Marrakech – The 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), released by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy on Friday, features Hassan II University of Casablanca (UH2C) as the only Moroccan institution among the world’s top 1,000 universities. UH2C is positioned in the 901-1000 category in the global standings.
Founded in 1975 and based in Morocco’s economic capital, UH2C serves over 143,521 students through an extensive network of faculties, schools, and institutes.
The university has 94,148 undergraduate students enrolled, with 2,400 (2.0%) international students across all programs. UH2C performs notably better in Human Biological Sciences, where it ranks in the 301-400 range globally.
“Hassan II University of Casablanca is a leading public university in Morocco,” states the Shanghai Ranking profile. “It offers diverse academic programs and is strongly committed to scientific research, innovation, and international collaboration.”
The profile adds: “It’s the first Moroccan university to be ranked in the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities, reflecting its growing academic influence. UH2C plays a key role in higher education and sustainable development across North Africa and the African continent.”
On the global stage, Harvard University tops the ARWU for the 23rd consecutive year, with Stanford University and MIT completing the top three. The remaining top 10 positions include Cambridge (4th), Berkeley (5th), Oxford (6th), Princeton (7th), Columbia (8th), Caltech (9th), and the University of Chicago (10th).
In continental Europe, Paris-Saclay University (13th) remains the highest-ranked institution, while Tsinghua University (18th) leads in Asia after climbing four positions. The University of Melbourne (38th) tops universities in Oceania for the fifteenth consecutive year.
The 2025 edition welcomes two newcomers to the top 100: City University of Hong Kong (99th) and Stockholm University (100th). Additionally, 25 new universities entered the top 500, while 39 institutions appeared in the top 1000 for the first time.
Chinese mainland universities continue their impressive showing with 222 institutions in the top 1000, outnumbering the United States’ 183. However, American universities still dominate the elite top 100 with 37 entries compared to mainland China’s 13 and the UK’s 8.
The ARWU methodology relies on six objective indicators to evaluate over 2,500 universities worldwide. These metrics include Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals won by alumni and staff, articles published in Nature and Science journals, Highly Cited Researchers identified by Clarivate, papers indexed in the Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita academic performance.
Morocco joins 60 other countries with at least one university in this prestigious global ranking. France secured 27 universities in the top 1000, with four institutions – Paris-Saclay University (13th), PSL University (34th), Sorbonne University (43rd), and Université Paris Cité (60th) – among the top 100.
Read also: Casablanca’s Hassan II University Stands Tall in Shanghai’s 2024 Ranking
