UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State rose 22 places to tie for No. 100 in the world in the 2025 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, released Oct. 8, placing the University in the top 5% globally among 2,092 ranked institutions. In addition, Penn State rose four places to No. 38 among all U.S. universities and ranked No. 17 among U.S. public institutions. Penn State was the top-ranked public university in Pennsylvania.

“Times Higher Education is one of the most highly regarded indicators of excellence for universities around the world,” said Sabine Klahr, interim vice provost for Penn State Global. “International students, parents, alumni, sponsors and partners use global rankings as one of the primary measures of Penn State’s strength as a world-class academic and research institution. Returning to the global top 100 demonstrates that the institution’s excellence continues to be recognized around the world. This is a testament to our faculty who conduct extraordinary research to address the critical challenges the world faces today, while demonstrating excellence in teaching and mentoring our students.”

Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings are considered one of the three most respected international university ranking systems, along with the QS World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities. For this ranking, THE evaluates research-intensive universities around the globe, growing from 200 universities in 2004 to 2,092 ranked institutions in 2025 — an increase of 185 universities compared to 2024.

According to THE, it uses 18 performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons relative to research institutions. The performance indicators are grouped into five areas: Teaching (the learning environment); Research Environment (volume, income and reputation); Research Quality (citation impact, research strength, research excellence and research influence); International Outlook (staff, students and research); and Industry (income and patents).

Penn State’s scores in nearly every measure improved or remained consistent in the 2025 rankings, especially for teaching and research, and the University’s highest-scoring indicators are at the heart of its land-grant mission. Penn State’s overall ranking is buoyed by its $1.2 billion research enterprise, with Research Environment serving as the University’s highest-ranked pillar, placing at No. 76 in the world. Penn State also ranked in the top 100 in the Teaching pillar, coming in at No. 94 globally.

THE places significant weight on an institution’s research community, evaluating its reputation among peers, its overall excellence, and its global influence.

“Our significant jump in the rankings is proof of our strong trajectory as a global and national leader as a top research institution,” said Andrew Read, senior vice president for research. "Being in the top 100 is a clear sign of our road ahead — continuing to raise the bar for research excellence and drive global innovation, solid indicators of the ‘long game’ of our research enterprise.”

Penn State’s research enterprise extends around the world from its home in Pennsylvania, impacting families, communities and countries globally. As examples of the worldwide reach and impact of the University’s research programs:

• Penn State is leading the Center for Heterogeneous Integration of Micro Electronic Systems (CHIMES) to advance heterogenous integration, the efficient and effective integration and packaging of semiconductor devices, chips and other components.

• Penn State and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe have partnered on an initiative called the Global Building Network to develop an international framework to make buildings more sustainable, efficient and healthier.

• LionGlass is an entirely new family of glass invented and engineered by a team of Penn State students and scientists that requires significantly less energy to produce and is much more damage resistant than standard soda lime silicate glass.

• A $20 million U.S. National Science Foundation grant will support the establishment and operation of the National Synthesis Center for Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Sciences at Penn State. Involving more than 1,600 scientists from across the nation and the world, the center will enable research that could eventually inform the development of disease treatments and other applications, such as minimizing the negative effects of aging.

• A team led by researchers at Penn State has created a genetic information resource to help plant breeders develop disease-resistant strains of cacao that can be grown sustainably in its native Amazon and elsewhere, such as the tropical latitudes of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

• PlantVillage, which has created an algorithm called “Nuru” and is responsible for helping to save millions of livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Africa by allowing them to diagnose crop disease from their mobile devices. Nuru also is helping to diagnose spotted lanternfly outbreaks in Pennsylvania.

• Penn State is a key member of the Colombia-USA Water-Energy-Food Nexus Alliance, a research coalition composed of the Stockholm Environment Institute Latin America Center and three Colombia universities to promote water security in the country.

• In the START Lab, Penn State partners with the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Lab, and aerospace company Pratt & Whitney to create new solutions for sustainable power and propulsion research through advancing gas turbine technologies.

In addition, Penn State continues to place highly in rankings released by organizations with methodologies that focus on faculty and research excellence. In the 2024 Center for World University Rankings, Penn State ranked No. 56 out of 2,000 institutions internationally for the quality of its education, employability, faculty and research. The University placed No. 8 among all U.S. public universities and No. 89 in the world in the 2025 QS World University Rankings. In addition, Penn State’s sustainability efforts have been recognized by Times Higher Education’s 2024 Impact Rankings, in which the University ranked No. 4 in the U.S. and No. 51 worldwide.