Swiss universities fall down global ranking for 2025

While universities in Switzerland are often said to be some of the best in the world, a new ranking from the Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR) has highlighted that many are in decline. While institutions like ETH Zurich remain highly rated, two-thirds of Swiss universities are performing worse than last year.

University Global 2000 by the CWUR

As its name suggests, the Global 2000 list from the CWUR seeks to rank 2.000 different universities around the world. Each institution is ranked through four main categories, with each given a different weighting based on importance:

• Education (25 percent): The academic success of graduates, relative to the university's size.
• Employability (25 percent): How successful graduates are at finding jobs.
• Faculty (10 percent): The number of faculty with top academic distinctions.
• Research (40 percent): Research output, influence and citations.

In an attempt to allay the concerns of some universities, like the University of Zurich, which argue that these rankings focus too much on quantity rather than the quality of research, only research published and/or cited in “highly influential” and “top-tier” journals is counted.

UK and US still dominate the university rankings

Despite this care, the CWUR top 10 is very similar to the Times University and QS rankings, with US and UK universities taking all the spots in the top 10. Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University took the top spots.

In fact, United States institutions occupied 15 of the top 20 spots. However, the CWUR noted that 2025 is the first year that China has more universities in the top 2.000 than the US.

ETH Zurich highly rated, other Swiss universities struggle

In terms of Swiss universities, ETH Zurich was ranked as the best in the country, third best in continental Europe behind PSL and City University in Paris, but only 32nd in the world. The report noted that while the career prospects for ETH graduates have improved compared to 2024, their educational quality and research scores have declined.

This trend has been felt across the 13 Swiss universities that made the ranking. While ETH Zurich maintained its 32nd place from 2024, four institutions rose in the rankings, and a whopping eight fell down the order.

The biggest improvement was found at the University of Basel, rising from 109th place in 2024 to 85th in 2025. The University of Italian Switzerland (1.113rd +20 places), the University of Fribourg (682 +13 places) and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (1.967th +11 places) also saw marked improvements.

By contrast, the universities of Zurich (62nd -2), EPF Lausanne (106th -6), Geneva (115 -4), Bern (139th -4), Lausanne (197th -9), IMD Lausanne (423rd -18), St. Gallen (618th -18) and Neuchâtel (1.337th -86) all saw their scores fall.

Why are Swiss universities struggling to compete?

So what’s causing Swiss universities to fall down the order? Speaking to the Tages-Anzeiger, CWUR President Nadim Mahassen noted that "the decline in research output and the limited financial support from the state in Switzerland are alarming." While other countries are boosting funding for universities and research, the Swiss are struggling to keep up.

In fact, the Swiss government hopes to cut 460 million francs a year from its education and research budget from 2027, and has already ordered that tuition fees be tripled for international students attending ETH and EPFL. Swiss universities have warned that the austerity measures would produce a “dangerous imbalance” in funding and hurt Switzerland’s status as the most innovative country on Earth.

The best universities in Switzerland and the world

In all, here are the best universities in the world, according to the CWUR:

1. Harvard University, United States
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
3. Stanford University, United States
4. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
5. University of Oxford, United Kingdom
6. Pricetown University, United States
7. University of Pennsylvania, United States
8. Columbia University, United States
9. Yale University, United States
10. University of Chicago, United States

And here are the 13 universities of Switzerland ranked:

• 32. ETH Zurich
• 62. University of Zurich
• 85. University of Basel
• 106. EPF Lausanne
• 115. University of Geneva
• 139. University of Bern
• 197. University of Lausanne
• 423. IMD Lausanne
• 618. University of St. Gallen
• 682. University of Fribourg
• 1.113. University of Italian Switzerland
• 1.337. University of Neuchâtel
• 1.967. Zurich University of Applied Sciences

For more information about the study, check out the CWUR website.