Eötvös Loránd University ranked as the best Hungarian higher education institution in the QS European University Rankings 2026, and holds 194th place on the continent. The university shows particularly strong results in graduate employability, international mobility, and academic reputation.
On January 28th, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) published its latest European university ranking, which this year features 958 higher education institutions from 42 countries, evaluated based on 12 indicators. The QS European ranking follows a similar methodology to the organization's other lists, with the key difference that internationalisation and mobility, as important European values, are given greater emphasis in the evaluation process.
Based on the 2026 results, Eötvös Loránd University remains the best higher education institution in Hungary, and ranks 6th in Eastern Europe. In the overall list, our university is placed 194th, followed in the national ranking by the University of Szeged (219th), the University of Debrecen (223rd), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (246th), University of Pécs (292nd), Széchenyi István University in Győr (399th), Óbuda University (408th), Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (410th), and University of Pannonia (476th).
This year, ELTE achieved better results than 79.9% of the European institutions evaluated in total. Looking at the individual indicators, our university ranks 76th in Europe for graduate employability, 105th for inbound student mobility, and 144th for outbound student mobility. In academic reputation, we are 158th, in employer reputation 161st, 171st for sustainability, and 198th for international research collaborations.
Thus, in Hungary, ELTE has been ranked best not only overall, but also in the individual indicators of academic reputation, employability, international research collaborations, and outbound student mobility. In terms of publication citations, it came second, while it ranks third nationally in employer reputation, inbound student mobility, and sustainability.
The continent’s top three universities are Oxford, ETH Zurich, and Imperial College London, respectively; seven British, two Swiss, and one French university made it into the top 10. From Eastern Europe, Charles University in Prague ranked 92nd, the University of Warsaw 113th, Jagiellonian University 126th, Masaryk University 156th, and Czech Technical University in Prague 181st.
Detailed results broken down by country can be browsed on the QS website, while more information on ELTE's performance in domestic and international rankings can be found in this summary.