Muscat – Oman has strengthened its presence in the QS World University Rankings: Arab Region 2026 with 11 institutions included this year, up from seven in 2025.

Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) retained its position as the country’s top-ranked institution, placing eighth for the second consecutive year. This was unveiled during the closing ceremony of the QS Arab Forum 2025 hosted by SQU on Thursday.

Four other Omani universities are in the top 100: University of Nizwa (58th), Dhofar University (75th), Sohar University (81st) and Modern College of Business and Science (98th), all of which improve their rankings since last year. The latter also emerged as the highest-ranked debutant among this year’s new entries. 

According to the latest rankings released by QS Quacquarelli Symonds in London, Oman is among six countries showing overall system-wide improvement, alongside the UAE, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.

Dr Ashwin Fernandes, QS Executive Director for Africa, Middle East and South Asia, said the 2026 Arab Region Rankings are the largest ever and provide a valuable comparative tool for students, academics and policymakers.

“Oman has an ambitious target of seeing four universities in the global top 500 by 2040,” Fernandes said. “This year’s results show that Omani universities are improving in key areas such as academic reputation and research influence.”

He noted that despite pressures from population growth, technology shifts and changing labour markets, regional universities have significant potential to become global centres of knowledge and innovation.

Within individual indicators, Sohar University ranked 13th regionally in Citations per Paper, while SQU climbed nine places to 21st in Academic Reputation.

The new entries mark continued progress in Oman’s higher education sector, reflecting growing research output, improved faculty-student ratios and expanding international collaboration.