Covenant University (CU), a private institution, has been recognized as Nigeria's top university in the Times Higher Education (THE) 2024 Rankings.

Published annually, THE Rankings provide a detailed global assessment of universities.

The latest data from the higher education intelligence firm includes 1,907 universities from 108 countries and regions.

Universities were evaluated based on 18 indicators that reflect their performance in areas such as teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement, and international outlook.

For the 2024 rankings, THE analyzed over 134 million citations from 16.5 million research publications and gathered survey responses from 68,402 academics worldwide.

The firm collected 411,789 data points from more than 2,673 institutions that provided information.

On a global scale, the University of Oxford in the UK has secured the top position in the THE 2024 Rankings for the ninth consecutive year.

This achievement marks the longest tenure at the top in the history of the rankings, surpassing Harvard's eight-year dominance that concluded in 2011.

Stanford University in the US has risen to second place, resulting in Harvard University dropping to fourth.

The University of Cambridge in the UK has fallen to fifth place in 2024, having previously shared third place in 2023.

THE’s Global Top-10 Best Universities

  1. University of Oxford, UK
  2. Stanford University, US
  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US
  4. Harvard University, US
  5. University of Cambridge, UK
  6. Princeton University, US
  7. California Institute of Technology, US
  8. Imperial College London, UK
  9. University of California, Berkeley US
  10. Yale University, US
Covenant University (CU) is Nigeria's top institution on the 2024 rankings, positioned within the 800-1000 range globally, alongside the University of Ibadan (UI).

Nigeria’s THE Overall Best Universities
  1. Covenant University
  2. University of Ibadan
  3. Federal University of Technology Akure
  4. University of Lagos
  5. Bayero University
  6. University of Ilorin
  7. University of Nigeria, Nsukka
  8. Afe Babalola University
  9. University of Benin
  10. Federal University ofAgriculture, Abeokuta
  11. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
  12. Lagos State University
  13. Nnamdi Azikiwe University
  14. Obafemi Awolowo University
  15. University of Port Harcourt
  16. Abia State University
  17. Akwa Ibom State University
  18. Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike
  19. Babcock University
  20. Baze University
  21. Bells University of Technology
  22. Benson Idahosa University
  23. Delta State University, Abraka
  24. Edo State University, Uzairue
  25. Edwin Clarke University
  26. Elizade University
  27. Evangel University, Akaeze
  28. Federal University of Kashere
  29. Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
  30. Federal University of Technology, Minna
  31. Federal University of Technology, Owerri
  32. Fountain University
  33. Landmark University
  34. Nasarawa State University, Keffi
  35. Niger Delta University
  36. Plateau State University, Bokkos
  37. Thomas Adewumi University
  38. Veritas University, Abuja
  39. Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano
Covenant University is consistently recognized as Nigeria’s top institution of higher learning, excelling in teaching, research, industry collaboration, and international engagement. 

These rankings serve as valuable benchmarks for prospective students, employers, and governments seeking to assess the quality of universities.