KAMPALA. Makerere University has been ranked 23rd in Africa and 639th globally in the US News and World Report Best Global Universities Rankings 2026-2027.
Uganda’s oldest university received an overall global score of 44.9 percent. The latest ranking places Makerere outside Africa’s top 20 universities.
The rankings are used by students, researchers and policymakers to compare the quality of higher education institutions across countries.
South African, Egyptian Universities Lead Africa
The University of Cape Town in South Africa topped the African list. It was ranked 122nd globally.
Cairo University in Egypt came second in Africa. The University of Witwatersrand in South Africa was ranked third.
The University of Ibadan in Nigeria took fourth place, while Mansoura University in Egypt was ranked fifth.
Ranking Based on Research and Reputation
The Best Global Universities Rankings assess universities using 13 performance indicators.
These include global research reputation, regional research reputation, publications, books, conferences, normalised citation impact and total citations.
The ranking also considers highly cited research output. This includes papers among the top 10 percent and top one percent most cited globally in their fields.
International collaboration is also part of the assessment.
Makerere Leads East Africa
Although Makerere ranked 23rd in Africa, it remained the best-ranked university in East Africa in the US News report.
The University of Nairobi in Kenya was ranked 35th in Africa and 809th globally. It emerged as the second-best university in the region.
The University of Rwanda was placed 89th in Africa and 1,721st globally.
In Tanzania, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences ranked 92nd in Africa and 1,815th globally. The University of Dar es Salaam followed at 93rd in Africa and 1,835th worldwide.
Makerere Officials Question Methodology
Makerere University Academic Registrar Prof Mukadasi Buyinza said he had not yet reviewed the ranking methodology.
However, he said Makerere places more confidence in the UK-based Times Higher Education rankings.
“Makerere has always been graded at a higher rank. I don’t know where Makerere didn’t fare well because 23rd place is a bit on the lower side,” Prof Buyinza said.
“We are waiting for Times Higher Education which is a more accurate measure of achievement in all of the aspects, because for them, they look at research, teaching, community and policy engagement. But this one here may have picked just one item, or one parameter, which is giving that result,” he said.
Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe said this was the first time the agency had evaluated the institution.
“This is the first time Makerere is being ranked by this agency. Previously, they have ranked only elite universities in the developed world. We will study the criteria they use since they are ranking us below universities that have been ranked lower than us by all other agencies,” Prof Nawangwe said on Sunday.
Times Higher Education Ranked Makerere Higher
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 placed Makerere 12th in Africa and first in East Africa.
In that ranking, Makerere posted an overall score of 37.2. The university performed above regional peer institutions, whose average score stood at 18.8.
The 2023 Times Higher Education sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings placed Makerere fifth on the continent.