Top Universities in Belgium

26 universities in Belgium with a measured position, 6 of them ranked worldwide.

#UniversityCityWorld rankIn-countryCitations
1 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven #61 (2024) #2 29,792,892
2 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Campus Kortrijk #61 (2024) #3 29,792,892
3 Universiteit Gent #162 (2026) #4 17,030,351
4 Université Libre de Bruxelles #230 (2025) #5 9,701,277
5 University of Liège #379 (2026) #6 8,365,047
6 Hasselt University #554 (2025) #7 1,586,535
7 Louvain School of Management not ranked #8 10,925,698
8 Vlerick Brussels Campus not ranked #15 120,821
9 Howest University of Applied Sciences not ranked #17 58,731
10 Université Catholique de Louvain not ranked #9 10,925,698
11 Universiteit Antwerpen not ranked #10 9,685,759
12 Vrije Universiteit Brussel not ranked #11 7,411,936
13 Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux not ranked #12 873,871
14 Hogeschool Gent not ranked #13 521,899
15 Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis not ranked #14 346,642
16 Royal Military Academy not ranked #16 117,379
17 Erasmushogeschool Brussel not ranked #18 27,154
18 Hogere Zeevaartschool - Maritime Academy not ranked #19 18,161
19 Thomas More Hogeschool not ranked #20 15,962
20 College of Europe not ranked #21 10,638
21 University College Odisee not ranked #23 8,637
22 Karel De Grote Hogeschool not ranked #24 8,337
23 ECAM - Institut Supérieur Industriel not ranked #25 4,107
24 Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven not ranked #22 3,843
25 Brussels Management School (ICHEC) not ranked #26 2,462
26 European Carolus Magnus University not ranked #27 48

What the two columns mean

In-country is the position the ranking record gives the university among those in its own country, and it is often the more useful number: a university ranked 480th in the world may still be third at home. It is carried over as published, so it does not always follow the order of the other two columns. World rank is the university's QS World University Rankings position. Citations are the number of times work published by the university has been cited, as recorded in OpenAlex; it is the measure used to order universities that QS does not rank at all.

The two do not always agree. A large research university can out-cite a smaller one that sits above it in QS, because QS weighs reputation surveys and staff ratios as well as research.

Rankings in other countries