 500 in the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject, published by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a London-based higher education ranking organization.

The rankings evaluated more than 1,900 higher education institutions from 100 countries, making it the most comprehensive study conducted by QS to date. Eleven Turkish universities succeeded in entering the top 500 across various fields.

The universities included Ankara University, Bilkent University, Boğaziçi University, Gazi University, Hacettepe University, Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Istanbul University (IU), Koç University, Middle East Technical University (METU), Sabancı University, and Yıldız Technical University (YTU).

The rankings assessed five broad subject areas: Arts and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences and Management, covering 55 disciplines.

Evaluation criteria included academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, H-index, and international research network.

- Arts and Humanities

Nine Turkish universities ranked in the top 500 in this field.

METU ranked 242nd, IU 279th, ITU 284th, Hacettepe University and Boğaziçi University 305th, Koç 383rd, Ankara University 391st, Bilkent University in the 401-450 band, and Gazi University in the 451-500 band.

- Engineering and Technology

ITU ranked 91st globally, entering the top 100. METU ranked 103rd, followed by Boğaziçi University (236th), Koç University (243rd), Sabancı University (266th), YTU (273rd), and Bilkent University (290th) within the top 300. Hacettepe University ranked 364th.

- Social Sciences and Management

METU ranked 173rd, Boğaziçi University 217th, Koç University 252nd, Bilkent University 278th, IU 346th, ITU and Sabancı University 353rd. Hacettepe University ranked in the 401-450 band and Ankara University in the 451-500 band.

Life Sciences and Medicine & Natural Sciences

In Life Sciences and Medicine, Hacettepe University ranked 308th, Ankara University 390th, and IU in the 451-500 band.               
In Natural Sciences, ITU ranked 251st and METU 300th, while Ankara University and Hacettepe University ranked in the 451-500 band.

- Message from Özvar

President of the Council of Higher Education Erol Özvar expressed satisfaction with the increasing success of Turkish universities internationally:

“Turkish higher education will continue to rise in global competition. We are continuing our planned and determined efforts to achieve greater goals together. I congratulate all our universities included in the rankings.”