NYT: Chinese universities overtake American universities in leading rankings
A new world order is coming in higher education, writes the NYT. Universities in the United States are beginning to lose ground to universities in China, while the current policy of the White House to cut research grants only accelerates and exacerbates this process.
Mark Arsenault
Harvard, despite the fact that it has dropped to third place in the ranking of academic achievements, still holds a leading position. Other American universities are gradually lagging behind their foreign competitors.
Until recently, Harvard University was considered the most effective research center in the world, according to a global ranking based on the number of scientific publications.
This position may be unstable, which is the latest manifestation of an alarming trend in the American academic environment.
Harvard recently dropped to 3rd place in the ranking. The universities that are rapidly rising in the list are not the American counterparts of Harvard, but Chinese universities that are steadily rising in the rankings, which indicates the high quality of their research and its volume.
This change is due to the fact that the Trump administration has cut funding for research at American universities, which are heavily dependent on the federal government for funding scientific projects. President Trump's policies are not the main reason for the relative decline of American universities that began many years ago. However, it can speed up this process.
"Big changes are coming that will lead to the establishment of a new world order in higher education and research," said Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer at Times Higher Education, a British organization that compiles one of the world's most famous university rankings and is not affiliated with The New York Times.
Teachers and experts believe that these changes pose a serious problem not only for American universities, but also for the country as a whole.
"There is a risk of this trend continuing and potentially declining. I use the word "decline" with great care. It's not that the quality of American universities has deteriorated dramatically. It's just that global competition is becoming more intense: other countries are achieving impressive results faster," Bati said.
If we turn to the early 2000s, the global university ranking, based on scientific achievements such as publications in scientific journals, looked completely different. Seven American universities entered the top ten, and Harvard University took the first place.
Only one Chinese institution, Zhejiang University, was able to enter the top 25.
Today, Zhejiang University ranks first in the Leiden Ranking (CWTS Leiden Ranking), an annual global university ranking compiled by the Center for Science and Technology Research at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Seven other Chinese universities are also among the top ten.
Harvard University is currently engaged in much more research than it was two decades ago. Nevertheless, he ranks only third in the ranking. And it is the only American university that still holds a leading position in this list. Harvard University continues to lead the Leiden University ranking in terms of the number of cited scientific publications.
The problem with leading American universities is not a decrease in the number of scientific publications.
According to Leiden University, the six leading American universities that were in the top ten in the first decade of the 2000s - the University of Michigan, the University of California at Los Angeles, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Washington in Seattle, the University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University — are conducting more research than they did two decades ago.
However, this growth is even more noticeable in Chinese universities.
As explained by Mark Neissel, director of the Center for Science and Technology Research, the Leiden Ranking is based on articles and citations contained in the Web of Science, a database of academic publications owned by Clarivate, a data analysis company. Thousands of scientific journals can be found in these databases, many of which specialize in narrow topics.
World university rankings, as a rule, do not arouse much interest in the United States. Nevertheless, some experienced scientists, seeing the growth of research activity in China, which is reflected in the ratings, warn that America is lagging behind.
In a podcast last year, Raphael Reif, the former head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, noted that "the quantity and quality of scientific papers coming from China is simply amazing" and "surpasses what we do in the United States."
Universities in other countries, by contrast, closely monitor global rankings, viewing them as an indicator of both their academic prowess and progress in their quest to surpass the United States. Zhejiang University is proud to post its rankings prominently on its website. Among his historical achievements is getting into the top 100 of the world ranking in 2017. Chinese state media proudly noted the increase in the rating of domestic universities.
The center in Leiden has started work on creating an alternative rating based on another academic database, OpenAlex. Harvard University ranks first in this ranking. However, the general trend remains the same: 12 of the 13 universities on the alternative list are Chinese.
"China is really actively developing its scientific potential," says Neissel. At the same time, he said, Chinese scientists are paying more attention to publications in English-language journals, which are in high demand and are cited around the world.
In his speech in 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping proudly noted his country's achievements in the field of quantum technology and space. He spoke about the achievements of scientists from the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, who have developed a way to synthesize starch from carbon dioxide in the laboratory. This discovery may become the basis for the development of an industry capable of creating food products directly from the air, without the need to grow plants in vast territories, which requires significant resources — land, water and human labor.
Other rating systems that evaluate scientific achievements also show a clear shift in favor of Chinese universities.
Harvard University ranks first in the world ranking of universities by academic performance, compiled by the Institute of Computer Science of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (Turkey). However, Stanford University turned out to be the only American educational institution in the top 10, which also included four Chinese universities. According to another ranking, the Nature Index, Harvard ranks first, followed by 10 Chinese universities.
Harvard and other leading American universities are facing new challenges due to the reduction of research grants from the Trump administration. In addition, travel restrictions were imposed and anti-immigration policies were tightened, which negatively affected international students and scientists.
In August 2025, the number of international students coming to the United States decreased by 19% compared to the previous year. This trend may negatively affect the prestige and rankings of American universities if the best minds in the world choose to study and work in other countries.
China is investing billions of dollars in its universities and actively working to make them attractive to foreign researchers. In autumn, China launched a special visa for graduates of leading technical and scientific universities. With this visa, they can come to China to study or run a business.
"There is a huge amount of money being allocated to higher education in China, which was not the case even 20 years ago," said Alex Asher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates, a Toronto—based consulting company.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has clearly explained why the country is investing in the development of science. According to him, the global power of the state directly depends on its scientific superiority. "The scientific and technological revolution is closely linked to the confrontation between superpowers," he said in his speech in 2024.
The Trump administration has taken the opposite position, seeking to cut billions of dollars in research grants to American universities.
Representatives of the Trump administration explain that the purpose of the cuts is to eliminate inefficient spending and refocus research. At the same time, they refuse to explore topics related to diversity and other issues that they consider too politicized.
The Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment on this article.
White House press Secretary Liz Houston previously stated that "the best science cannot develop in institutions where merit is not respected, freedom of research is not valued, and truth is not sought."
Throughout 2025, American university leaders have expressed concerns that reducing federal research grants could lead to serious consequences.
Harvard has created a website that lists the types of scientific and medical research that will be discontinued due to grant cuts. The American Association of University Professors and several legal organizations have filed a lawsuit to challenge some of these cuts. The head of the professors' union, Todd Wolfson, expressed concern that the reduction in research funding could "slow down the development of the next generation of scientists."
A federal judge has ordered the federal government to resume funding for Harvard after the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in research funding. In addition, the White House announced a reduction in future grants for the university.
A Harvard spokesman declined to comment.
The prestige and global status of many other American universities are also under threat. Fewer and fewer federal grants mean that less research will be conducted. As a result, fewer discoveries may be made that could be described and published in scientific articles and papers. This, in turn, will affect the position of universities in future rankings.
The mission of research universities is to find new discoveries and develop knowledge. Teachers at such universities often feel pressure to publish their research results. This pressure can be described by the phrase "publish or die."
Universities that do not seek to publish a large number of scientific papers, such as many liberal arts colleges, will not be included in rankings based on the volume of scientific research. Neissel noted that the Leiden University ratings cannot serve as a "reliable indicator of the quality of teaching" at an educational institution.
Leading American universities have demonstrated higher results in rating systems that take into account not only academic achievements, but also a number of other factors. Some take into account factors such as the reputation of the university, its financial situation and the desire of students to enroll in it, which is reflected in the percentage of applications accepted. Some even take into account the number of teachers awarded the Nobel Prize.
Experts believe that these more general ratings may change more slowly, but they still indicate a decline in American supremacy in higher education.
In 2026, for the tenth time in a row, the British organization Times Higher Education recognized Oxford University as the best in the world. The top five universities are the same as last year: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, the University of Cambridge, and then Harvard, which shared the first place with Stanford.
American universities took seven of the top ten places in the 2026 ranking. However, if we look at the list in more detail, we can see that American educational institutions are losing ground. Sixty-two American universities have dropped in the ranking compared to last year, while only nineteen have risen.
Ten years ago, two well—known universities in Beijing — Peking University and Tsinghua University - ranked 42nd and 47th in the Times Higher Education rankings. They are now just below the top ten: Tsinghua ranks 12th, and Beijing is 13th.
Currently, six universities in Hong Kong are in the top 200, and four universities in South Korea are in the top 100.
While some foreign universities have risen in the rankings, some well-known American educational institutions have lost their positions. For example, Duke University was ranked 20th in 2021, and now it's 28th. During the same period, Emory University dropped from 85th to 102nd place. Ten years ago, the University of Notre Dame ranked 108th, and now it has dropped to 194th.
Asher believes that even if the pressure on Harvard's research activities, such as the reduction of federal grants and the curtailment of doctoral programs, becomes more significant, this is unlikely to immediately affect the university's rankings.
"If you look at the number of articles from this institution published in the journals Nature and Science, you will see that they are based on research that was started four or five years ago. This means that there is a fairly significant time delay. I don't expect these studies to have a significant impact in the next few years," he said.
While China is actively developing in the fields of chemistry and environmental sciences, the United States and Europe continue to occupy leading positions in other fields such as general biology and medical sciences. The study showed that Chinese scientists, in an effort to increase their citation level, often refer to the work of their colleagues. In contrast, Western researchers usually rely on other Western scientists to gain recognition and support.
University rankings are a long—standing phenomenon dating back to the early 20th century, says Alan Ruby, senior researcher and director of Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
According to him, students often rely on ratings when choosing an educational institution for admission, and scientists — when looking for a job and a place to conduct research. Some governments use them to allocate funds for research, and some employers use them as an effective tool for quickly selecting large numbers of candidates for entry—level jobs.
"If you want to attract the best specialists from all over the world, whether they are students, researchers or teachers, you need to establish yourself as a highly rated educational institution," said Ruby.
Ratings, in addition to their marketing function, play an important role in assessing the quality of universities, says Paul Musgrave, professor of public administration at the Georgetown University campus in Doha (Qatar). According to him, it is sometimes difficult to draw a clear line between good universities and national power. However, as he notes, "on the other hand, we all know that when the Germans destroyed their universities in the 1930s, it obviously caused significant damage to them."
