Universities in the six Gulf states hold eight of the top 10 places in the QS Arab Region University Rankings 2027, published by QS Quacquarelli Symonds on 15 October 2026. Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) is first for the fourth edition in a row, with an overall score of 100, according to QS. Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi rises one place to second, overtaking Qatar University, which moves down to third.

QS’s ranking table lists 325 institutions from 20 countries and territories, 17 of them in an unnumbered 301+ group, on TED’s count of the data behind the table. The 2026 edition evaluated 298 institutions, according to Gulf News. Method in one line: QS scores universities on 10 indicators, led by academic reputation (30%), employer reputation (20%) and faculty/student ratio (15%), with international research network at 10%, web impact, staff with a PhD, citations per paper and papers per faculty at 5% each, and the international faculty and international student ratios at 2.5% each.

The Gulf’s share of the table

The six Gulf Cooperation Council states account for 82 of the 325 institutions: Saudi Arabia 35, the UAE 19, Oman 13, Bahrain eight, Kuwait four and Qatar three. They hold 17 of the top 25 places, 28 of the top 50 and 50 of the top 100. Algeria, Egypt and Iraq each have more ranked institutions than any Gulf state, with 50, 44 and 42, but their highest placed are 110th, 14th and 35th respectively.

Behind the top three, King Saud University and United Arab Emirates University keep fourth and fifth. The American University of Beirut is sixth. Sultan Qaboos University rises from eighth to seventh, King Abdulaziz University falls from seventh to eighth, Abu Dhabi University climbs two places to ninth and the University of Jordan stays 10th.

Country by country

Saudi Arabia has seven institutions in the top 25 and 23 in the top 100, the most of any country at both levels. King Faisal University climbs nine places to 17th. KFUPM is first in the region on employer reputation and King Abdulaziz University first on academic reputation.

The UAE has 19 ranked institutions but six in the top 25. Gulf News’s report of the 2026 table listed 15 UAE institutions, nine of them in the top 25. Since then, American University of Sharjah has moved from ninth to 11th, Zayed University from 23rd to 27th, Al Ain University from 25th to joint 29th and Canadian University Dubai from 21st to 32nd. Ajman University said it is 12th for the second year running.

In Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa University rises from 29th to 23rd and is first in the region on faculty/student ratio and on papers per faculty. Oman’s Dhofar University climbs from 75th to 53rd. Kuwait’s highest placed institution is the American University of the Middle East at 22nd, ahead of Kuwait University at 50th. Bahrain’s highest is Applied Science University at 37th, followed by Ahlia University at 52nd.

What it means

TED analysis:

  • Reputation carries the table: academic and employer reputation, both drawn from QS surveys, make up half of the score. The median Gulf institution scores 36.1 out of 100 on academic reputation, against 10.3 for the rest of the region, on TED’s reading of QS’s data, so much of the Gulf’s lead comes from how academics and employers rate its universities.
  • International mix counts for little: every top-10 place on the international faculty and international student ratios goes to a Gulf institution, with UAE universities taking nine and seven of those places respectively, but the two indicators carry 5% of the score between them.
  • UAE breadth, not depth: more UAE institutions are ranked this year, yet fewer sit in the top 25. Places 20 to 25 are now held by institutions from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt.
  • A stable top: the same five institutions fill the top five as in 2026, with Khalifa University and Qatar University swapping places. The movement is lower down, where King Faisal, Hamad Bin Khalifa and Dhofar each gained six or more places.