Students at the University of Oxford in the U.K. Photo courtesy of the university
Universities in the U.S. and U.K. dominate the top 10 rankings of the 2025 World University Rankings by Times Higher Education (THE), with annual tuition fees reaching up to US$88,000.
According to the 2025 rankings released by THE on Wednesday, the University of Oxford (U.K.) remains at the top spot for the ninth consecutive year, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (U.S.), which has replaced Stanford University in second place.
The rest of the top 10 includes familiar names from the U.S. and U.K.: Harvard University, Princeton University, Cambridge University, Stanford University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), University of California Berkeley, Imperial College London, and Yale University.
For the 2024-2025 academic year, U.K. universities charge between US$33,000 and US$88,000, depending on the program, with the highest fees attributed to the Medicine program at Cambridge University.
Tuition fees at U.S. universities in the top 10 range from US$56,000 to US$67,000, with Yale University being the most expensive. Factoring in additional expenses like accommodation, meals, books, and study materials, the total cost can rise to between US$70,000 and US$90,000 a year.
| Rank | University | Country | Tuition fees for 2024/25 (USD/per year) |
| 1 | University of Oxford | U.K. | 43,256 – 63,635 |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | U.S. | 61,990 |
| 3 | Harvard University | U.S. | 56,550 |
| 4 | Princeton University | U.S. | 62,400 |
| 5 | University of Cambridge | U.K. | 33,026 – 87,945 |
| 6 | Stanford University | U.S. | 65,127 |
| 7 | California Institute of Technology | U.S. | 63,402 |
| 8 | University of California Berkeley | U.S. | 54,835 |
| 9 | Imperial College London | U.K. | 49,604 – 70,283 |
| 10 | Yale University | U.S. | 67,250 |
For the 2025-2026 academic year, the University of Oxford has announced tuition fees of US$45,000 to US$78,000, while Cambridge University will charge between US$35,000 and US$92,000—an increase of around US$2,000 to US$13,000 compared to current rates.
Princeton University has also announced a slight increase in tuition but has yet to provide detailed information.
The THE 2025 rankings include data from over 2,000 higher education institutions across 115 countries and territories. Universities are evaluated based on 18 criteria divided into five categories: teaching (29.5%), research environment (29%), research quality (30%), international outlook (7.5%), and industry income and patents (4%).
This year, nine Vietnamese universities were included in the rankings. The University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City leads in the 501-600 group, followed by Duy Tan University and Ton Duc Thang University in the 601-800 group. Hanoi Medical University ranks in the 801-1000 range, while Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City Open University are in the 1201-1500 group. Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hue University, and Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, rank in the 1501+ group.
