The Spanish university system has thinned out in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), better known as the Shanghai ranking, which measures the top thousand universities in the world in terms of scientific production. Numerically, five years ago there were 40 campuses in total and now only 30 appear. From the 2025 publication to the 2026 one, eight Spanish universities have dropped out (including Carlos III and Lleida), although two new ones have entered (Juan Carlos I and Valladolid).
The Spanish system, quite fragmented, is the most affected among European systems, some of which have also lost momentum with one or two universities off the ARWU list. It should be noted that there are about 20,000 universities worldwide with recognized teaching and research, and being among the top thousand means belonging to the top 5% in the indicators measured by Shanghai, basically scientific production (it counts if there are professors with Nobel prizes or the number of citations of articles). Being among the top 200 in the world means rubbing shoulders with the top 1%.
Appearing in international rankings means significant international exposure linked to attracting excellent professors and students from anywhere in the world. Spain, however, has the handicap of economic remuneration for researchers and teachers, since, comparatively, it invests three to four times less than its counterparts in the same position, according to data from the Conference of Rectors (CRUE).
Rector of UB: “It cannot be coffee for everyone”
The rector of UB, Joan Guàrdia, positively values these results recognizing the work of researchers who “give their all” to maintain this quality and considering the low budget compared to campuses of the same result range. He believes that UB could be among the top 100 in the world if it had a larger and stable budget. And he challenges the authorities to strategically bet on public campuses of excellence. “It cannot be coffee for everyone.” Guàrdia points out the need to propose collaborations between universities, as they have done in Paris, London, Bristol, Glasgow, or Leuven. “It would allow universities to gain muscle, capacity, and impact.” UB improves in impact in scientific publications (Nature, Science, etc.) and in per capita performance.
The University of Barcelona (UB) is the only Spanish one that is in that 1%, being among the top 200 in the world (range 151-200), a position it has only left once in the last ten years.
The rest of the national system is composed of two groups, the leading group and the tail group. They clearly show opposite directions in this 2026 edition that evaluates 2025 performance. In the leading group, there are 14 entities among the top 600 in the world that consolidate or rise in their position. Behind UB, UAB and Complutense have moved up a range and are now in the 201-300, gaining position over Valencia, which has dropped one position (301-400).
Additionally, Navarra (the only private among the Spanish), Zaragoza, and the Polytechnic University of Madrid have risen positions. The rest maintain their range, except Pompeu Fabra, which has dropped to 401-500 in the world.
China has added 14 more campuses in this edition and now has 257 in total, the country with the largest volume
In the tail group, between 600 and 1,000, the movement is mostly downward. Murcia, Alcalá, Oviedo, Salamanca, Rovira Virgili, Alicante, and Vigo drop. In this group, only Jaume I, from Castellón (801-900), rises. And, as mentioned, eight drop out of the list: Balearic Islands, Carlos III, Cádiz, Cantabria, Córdoba, Jaén, Lleida, and Las Palmas.
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For the rector of UAB, Javier Lafuente, these rankings serve to make visible the work that professors and researchers do every day, considering the difficulty of competing with the large Anglo-Saxon universities. “Our position allows us to attract and retain talent and for good international students, whose scholarships depend on indicators like these, to choose us,” he says satisfied.
Dropping ranks or leaving the Shanghai list does not always imply having obtained lower performance in the indicated indicators compared to the previous year. The entry of new campuses introduces a higher level of competitiveness. That is one of the factors pushing some countries to promote mergers between their universities.
In any case, the difficulty of resisting in the rankings will force Spanish administrations to reflect on the funding distribution system if the international indicator is considered a relevant element. This is what happens in Catalonia, with three universities resisting in the top 500 (UB, UAB, UPF) and one in 701-800 (UPC) that has remained this year (and for technological universities this ranking is less relevant as it does not consider innovation). But URV (801-900) and Girona (901-1000) have dropped, while Lleida has been left out of Shanghai.
The performance of universities is conditioned by the international landscape. China’s rise is forceful: it gains 14 universities and is the country with the highest number of campuses (257), above the United States (187). China is counted in a broad sense (the report adds the continental area, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau). The new campuses enter the lower or middle ranges and, year by year, climb to higher positions, although they have not yet conquered the top. Among the top 20 in the world, 14 are from the U.S., two British, and only one from China (Tsinghua).
And this also happens with other European ones. Compared to the 257 universities China has, Switzerland has 9. But Switzerland places 5 of its 9 in the top 100 and China, 16.
UB maintains position, while UAB and Complutense rise, placing themselves among the top 300 leaders
The Chinese government has been applying a sustained policy of public resources since the 1990s in a relatively small group of universities and strategic disciplines, especially boosting scientific production, which is what this ranking measures. More than seven out of ten disciplines of the best-funded entities (concentrated in Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangsu) belong to the scientific-technological and health fields, areas closely related to the bibliometric indicators valued by this and other international rankings.
In this year’s edition, looking at the top 50, the hegemony remains American (26) while Europe contributes 11 campuses, five of them British. In this list, there are 6 Chinese campuses where, until a few years ago, there were none. Those who have suffered the greatest setback in the European continent, besides Spain, are the British campuses, which have lost 4 entities. They retain 57, including three – the traditional ones – in the top 10.
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