Times Higher Education (THE) recently released its “World University Rankings” for the year 2021 in which it ranks almost 1,500 universities in the world according to a set of weighted criteria, namely teaching (30%), research (30%), citations (30%), international outlook (7.5%), and industry income (2.5%). One British university appeared on the top 5 list namely the University of Oxford which came in first in the world with a score of 95.6. The United States of America made it to the top 5 list with Stanford University ranking 2^nd with a score of 94.9, Harvard University coming in 3^rd (score of 94.8), California Institute of Technology reserving the 4^th spot (score of 94.5), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology occupying the 5^th place (score of 94.4).

On a regional level, King Abdulaziz University (Saudi Arabia) topped the university rankings for the year 2021 with an overall score of (50.6-54.2) and an international rank of (201-250), followed by Alfaisal University – Saudi Arabia (overall score: 48.0-50.5; international rank: 251-300), and the American University of Beirut – Lebanon (overall score: 45.6-47.9; international rank: 301-350).

Locally, only four universities made it to the THE list led by the American University of Beirut which ranked first (3^rd in the region) with a score of (45.6-47.9) and an international rank of (301-350) followed by the Lebanese American University with a score of (25.1-30.1) and an international rank of (801-1,000), Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth with a score of (25.1-30.1) and an international rank of (801-1,000), and the Lebanese University with a score of (10.3-25.0) and an international rank of (1,001+). AUB outperformed LAU, USJ and LU in each of the research and citations criteria while LAU scored higher in the International Outlook criteria and USJ scored better in the Teaching and Industry Income criterion.