Six Egyptian universities have retained places among the world’s top 1,000 in the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), commonly known as the Shanghai Ranking, maintaining the country’s presence in one of the most closely watched global university rankings.
Cairo University remained Egypt’s highest-ranked institution in the 401–500 band and ranked third in Africa. Alexandria University and Mansoura University placed in the 601–700 band, followed by Ain Shams University and Al-Azhar University at 701–800, while Zagazig University ranked 901–1,000.
The results point to consolidation rather than broad gains. Cairo, Mansoura, Al-Azhar and Zagazig retained their 2025 ranking bands, while Alexandria slipped from 501–600 and Ain Shams from 601–700. No Egyptian university advanced to a higher band.
ARWU assesses more than 2,500 institutions and publishes the top 1,000, with its methodology focused heavily on research performance, including highly cited researchers, publications in Nature and Science, indexed research output and major academic awards.
Research-output data nevertheless highlight the scale of activity at Egypt’s leading institutions. Cairo University recorded the highest PUB research-output score among the six at 39.1, followed by Mansoura at 32.9 and Alexandria at 31.9. The results indicate that Egypt retains a significant presence in research-focused global rankings, while further gains will depend increasingly on the international impact and quality of that output.
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