June 18, 2025

Times Higher Education (THE), one of the world's leading higher education rating agencies, announced the 2025 Impact Rankings of World Universities (Impact Rankings).

According to the results of the 2025 Impact Rankings announced in Istanbul within the scope of the Global Sustainable Development Congress hosted by Türkiye for the first time this year in cooperation with the Council of Higher Education and THE, Türkiye became the 3rd most represented country in the world with 121 universities.

In the ranking, four Turkish universities managed to enter the top 100. Ranked 37th, Abdullah Gül University was the highest ranked Turkish university in the list, while Istanbul Technical University ranked 48th, Bahçeşehir University 59th and Middle East Technical University 96th.

2,526 universities from 130 countries were evaluated this year in THE Impact Ranking, which measures the success of universities around the world in achieving the 17 sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. India was the most represented country with 147 universities, followed by Pakistan with 126 universities and Türkiye and the Philippines with 121 universities each.

In the ranking, 11 universities from Türkiye were ranked in the top 300, 18 in the top 600 and 45 in the top 1000.

Selçuk University was ranked in the 101-200 band, while Boğaziçi University, Dokuz Eylül University, Ege University, Hacettepe University, Kadir Has University and Yıldız Technical University were ranked in the 201-300 band.

While Erciyes University and Özyeğin University entered the list in the 301-400 band, other Turkish universities in the top 1000 are as follows:

In the 401-600 band: Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Düzce University, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa, Sakarya University.

In the 601-800 band: Ankara University, Atatürk University, Bartın University, Çukurova University, Fırat University, Istanbul Gelişim University, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul Okan University, Istinye University, Izmir University of Economics, Marmara University, Necmettin Erbakan University, TED University, Üsküdar University, Yeditepe University.

In the 801-1000 band: Atlas University, Bilkent University, Biruni University, Gazi University, Gebze Technical University, Istanbul Bilgi University, Izmir Institute of Technology, Kayseri University, Mersin University, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University.

Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education, stated that the race for science and technology is growing on a global scale and competition between countries is increasing and said, “We continue to work with the vision of transforming Turkish higher education into a globally competitive, inclusive and qualified structure.”

Stating that the positive reflections of the works of the Council of Higher Education are reflected in international rankings, Özvar expressed his belief that Turkish universities will rise to even higher positions in the coming years with the ongoing transformation.