King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) has secured the top spot in the QS Arab Region University Rankings 2026 for the third year in a row, marking a remarkable hat-trick. The results, released on October 16, 2025, reaffirm KFUPM’s position as the region’s leading academic institution.
The university’s steady climb in global rankings continues — moving from fourth place in 2021 to second in 2022, and then first in 2023. This year’s edition featured 296 universities from across the Arab world, including 35 from Saudi Arabia.
KFUPM also achieved a major global milestone, breaking into the top 100 universities worldwide for the first time. It ranked 67th in the QS World University Rankings 2025, up from 101st last year and 200th five years ago, underscoring its rapid growth, academic excellence, and expanding international reputation.
Academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, research citations per faculty, and the proportion of international faculty and students are some of the factors that the QS World University Rankings use to assess universities.
