Next Monday the PAU exams (University Access Test) begin, which more than 300,000 young people will take, and the Knowledge and Development Foundation has taken advantage of the date to launch the thirteenth edition of its CYD Ranking, which ranks universities according to 36 quantitative and therefore reliable indicators.
Search engine: check the cutoff score for each degree in Spain
The foundation avoids ranking 89 public and private campuses from best to worst quality (some of the newest are missing), which could be controversial after the anti-university chiringuitos decree; but it cannot resist publicizing the 12 best centers according to the parameters of teaching, research, employability, international orientation, knowledge transfer, and contribution to local development. In total, there are eight public campuses and four private ones concentrated in four autonomous communities. Additionally, high school students can create their own list by filling in boxes according to their interests.
Historical public universities that, however, achieve a good score (a Spanish university never appears among those of maximum excellence) in the prestigious Shanghai ranking are left out of the list: such as Complutense, Granada, Basque Country, or Polytechnic University of Valencia.
1. Navarra
The University of Navarra, owned by Opus Dei, is the only private university in Spain included in the Shanghai list, which is very focused on scientific production. In 2024, it invested almost 50 million euros in infrastructure and had research operating income of 117 million, reflecting that it does not have a mercantilist objective. CyD ranks Navarra second in science and teaching and first in international orientation. Medicine is its flagship degree. This year it displaces the Autonomous University of Barcelona from the top position.
The Public University of Navarra, more recent, also achieves great results, although it does not appear among the top 11. Both stand out in 30 of 36 global indicators, partly due to the strong commitment of the Foral Community to university funding. They thus position themselves as the most advanced autonomous community.
2. Carlos III of Madrid and Autonomous University of Barcelona
The Carlos III University is especially fashionable because Princess Leonor will study Political Science in its classrooms from September. It was born with a strong Faculty of Social Sciences but expanded to engineering and now also to health sciences, with Biomedical Sciences and Neuroscience. This academic year it launches a degree in Primary Education. Its groups are small, so the cutoff score is unattainable for most. It is considered one of the “young” universities (less than 50 years old) in Europe. CyD places this center at the forefront in teaching, knowledge transfer, and international orientation.
The Autonomous University of Barcelona, for its part, is one of the locomotives that position Catalonia as a great research power. It is a campus with more tradition than Carlos III, inaugurated in 1968, with a medium size (37,000 students) and a generalist degree offer. According to the foundation’s metrics, it leads in knowledge transfer and international orientation. In European rankings, it is very well positioned in the areas of Medicine, Veterinary, Political Science, Communication, Translation, Physics, and Mathematics.
3. Pompeu Fabra
Like Carlos III in Madrid, it is a “young” university, very selective (it does not want many students, 15,000 undergraduates) and pampered by the administrations. CyD places the campus among the best in research and international orientation. Many of its projects are launched together with the autonomous universities of Madrid and Barcelona and Carlos III, with which it forms the 4U alliance. It shares the podium with them in the degrees of Politics, Journalism, Law, Business Administration, and Economics, according to the foundation’s metrics.
4. Autonomous University of Madrid
The university where the King was trained tries to recover from the economic suffocation of recent years, which has not damaged its reputation. The foundation considers that it stands out in knowledge transfer and contribution to regional development. In Physics, Psychology, Law, Education, Classics, Development Studies, History, Social Policy, Administration, and Modern Languages, UAM is found in the top 100 worldwide, according to the QS 2026 ranking.
5. Ramon Llull
Under the umbrella of the philosopher Ramon Llull’s name, various private centers of great reputation have been housed for decades, covering almost all areas of knowledge: Esade, Institut Químic de Sarrià, Blanquerna… The foundation especially values its attraction of foreigners and its contribution to the local development of this Salesian university.
6. International University of Catalonia
From the Opus Dei orbit and based in Barcelona, it is overshadowed by Navarra despite its excellent indicators. It also conducts research, a practice uncommon among private universities. CyD especially highlights its contribution to local development. Its most prestigious degrees have traditionally been concentrated in health sciences (Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing), but CyD highlights its work in Education degrees. In this edition, it enters the top 10.
7. Barcelona
The foundation ranks seventh the university that year after year occupies the best Spanish position in the Shanghai ranking (in the 151 to 200 range), with 35 of its 55 areas of knowledge among the top 100 in the world in each specialty. Especially in topics on ecology, clinical medicine, and mathematics. According to CyD, it stands out for its contribution to the community.
8. Polytechnic University of Catalonia and Pontifical Comillas
Only one of the four Spanish polytechnic universities makes it into this ranking, despite its graduates being highly reputed abroad for their demanding training. UPC stands out in internationalization, according to the foundation.
Comillas, of the Society of Jesus, was inaugurated a century ago and soon gained reputation. Its strength for decades has been social sciences from ICADE (Law and Business Administration) and engineering from ICAI. The ranking highlights above all its teaching.
9. Valencia
The foundation places this university first in research, without sharing the position with any other. According to the Shanghai list, it is the first university in Spain in Business Administration, Atmospheric Sciences, and Sociology. With its 60,000 students, it is one of the largest Spanish universities. In this edition, it enters the top 10.
10. Rovira i Virgili
The presence of this small university closing this list, with 16,000 students (and growing), demonstrates the strength of the Catalan academic system. It is characterized by public and private universities making decisions consensually. Seven of the 12 centers belong to this autonomous community. CyD highlights URV’s work in knowledge transfer and its contribution to community development. Its degrees in Chemistry, Tourism, Food Science, and Public Health are among the best in the world, according to Shanghai.
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