All subjects
Social Sciences & Management
Politics & International Studies Ranking
QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026
105 universities
Click any university to view its application strategy timeline
| Rank | Change | University | Country | Score | Academic | Employer | Citations | H | IRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvard University | United States of America | 93.5 | 88.8 | 100.0 | 91.8 | 99.4 | — | |
| 2 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | 91.9 | 87.5 | 97.0 | 90.5 | 99.7 | — | |
| 3 | 1 | Sciences Po | France | 91.4 | 100.0 | 79.3 | 84.9 | 90.7 | — |
| 4 | 1 | Princeton University | United States of America | 89.7 | 93.3 | 80.9 | 95.8 | 91.6 | — |
| 5 | The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) | United Kingdom | 89.4 | 86.6 | 91.3 | 89.8 | 96.9 | — | |
| 6 | 1 | Stanford University | United States of America | 89.1 | 82.5 | 95.6 | 95.9 | 96.2 | — |
| 7 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom | 88.4 | 83.9 | 96.4 | 84.4 | 90.7 | — | |
| 8 | Yale University | United States of America | 86.9 | 81.8 | 92.1 | 94.9 | 88.9 | — | |
| 9 | 1 | National University of Singapore (NUS) | Singapore | 85.9 | 78.8 | 94.9 | 88.9 | 91.6 | — |
| 10 | 4 | Georgetown University | United States of America | 85.5 | 88.5 | 77.0 | 89.6 | 91.6 | — |
| 11 | 1 | King's College London | United Kingdom | 84.7 | 86.0 | 79.2 | 84.6 | 94.7 | — |
| 12 | Columbia University | United States of America | 83.9 | 79.5 | 87.6 | 88.9 | 89.3 | — | |
| 13 | 4 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | United States of America | 83.5 | 80.3 | 84.0 | 91.8 | 89.8 | — |
| 14 | 3 | Australian National University (ANU) | Australia | 82.9 | 86.1 | 74.7 | 84.6 | 89.3 | — |
| 15 | 2 | Leiden University | Netherlands | 81.7 | 85.8 | 65.7 | 90.4 | 100.0 | — |
| 16 | 12 | SOAS University of London | United Kingdom | 80.5 | 90.4 | 66.5 | 81.7 | 72.0 | — |
| 17 | 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | United States of America | 78.7 | 64.3 | 92.8 | 100.0 | 86.9 | — |
| 18 | 19 | New York University (NYU) | United States of America | 78.6 | 72.6 | 81.1 | 90.1 | 89.8 | — |
| 19 | 3 | University of Chicago | United States of America | 78.4 | 77.4 | 72.7 | 91.8 | 87.4 | — |
| 20 | 2 | UCL | United Kingdom | 78.0 | 71.7 | 79.5 | 87.9 | 95.1 | — |
| 21 | 18 | George Washington University | United States of America | 77.6 | 79.4 | 67.6 | 88.1 | 87.9 | — |
| 22 | 12 | University of Toronto | Canada | 77.4 | 67.8 | 85.3 | 86.8 | 92.0 | — |
| 23 | 2 | Luiss University | Italy | 77.3 | 69.2 | 86.9 | 83.0 | 82.9 | — |
| 24 | 10 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) | Singapore | 77.2 | 68.7 | 88.8 | 81.5 | 80.3 | — |
| 25 | 2 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands | 77.1 | 73.4 | 71.3 | 90.9 | 98.8 | — |
| 25 | 8 | University of California, San Diego (UCSD) | United States of America | 77.1 | 82.5 | 60.0 | 93.0 | 85.8 | — |
| 27 | 4 | The University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom | 77.0 | 72.0 | 76.1 | 89.1 | 92.4 | — |
| 28 | 10 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | United States of America | 76.9 | 73.9 | 74.4 | 90.1 | 86.3 | — |
| 29 | 10 | Johns Hopkins University | United States of America | 76.8 | 80.2 | 65.0 | 85.6 | 86.3 | — |
| 30 | 2 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland | 76.2 | 66.5 | 80.2 | 97.1 | 92.0 | — |
| 31 | 15 | European University Institute | Italy | 75.9 | 82.9 | 53.1 | 90.3 | 94.7 | — |
| 32 | 16 | Cornell University | United States of America | 75.8 | 68.7 | 78.1 | 91.9 | 87.9 | — |
| 33 | 15 | University of British Columbia | Canada | 75.7 | 64.9 | 85.6 | 88.3 | 86.9 | — |
| 34 | 8 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States of America | 75.6 | 76.2 | 64.6 | 92.5 | 88.9 | — |
| 35 | 9 | McGill University | Canada | 74.9 | 66.9 | 80.8 | 87.5 | 84.7 | — |
| 36 | 17 | Tsinghua University | China (Mainland) | 74.7 | 65.7 | 83.0 | 87.4 | 82.3 | — |
| 37 | 7 | The University of Tokyo | Japan | 74.6 | 74.6 | 77.4 | 72.9 | 67.6 | — |
| 37 | 5 | Freie Universitaet Berlin | Germany | 74.6 | 79.6 | 56.9 | 88.0 | 88.9 | — |
| 39 | 15 | Seoul National University | Republic of Korea | 73.7 | 70.9 | 76.0 | 77.4 | 77.3 | — |
| 40 | 2 | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) | Chile | 73.2 | 69.3 | 76.4 | 77.2 | 79.5 | — |
| 41 | 11 | American University | United States of America | 72.8 | 74.2 | 59.9 | 88.0 | 89.3 | — |
| 42 | 21 | Yonsei University | Republic of Korea | 72.4 | 70.7 | 67.3 | 86.6 | 81.6 | — |
| 42 | 15 | Peking University | China (Mainland) | 72.4 | 64.6 | 82.9 | 78.6 | 73.9 | — |
| 44 | 10 | Duke University | United States of America | 72.3 | 68.8 | 66.0 | 90.0 | 90.7 | — |
| 45 | 2 | Central European University | Austria | 72.0 | 75.0 | 54.6 | 93.7 | 87.4 | — |
| 46 | 16 | University of Texas at Austin | United States of America | 71.9 | 66.3 | 70.5 | 89.0 | 87.4 | — |
| 47 | 26 | University of Zurich | Switzerland | 71.8 | 67.6 | 64.6 | 95.4 | 91.1 | — |
| 48 | 10 | University of Copenhagen | Denmark | 71.3 | 68.7 | 63.5 | 87.9 | 91.1 | — |
| 49 | 15 | The University of Warwick | United Kingdom | 71.1 | 61.1 | 73.0 | 92.7 | 94.0 | — |
| 50 | 5 | University of St Andrews | United Kingdom | 71.0 | 68.5 | 69.0 | 81.4 | 79.5 | — |
| 51 | 34 | Brown University | United States of America | 70.9 | 66.7 | 71.3 | 83.7 | 78.1 | — |
| 51 | 50 | Hertie School | Germany | 70.9 | 73.8 | 54.3 | 89.7 | 87.4 | — |
| 53 | 1 | The University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong SAR, China | 70.8 | 61.0 | 80.2 | 83.9 | 78.1 | — |
| 53 | 8 | The University of Manchester | United Kingdom | 70.8 | 62.2 | 71.8 | 88.8 | 92.8 | — |
| 55 | 1 | The University of Melbourne | Australia | 70.7 | 58.9 | 80.6 | 83.4 | 87.4 | — |
| 55 | 13 | The University of Sydney | Australia | 70.7 | 63.1 | 74.1 | 84.1 | 85.2 | — |
| 57 | 3 | Waseda University | Japan | 70.5 | 73.6 | 68.4 | 68.0 | 63.6 | — |
| 58 | 38 | Fudan University | China (Mainland) | 70.4 | 65.3 | 71.8 | 82.1 | 80.3 | — |
| 59 | 11 | KU Leuven | Belgium | 70.2 | 61.5 | 71.6 | 86.8 | 92.8 | — |
| 59 | 1 | Universite libre de Bruxelles | Belgium | 70.2 | 64.2 | 71.5 | 83.1 | 83.5 | — |
| 61 | 4 | Queen Mary University of London | United Kingdom | 69.9 | 63.9 | 67.5 | 87.9 | 89.3 | — |
| 61 | 2 | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) | Mexico | 69.9 | 69.1 | 76.2 | 62.6 | 62.2 | — |
| 63 | 1 | Universidad de los Andes | Colombia | 69.8 | 64.3 | 79.4 | 68.6 | 69.9 | — |
| 64 | 23 | Korea University | Republic of Korea | 69.7 | 67.0 | 69.2 | 78.9 | 75.6 | — |
| 65 | 15 | Universidade de São Paulo | Brazil | 69.6 | 67.4 | 68.9 | 73.8 | 78.1 | — |
| 66 | 7 | University of Pennsylvania | United States of America | 69.3 | 52.7 | 84.0 | 89.9 | 87.9 | — |
| 66 | 20 | Aarhus University | Denmark | 69.3 | 69.6 | 51.8 | 93.5 | 95.8 | — |
| 68 | 33 | University of Geneva | Switzerland | 69.0 | 60.5 | 72.1 | 86.2 | 85.2 | — |
| 68 | 3 | Bocconi University | Italy | 69.0 | 53.0 | 83.4 | 92.0 | 82.3 | — |
| 70 | 2 | Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna | Italy | 68.8 | 64.3 | 66.1 | 83.8 | 84.7 | — |
| 70 | 4 | Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne | France | 68.8 | 65.3 | 77.7 | 64.8 | 63.6 | — |
| 72 | 3 | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Germany | 68.1 | 65.6 | 62.9 | 83.7 | 80.3 | — |
| 72 | 11 | University of Oslo | Norway | 68.1 | 69.4 | 51.3 | 87.2 | 93.2 | — |
| 72 | 6 | Universidad de Chile | Chile | 68.1 | 64.1 | 74.1 | 67.9 | 69.9 | — |
| 75 | 26 | Essex, University of | United Kingdom | 68.0 | 72.6 | 47.1 | 88.4 | 86.9 | — |
| 75 | 76 | Tufts University | United States of America | 68.0 | 69.7 | 55.9 | 83.7 | 80.3 | — |
| 77 | 16 | Uppsala University | Sweden | 67.5 | 66.3 | 53.4 | 91.7 | 92.0 | — |
| 78 | 11 | The University of Sheffield | United Kingdom | 67.4 | 59.4 | 63.8 | 92.3 | 92.8 | — |
| 79 | 7 | Durham University | United Kingdom | 67.2 | 56.8 | 72.9 | 85.8 | 83.5 | — |
| 79 | 19 | Monash University | Australia | 67.2 | 55.1 | 76.5 | 84.3 | 82.3 | — |
| 81 | 6 | Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin | Ireland | 67.1 | 60.1 | 72.8 | 80.1 | 72.0 | — |
| 82 | 7 | University of Bristol | United Kingdom | 67.0 | 58.2 | 69.5 | 84.8 | 85.8 | — |
| 83 | 18 | Boston University | United States of America | 66.8 | 56.0 | 70.1 | 91.8 | 86.3 | — |
| 84 | 4 | Kyoto University | Japan | 66.7 | 67.6 | 69.2 | 62.3 | 58.9 | — |
| 84 | 11 | University of Notre Dame | United States of America | 66.7 | 69.9 | 51.0 | 83.1 | 80.9 | — |
| 84 | 4 | University of Exeter | United Kingdom | 66.7 | 59.4 | 63.9 | 88.5 | 89.8 | — |
| 87 | 8 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom | 66.6 | 57.3 | 65.9 | 90.4 | 91.6 | — |
| 88 | 2 | University of Sussex | United Kingdom | 66.2 | 62.9 | 57.5 | 87.5 | 87.4 | — |
| 89 | 6 | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | Germany | 66.1 | 59.1 | 61.4 | 91.1 | 90.2 | — |
| 90 | 111 | O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) | India | 65.9 | 68.2 | 64.3 | 62.7 | 62.2 | — |
| 91 | 7 | City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) | Hong Kong SAR, China | 65.8 | 56.7 | 68.1 | 89.6 | 80.9 | — |
| 91 | 9 | University of Vienna | Austria | 65.8 | 60.8 | 55.5 | 93.2 | 94.7 | — |
| 91 | 12 | The University of Queensland | Australia | 65.8 | 57.4 | 66.8 | 87.0 | 83.5 | — |
| 94 | 9 | National Taiwan University (NTU) | Taiwan | 65.7 | 62.0 | 72.0 | 66.2 | 65.0 | — |
| 95 | 20 | Jawaharlal Nehru University | India | 65.6 | 74.3 | 50.1 | 65.7 | 68.8 | — |
| 95 | — | The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies - Geneva | Switzerland | 65.6 | 72.6 | 45.5 | 80.4 | 76.5 | — |
| 97 | 4 | Washington University in St. Louis | United States of America | 65.5 | 64.5 | 55.4 | 83.8 | 82.9 | — |
| 98 | 3 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | United States of America | 65.3 | 62.3 | 53.9 | 92.2 | 87.4 | — |
| 99 | 48 | Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) | Argentina | 65.1 | 61.2 | 75.4 | 59.5 | 58.9 | — |
| 100 | 1 | University College Dublin | Ireland | 65.0 | 57.4 | 64.0 | 85.7 | 85.2 | — |
| 100 | 1 | University of Ottawa | Canada | 65.0 | 54.7 | 66.2 | 90.4 | 87.4 | — |
| 100 | 1 | Universidad Torcuato Di Tella | Argentina | 65.0 | 66.1 | 68.5 | 53.5 | 60.6 | — |
| 100 | 1 | Universität Mannheim | Germany | 65.0 | 59.3 | 55.9 | 94.6 | 90.7 | — |
| 100 | 1 | The Ohio State University | United States of America | 65.0 | 59.0 | 56.7 | 91.7 | 92.8 | — |
| 2026 | 1 | INSTITUTION | COUNTRY/TERRITORY | — | — | — | — | — | — |
1
Harvard University
United States of America
93.5·Acad: 88.8·Empl: 100.0
2
University of Oxford
United Kingdom
91.9·Acad: 87.5·Empl: 97.0
31
Sciences Po
France
91.4·Acad: 100.0·Empl: 79.3
41
Princeton University
United States of America
89.7·Acad: 93.3·Empl: 80.9
5
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
United Kingdom
89.4·Acad: 86.6·Empl: 91.3
61
Stanford University
United States of America
89.1·Acad: 82.5·Empl: 95.6
7
University of Cambridge
United Kingdom
88.4·Acad: 83.9·Empl: 96.4
8
Yale University
United States of America
86.9·Acad: 81.8·Empl: 92.1
91
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Singapore
85.9·Acad: 78.8·Empl: 94.9
104
Georgetown University
United States of America
85.5·Acad: 88.5·Empl: 77.0
111
King's College London
United Kingdom
84.7·Acad: 86.0·Empl: 79.2
12
Columbia University
United States of America
83.9·Acad: 79.5·Empl: 87.6
134
University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
United States of America
83.5·Acad: 80.3·Empl: 84.0
143
Australian National University (ANU)
Australia
82.9·Acad: 86.1·Empl: 74.7
152
Leiden University
Netherlands
81.7·Acad: 85.8·Empl: 65.7
1612
SOAS University of London
United Kingdom
80.5·Acad: 90.4·Empl: 66.5
172
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
United States of America
78.7·Acad: 64.3·Empl: 92.8
1819
New York University (NYU)
United States of America
78.6·Acad: 72.6·Empl: 81.1
193
University of Chicago
United States of America
78.4·Acad: 77.4·Empl: 72.7
202
UCL
United Kingdom
78.0·Acad: 71.7·Empl: 79.5
2118
George Washington University
United States of America
77.6·Acad: 79.4·Empl: 67.6
2212
University of Toronto
Canada
77.4·Acad: 67.8·Empl: 85.3
232
Luiss University
Italy
77.3·Acad: 69.2·Empl: 86.9
2410
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore)
Singapore
77.2·Acad: 68.7·Empl: 88.8
252
University of Amsterdam
Netherlands
77.1·Acad: 73.4·Empl: 71.3
258
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
United States of America
77.1·Acad: 82.5·Empl: 60.0
274
The University of Edinburgh
United Kingdom
77.0·Acad: 72.0·Empl: 76.1
2810
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
United States of America
76.9·Acad: 73.9·Empl: 74.4
2910
Johns Hopkins University
United States of America
76.8·Acad: 80.2·Empl: 65.0
302
ETH Zurich
Switzerland
76.2·Acad: 66.5·Empl: 80.2
3115
European University Institute
Italy
75.9·Acad: 82.9·Empl: 53.1
3216
Cornell University
United States of America
75.8·Acad: 68.7·Empl: 78.1
3315
University of British Columbia
Canada
75.7·Acad: 64.9·Empl: 85.6
348
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
United States of America
75.6·Acad: 76.2·Empl: 64.6
359
McGill University
Canada
74.9·Acad: 66.9·Empl: 80.8
3617
Tsinghua University
China (Mainland)
74.7·Acad: 65.7·Empl: 83.0
377
The University of Tokyo
Japan
74.6·Acad: 74.6·Empl: 77.4
375
Freie Universitaet Berlin
Germany
74.6·Acad: 79.6·Empl: 56.9
3915
Seoul National University
Republic of Korea
73.7·Acad: 70.9·Empl: 76.0
402
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC)
Chile
73.2·Acad: 69.3·Empl: 76.4
4111
American University
United States of America
72.8·Acad: 74.2·Empl: 59.9
4221
Yonsei University
Republic of Korea
72.4·Acad: 70.7·Empl: 67.3
4215
Peking University
China (Mainland)
72.4·Acad: 64.6·Empl: 82.9
4410
Duke University
United States of America
72.3·Acad: 68.8·Empl: 66.0
452
Central European University
Austria
72.0·Acad: 75.0·Empl: 54.6
4616
University of Texas at Austin
United States of America
71.9·Acad: 66.3·Empl: 70.5
4726
University of Zurich
Switzerland
71.8·Acad: 67.6·Empl: 64.6
4810
University of Copenhagen
Denmark
71.3·Acad: 68.7·Empl: 63.5
4915
The University of Warwick
United Kingdom
71.1·Acad: 61.1·Empl: 73.0
505
University of St Andrews
United Kingdom
71.0·Acad: 68.5·Empl: 69.0
5134
Brown University
United States of America
70.9·Acad: 66.7·Empl: 71.3
5150
Hertie School
Germany
70.9·Acad: 73.8·Empl: 54.3
531
The University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong SAR, China
70.8·Acad: 61.0·Empl: 80.2
538
The University of Manchester
United Kingdom
70.8·Acad: 62.2·Empl: 71.8
551
The University of Melbourne
Australia
70.7·Acad: 58.9·Empl: 80.6
5513
The University of Sydney
Australia
70.7·Acad: 63.1·Empl: 74.1
573
Waseda University
Japan
70.5·Acad: 73.6·Empl: 68.4
5838
Fudan University
China (Mainland)
70.4·Acad: 65.3·Empl: 71.8
5911
KU Leuven
Belgium
70.2·Acad: 61.5·Empl: 71.6
591
Universite libre de Bruxelles
Belgium
70.2·Acad: 64.2·Empl: 71.5
614
Queen Mary University of London
United Kingdom
69.9·Acad: 63.9·Empl: 67.5
612
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Mexico
69.9·Acad: 69.1·Empl: 76.2
631
Universidad de los Andes
Colombia
69.8·Acad: 64.3·Empl: 79.4
6423
Korea University
Republic of Korea
69.7·Acad: 67.0·Empl: 69.2
6515
Universidade de São Paulo
Brazil
69.6·Acad: 67.4·Empl: 68.9
667
University of Pennsylvania
United States of America
69.3·Acad: 52.7·Empl: 84.0
6620
Aarhus University
Denmark
69.3·Acad: 69.6·Empl: 51.8
6833
University of Geneva
Switzerland
69.0·Acad: 60.5·Empl: 72.1
683
Bocconi University
Italy
69.0·Acad: 53.0·Empl: 83.4
702
Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna
Italy
68.8·Acad: 64.3·Empl: 66.1
704
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
France
68.8·Acad: 65.3·Empl: 77.7
723
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Germany
68.1·Acad: 65.6·Empl: 62.9
7211
University of Oslo
Norway
68.1·Acad: 69.4·Empl: 51.3
726
Universidad de Chile
Chile
68.1·Acad: 64.1·Empl: 74.1
7526
Essex, University of
United Kingdom
68.0·Acad: 72.6·Empl: 47.1
7576
Tufts University
United States of America
68.0·Acad: 69.7·Empl: 55.9
7716
Uppsala University
Sweden
67.5·Acad: 66.3·Empl: 53.4
7811
The University of Sheffield
United Kingdom
67.4·Acad: 59.4·Empl: 63.8
797
Durham University
United Kingdom
67.2·Acad: 56.8·Empl: 72.9
7919
Monash University
Australia
67.2·Acad: 55.1·Empl: 76.5
816
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Ireland
67.1·Acad: 60.1·Empl: 72.8
827
University of Bristol
United Kingdom
67.0·Acad: 58.2·Empl: 69.5
8318
Boston University
United States of America
66.8·Acad: 56.0·Empl: 70.1
844
Kyoto University
Japan
66.7·Acad: 67.6·Empl: 69.2
8411
University of Notre Dame
United States of America
66.7·Acad: 69.9·Empl: 51.0
844
University of Exeter
United Kingdom
66.7·Acad: 59.4·Empl: 63.9
878
University of Glasgow
United Kingdom
66.6·Acad: 57.3·Empl: 65.9
882
University of Sussex
United Kingdom
66.2·Acad: 62.9·Empl: 57.5
896
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Germany
66.1·Acad: 59.1·Empl: 61.4
90111
O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU)
India
65.9·Acad: 68.2·Empl: 64.3
917
City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK)
Hong Kong SAR, China
65.8·Acad: 56.7·Empl: 68.1
919
University of Vienna
Austria
65.8·Acad: 60.8·Empl: 55.5
9112
The University of Queensland
Australia
65.8·Acad: 57.4·Empl: 66.8
949
National Taiwan University (NTU)
Taiwan
65.7·Acad: 62.0·Empl: 72.0
9520
Jawaharlal Nehru University
India
65.6·Acad: 74.3·Empl: 50.1
95—
The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies - Geneva
Switzerland
65.6·Acad: 72.6·Empl: 45.5
974
Washington University in St. Louis
United States of America
65.5·Acad: 64.5·Empl: 55.4
983
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
United States of America
65.3·Acad: 62.3·Empl: 53.9
9948
Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)
Argentina
65.1·Acad: 61.2·Empl: 75.4
1001
University College Dublin
Ireland
65.0·Acad: 57.4·Empl: 64.0
1001
University of Ottawa
Canada
65.0·Acad: 54.7·Empl: 66.2
1001
Universidad Torcuato Di Tella
Argentina
65.0·Acad: 66.1·Empl: 68.5
1001
Universität Mannheim
Germany
65.0·Acad: 59.3·Empl: 55.9
1001
The Ohio State University
United States of America
65.0·Acad: 59.0·Empl: 56.7
20261
INSTITUTION
COUNTRY/TERRITORY
—·Acad: —·Empl: —