QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, identified the best universities to pursue development studies in the world. Development studies is an interdisciplinary study of global issues (poverty, inequality, sustainability) and finding real solutions to address those issues.
The University of Sussex retained the top position in development studies globally, demonstrating its historical place in this field. The ranking has revealed that there are some UK universities that are emerging in the top 10, and the Australian National University is the only Asia-pacific university included.
The following table lists over 60 globally ranked universities for pursuing your interest in development studies, along with their location, academic score, AR (academic rank), employer score, and ER (employer rank).
| 2025 | Institution | Country / Territory | Academic | AR rank | Employer | ER Rank |
| 1 | University of Sussex | United Kingdom | 100.0 | 1 | 74.0 | 49= |
| 2 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | 91.1 | 4 | 94.6 | 7 |
| 3 | The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) | United Kingdom | 88.8 | 6 | 99.0 | 2 |
| 4 | Harvard University | United States of America | 92.4 | 3 | 98.0 | 4 |
| 5 | SOAS University of London | United Kingdom | 94.0 | 2 | 67.3 | 51+ |
| 6 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom | 89.7 | 5 | 92.9 | 8 |
| 7 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | United States of America | 87.0 | 8 | 84.8 | 17 |
| =8 | Stanford University | United States of America | 87.5 | 7 | 89.9 | 9 |
| =8 | Wageningen University & Research | Netherlands | 85.8 | 9 | 61.1 | 51+ |
| 10 | The Australian National University | Australia | 84.7 | 10 | 85.0 | 16 |
| 11 | The University of Manchester | United Kingdom | 83.2 | 11= | 70.2 | 51+ |
| 12 | UCL | United Kingdom | 79.9 | 19 | 76.3 | 37 |
| 13 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | United States of America | 81.6 | 14 | 82.9 | 19= |
| 14 | Columbia University | United States of America | 81.1 | 15 | 81.6 | 22= |
| 15 | University of Cape Town | South Africa | 81.8 | 13 | 66.5 | 51+ |
| 16 | University of East Anglia (UEA) | United Kingdom | 80.4 | 17 | 52.6 | 51+ |
| =17 | Duke University | United States of America | 80.9 | 16 | 80.2 | 28 |
| =17 | University of Chicago | United States of America | 83.2 | 11= | 80.0 | 29 |
| 19 | Johns Hopkins University | United States of America | 78.6 | 22 | 71.2 | 51+ |
| 20 | Princeton University | United States of America | 79.8 | 20 | 81.1 | 26 |
| 21 | The University of Tokyo | Japan | 79.5 | 21 | 82.7 | 21 |
| 22 | University of Leeds | United Kingdom | 74.6 | 35 | 69.1 | 51+ |
| 23 | Cornell University | United States of America | 75.7 | 32 | 66.3 | 51+ |
| 24 | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) | Chile | 77.0 | 29 | 100.0 | 1 |
| 25 | Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne | France | 77.1 | 28 | 83.5 | 18 |
| 26 | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) | Mexico | 78.3 | 23 | 95.7 | 5 |
| 27 | University of British Columbia | Canada | 76.3 | 31 | 68.3 | 51+ |
| 28 | Erasmus University Rotterdam | Netherlands | 70.8 | 51+ | 75.0 | 43 |
| =29 | Fudan University | China (Mainland) | 73.8 | 38= | 86.3 | 13 |
| =29 | Jawaharlal Nehru University | India | 80.1 | 18 | 65.2 | 51+ |
| 31 | King's College London | United Kingdom | 70.2 | 51+ | 81.4 | 24 |
| 32 | Seoul National University | Republic of Korea | 75.3 | 33 | 73.0 | 51+ |
| 33 | Leiden University | Netherlands | 74.3 | 36 | 64.7 | 51+ |
| 34 | University of California, Davis | United States of America | 77.6 | 25 | 52.4 | 51+ |
| 35 | University of Toronto | Canada | 71.8 | 44 | 74.9 | 44 |
| 36 | The University of Sheffield | United Kingdom | 68.0 | 51+ | 66.6 | 51+ |
| =37 | The University of Melbourne | Australia | 67.1 | 51+ | 85.1 | 14= |
| =37 | Universidad de Chile | Chile | 74.2 | 37 | 98.2 | 3 |
| =37 | Yonsei University | Republic of Korea | 77.2 | 27 | 67.7 | 51+ |
| 40 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | United States of America | 77.5 | 26 | 44.9 | 51+ |
| =41 | Boston University | United States of America | 67.6 | 51+ | 74.8 | 45 |
| =41 | University of Witwatersrand | South Africa | 75.2 | 34 | 56.5 | 51+ |
| 43 | Universidad de los Andes | Colombia | 71.4 | 46= | 88.1 | 12 |
| 44 | The University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong SAR, China | 68.4 | 51+ | 85.1 | 14= |
| 45 | The University of Queensland | Australia | 65.7 | 51+ | 65.5 | 51+ |
| 46 | Makerere University | Uganda | 76.5 | 30 | 52.1 | 51+ |
| 47 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) | Singapore | 72.5 | 41 | 89.4 | 10 |
| 48 | The University of Sydney | Australia | 67.4 | 51+ | 82.9 | 19= |
| 49 | Zhejiang University | China (Mainland) | 64.0 | 51+ | 88.8 | 11 |
| 50 | University of Massachusetts Amherst | United States of America | 71.0 | 50 | 55.5 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | American University | United States of America | 70.9 | 51+ | 67.5 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Brown University | United States of America | 68.9 | 51+ | 67.6 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Complutense University of Madrid | Spain | 63.6 | 51+ | 77.4 | 35 |
| 51-100 | Deakin University | Australia | 64.5 | 51+ | 64.3 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Germany | 63.4 | 51+ | 65.0 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Korea University | Republic of Korea | 72.4 | 42= | 68.6 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Kyoto University | Japan | 78.2 | 24 | 69.6 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Lund University | Sweden | 68.8 | 51+ | 49.7 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Maastricht University | Netherlands | 65.1 | 51+ | 70.3 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Massey University | New Zealand | 71.4 | 46= | 57.6 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | McGill University | Canada | 65.6 | 51+ | 70.4 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Monash University | Australia | 61.7 | 51+ | 77.1 | 36 |
| 51-100 | New York University (NYU) | United States of America | 69.4 | 51+ | 80.7 | 27 |
| 51-100 | Newcastle University | United Kingdom | 66.7 | 51+ | 62.7 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Paris School of Economics | France | 72.4 | 42= | 43.9 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Pennsylvania State University | United States of America | 71.2 | 49 | 59.1 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Politecnico di Milano | Italy | 68.1 | 51+ | 73.2 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Queen Mary University of London | United Kingdom | 63.9 | 51+ | 74.2 | 48 |
| 51-100 | Renmin (People's) University of China | China (Mainland) | 69.7 | 51+ | 72.2 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | Sapienza University of Rome | Italy | 60.9 | 51+ | 72.2 | 51+ |
| 51-100 | The University of Auckland | New Zealand | 71.5 | 45 | 78.6 | 32= |
The 2025 QS rankings demonstrate that the development studies discipline has become global in nature, and the UK remains a leading center of academic excellence for the discipline. Whether candidates are looking for world-class research, seasoned faculty, or meaningful global networks, these leading universities are paving the way for the next generations of development studies professionals.
