Makerere University has been ranked 23rd in Africa and 639th globally in the newly released US News and World Report Best Global Universities Rankings 2026–2027 — a placement that pushes Uganda’s oldest and most prestigious institution out of the continent’s top 20.
The university posted an overall global score of 44.9% in the assessment, which serves as a benchmark for students, researchers, and policymakers evaluating higher education quality across countries.
But the ranking has not gone down quietly at Makerere, where senior leadership has openly questioned both the result and the methodology behind it.
Who Topped the Rankings
At the continental level, the University of Cape Town in South Africa claimed the top spot, ranking first in Africa and 122nd globally. Cairo University in Egypt followed in second, the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa came third, the University of Ibadan in Nigeria placed fourth, and Mansoura University in Egypt rounded out the top five.
Within the East African region, however, Makerere still came out on top. The University of Nairobi was the second-best in the region, ranked 35th in Africa and 809th globally. The University of Rwanda placed 89th in Africa, followed by Tanzania’s Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences at 92nd and the University of Dar es Salaam at 93rd.
So while the global number stung, Makerere retained its position as the leading university in the region.
How the Ranking Is Calculated
The Best Global Universities Rankings are built on assessments of academic research, institutional reputation, and the strength of teaching faculty. In total, the ranking weighs 13 performance indicators.
These include global and regional research reputation, the volume of publications, books and conferences, normalised citation impact, total citations, international collaboration, and several measures tracking how often an institution’s research appears among the most-cited papers in the world — both the top 10% and the top 1% in their respective fields.
Makerere Pushes Back
University leaders were quick to express reservations.
Makerere’s Academic Registrar, Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza, said he was yet to examine the rankings and the methodology used to arrive at the grading. He made clear, however, that the university holds the UK-based Times Higher Education ranking in higher regard.
“I don’t know where Makerere didn’t fare well because 23rd place is a bit on the lower side,” Prof. Buyinza said.
He argued that the Times Higher Education system offers a more rounded measure of performance.
“We are waiting for Times Higher Education which is a more accurate measure of achievement in all of the aspects, because for them, they look at research, teaching, community and policy engagement. But this one here may have picked just one item, or one parameter, which is giving that result,” he said.
Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe echoed the scepticism, noting that this was the first time the agency had ever evaluated Makerere.
“This is the first time Makerere is being ranked by this agency. Previously, they have ranked only elite universities in the developed world. We will study the criteria they use since they are ranking us below universities that have been ranked lower than us by all other agencies,” Prof. Nawangwe said on Sunday.
The Bigger Picture
The university’s pushback is grounded in its recent track record on other ranking systems. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2025 placed Makerere 12th in Africa and number one in East Africa, with an overall score of 37.2 — significantly ahead of the regional peer average of 18.8. The 2023 sub-Saharan Africa University rankings, meanwhile, placed Makerere fifth on the continent.
That history explains the institution’s frustration. On most major global benchmarks, Makerere has consistently sat comfortably within Africa’s elite. The US News placement marks a notable departure from that pattern — and the university is treating it as an outlier worth scrutinising rather than a verdict to accept.
What This Means for Students
For Makerere students and prospective applicants, the takeaway is one of perspective. Rankings vary widely depending on what each system chooses to measure, and a single result rarely tells the full story. Makerere remains the top university in East Africa across multiple respected rankings, and its leadership has signalled it will study the US News methodology closely before drawing any conclusions.
As the university awaits the next round of Times Higher Education results, one thing is clear: Makerere is not ready to cede its reputation as the region’s flagship institution without a closer look at the numbers.
