Time's ranking of "World's Top Universities" includes these colleges in Massachusetts
Time Magazine is out with its ranking of "The World's Top Universities of 2026," and New England is well-represented on the list, taking three of the first six spots.
Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut is second, behind only the University of Oxford in England. MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts is No. 4, followed by neighboring Harvard University in sixth.
A few months ago, U.S. News & World Report ranked MIT second in the country, with Harvard in third.
The magazine said academic performance is the most important criteria in its ranking along with the resources a school puts into teaching and research, followed by economic impact and a university's ability to attract international students.
"The ranking places emphasis on the extent to which students achieve extraordinary success, for instance in patenting new inventions or rising to leadership roles in business," Time writes.
Time also said one of the biggest issues in higher education is the role of wealth in the admissions process, and how schools can expand their socioeconomic diversity. Both Harvard and MIT in recent years have made tuition free for families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less. Those making less than $100,000 a year do not have to pay for housing, food, books or other fees.
The other New England schools making the top 100 are Boston University (41), Dartmouth College in New Hampshire (43), Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island (44) and Tufts University in Medford (58).
Click here to see the full ranking.
