Covenant University leads UNILAG, UI in latest world varsities rankings [FULL LIST]
Covenant University (CU) has emerged as Nigeria’s overall best university in Times Higher Education (THE) 2024 Rankings, affirming the institution’s reputation in learning, research and innovation.
Times Higher Education is a comprehensive global assessment of university performances and rankings published annually.
The 2024 edition evaluated 1,907 universities from 108 countries and regions.
THE based its rankings on 18 carefully calibrated performance indicators, assessing institutions across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.

Covenant University highest-ranked Nigerian varsity in the world
Covenant University, Nigeria’s highest-ranking institution on the 2024 list found itself within the 8001-1000 global scale alongside the prestigious University of Ibadan (UI), which follows as the second-highest-ranked institution from the West African country.
The Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), University of Lagos (UNILAG), and Bayero University, Kano completed Nigeria’s top five universities in the rankings.
“We are thrilled by this recognition. Covenant University’s commitment to excellence in education and research has always been our driving force,” said a Covenant University representative.
This year’s ranking analysed over 134 million citations across 16.5 million research publications and included survey responses from 68,402 scholars globally.
“Overall, we collected 411,789 data points from more than 2,673 institutions that submitted data,” THE said.
Meanwhile, the University of Oxford retains its top ranking for the eighth consecutive year, but there have been shifts in other institutions making up the top five.
Stanford University moves up to second place, pushing Harvard University down to fourth, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) climbs up two places to third this year.
The University of Cambridge slips to fifth place, after being in joint third place last year.
The feat by Covenant University reaffirms the potential of Nigerian tertiary institutions to compete with peers across the globe, highlighting their growing influence on the world stage.
Top 10 ranked universities globally
- University of Oxford, UK
- Stanford University, US
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US
- Harvard University, US
- University of Cambridge, UK
- Princeton University, US
- California Institute of Technology, US
- Imperial College London, UK
- University of California, Berkeley US
- Yale University, US
Top 10 ranked Nigerian universities
- Covenant University
- University of Ibadan
- Federal University of Technology Akure
- University of Lagos
- Bayero University
- University of Ilorin
- University of Nigeria, Nsukka
- Afe Babalola University
- University of Benin
- Federal University ofAgriculture, Abeokuta
- Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
- Lagos State University
- Nnamdi Azikiwe University
- Obafemi Awolowo University
- University of Port Harcourt
- Abia State University
- Akwa Ibom State University
- Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike
- Babcock University
- Baze University
- Bells University of Technology
- Benson Idahosa University
- Delta State University, Abraka
- Edo State University, Uzairue
- Edwin Clarke University
- Elizade University
- Evangel University, Akaeze
- Federal University of Kashere
- Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
- Federal University of Technology, Minna
- Federal University of Technology, Owerri
- Fountain University
- Landmark University
- Nasarawa State University, Keffi
- Niger Delta University
- Plateau State University, Bokkos
- Thomas Adewumi University
- Veritas University, Abuja
- Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano
Click to view full list
