If you search Google for “Best Spanish universities 2025” you will find multiple lists and rankings. Which one is the best? Which one is the most accurate? The answer is… all of them and none of them. In the absence of a single system, external evaluations by entities and organizations take into account different criteria and weightings, valuing some parameters more than others. Given the inability to evaluate universities objectively, we have collected the top 20 from each of these rankings to subsequently make the ranking. Escuela PCE that rates everyone.
BBVA Foundation U-Ranking
- Who makes this ranking? The study is carried out by the BBVA Foundation, the Valencian Institute of Economic Research, a collaboration with 4 universities and a committee with 20 experts from different universities.
- What does it take into account? 48 public universities and 24 private universities are evaluated. 20 indicators are established, among which are Teachers per students, Budget per student, Success rate, Dropout rate, % of foreign students, Patents, Published articles...
- Valuation Escuela PCE: 4,5/5 (Very good). It uses a very complete methodology (possibly the one that evaluates the most points). His handicap is that he has left many private universities without analyzing.
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The position indicates your final result. Equal positions among universities reflect equal results among all indicators.
| Position | BBVA Foundation U-Ranking |
| 1 | Carlos III University |
| 1 | Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña |
| 1 | Pompeu Fabra University |
| 2 | Autonomous University of Barcelona |
| 2 | Polytechnic University of Valencia |
| 3 | Autonomous University of Madrid |
| 3 | University of Cantabria |
| 3 | University of Deusto |
| 3 | University of Navarra |
| 3 | Polytechnic University of Madrid |
| 3 | University of Barcelona |
| 3 | Rovira i Virgili University |
| 4 | IE University |
| 4 | University of Alcalá |
| 4 | Pablo de Olavide University |
| 4 | Girona University |
| 4 | Universidad de Valencia |
| 4 | Jaume I University |
| 4 | Ramon Llull University |
Webometrics Ranking
- Who makes this ranking? The “Web Ranking of Research Centers in the World” is an initiative of the Cybermetrics Laboratory that belongs to the Institute of Public Goods and Policies (IPP), which is part of the largest national research center in Spain, the CSIC.
- What does it take into account? Not specified. Its general assessment is through web indicators.
- Valuation Escuela PCE: 4/5 (good). Opaque methodology, not showing the final results. It does not take into account private universities.
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| Position | Webometrics |
| 1 | University of Barcelona |
| 2 | Autonomous University of Barcelona |
| 3 | Universidad de Valencia |
| 4 | University of Granada |
| 5 | Autonomous University of Madrid |
| 6 | Sevilla University |
| 7 | Polytechnic University of Catalonia |
| 8 | Pompeu Fabra University |
| 9 | Polytechnic University of Valencia |
| 10 | Polytechnic University of Madrid |
| 11 | University of Zaragoza |
| 12 | Malaga University |
| 13 | University of Salamanca |
| 14 | University of Oviedo |
| 15 | University of Santiago de Compostela |
| 16 | University of Murcia |
| 17 | University of Castilla la Mancha |
| 18 | Universidad Carlos III de Madrid |
| 19 | University of Alicante |
| 20 | Rovira i Virgili University |
Shanghai Ranking
- Who makes this ranking? It is one of the best known classifications worldwide. This is a list compiled by a group of specialists from Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China,2 to assess the quality of the 500 best universities in the world.
- What does it take into account? The rankings use a variety of objective academic indicators and third-party data to measure the performance of the world's universities in relevant subjects, including international academic awards, superior academic achievement, research quality and international collaboration.
- Valuation Escuela PCE: 5/5 (very good). The most used ranking of universities worldwide. Very complete, as it compares many parameters, but, being so global, it leaves relevant aspects without being evaluated at the national level.
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This ranking is prepared for a world ranking of universities. Escuela PCE has taken the first 22 universities in this ranking. Equal positions for several universities show the same final results.
| Position | Shanghai Ranking |
| 1 | University of Barcelona |
| 2 | Autonomous University of Barcelona |
| 2 | Complutense University of Madrid |
| 2 | University of Granada |
| 2 | Universidad de Valencia |
| 3 | Autonomous University of Madrid |
| 3 | Polytechnic University of Valencia |
| 3 | Pompeu Fabra University |
| 3 | University of the Basque Country |
| 4 | University of Oviedo |
| 4 | University of Santiago Compostela |
| 4 | Sevilla University |
| 4 | University of Zaragoza |
| 5 | Polytechnic University of Madrid |
| 5 | University of Navarra |
| 5 | University of the Balearic Islands |
| 5 | University of Vigo |
| 5 | Rovira i Virgili University |
| 6 | Miguel Hernández University |
| 6 | Jaume I University |
| 6 | University of Alicante |
| 6 | University of La Laguna |
Forbes Ranking
- Who makes this ranking? Year after year, Forbes magazine produces a list of the best universities in different countries. Among the experts consulted are Professor Hans De Wit, from the Faculty of Education and Human Development at Boston College (United States); Charles Goldman, professor and economist at the Rand Corporation; and Jamil Salmi, specialist in higher education and advisor to more than a hundred governments and universities. The form sent to Spanish universities, public and private, has more than 50 questions divided into five blocks, which respond to the different aspects of the university experience.
- What does it take into account? The evaluation criteria for the FORBES ranking of Spanish universities have been analyzed by an international committee of experts in higher education, which has assessed the weight that each of them should have in the final score, taking into account the particularities of the system. Spanish university student. Each block includes different values that are scored from 0 to 3. The criteria are highly weighted and numerous aspects of the quality of the universities are evaluated. Thus, for example, the teacher/student ratio of a university that exceeds the maximum accepted in primary education scores 0, while those that far exceed the university average in Spain score 3.
- Valuation Escuela PCE: 3/5 (normal). It evaluates various parameters, but its weighting towards private universities is very high. However, its methodology is optimal.
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| Position | Forbes Ranking |
| 1 | University of Navarra |
| 2 | Complutense University of Madrid |
| 3 | University of Santiago de Compostela |
| 4 | Autonomous University of Madrid |
| 5 | Nebrija University |
| 6 | San Pablo University-CEU |
| 7 | Pontifical University of Comillas |
| 8 | University of Salamanca |
| 9 | Sevilla University |
| 10 | University of Madrid |
| 11 | University of Almería |
| 12 | University Alfonso X El Sabio |
| 13 | CEU Cardenal Herrera University |
| 14 | Carlos III University |
| 15 | ESIC University |
| 16 | Isabel I de Castilla International University |
| 17 | Universidad de Valencia |
| 18 | Camilo José Cela University |
| 19 | University of Vigo |
| 20 | Catholic University of Avila |
Tomes Higher Education Ranking
- Who makes this ranking? It is a ranking prepared by the Times Higher Education magazine, specialized in higher education and that uses criteria for teaching, research, citations, industry income and international prospecting. This ranking combines objective information with subjective information based on expert evaluations of the universities analyzed.
- What does it take into account? It is oriented towards areas such as research, teaching, knowledge transfer and internationalization. Two of the indicators, with significant weight, are based on reputation surveys for teaching and research conducted among a significant sample of academic experts.
- Valuation Escuela PCE: 4/5 (good). Very stable, complete and independent. The only problem is that it creates global rankings, eliminating the local component.
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| Position | Times Higher Education Ranking |
| 1 | Pompeu Fabra University |
| 2 | Autonomous University of Barcelona |
| 3 | University of Barcelona |
| 4 | University of Navarra |
| 5 | Autonomous University of Madrid |
| 6 | CEU San Pablo University |
| 7 | Universidad de Valencia |
| 8 | Complutense University of Madrid |
| 8 | University of the Balearic Islands |
| 8 | University of Deusto |
| 8 | University of Madrid |
| 8 | Girona University |
| 8 | University of Granada |
| 8 | International University of Catalonia |
| 8 | Jaume I University |
| 8 | University of La Laguna |
| 8 | University of Lleida |
| 8 | Miguel Hernández University |
| 8 | Open University of Catalonia |
| 8 | Polytechnic University of Catalonia |
| 8 | Rovira i Virgili University |
Ranking. Escuela PCE
- Who makes this ranking? Escuela PCE through its coordinators and teachers and all the information generated by organizations and entities that publish their studies.
- What does it take into account? As has been seen, in each ranking there are universities that do not appear in others. The reason is the difficulty in comparing universities. Some prioritize the work and publications of university professors and staff, others the percentage of students' success, others the number of students... For this reason, and given the difficulty of having a single criterion, we have prepared a Top 10 Universities 2021 in based on several publications. It may not be the best method, but it is the only one that takes into account dozens of variables and can give a clear answer to which is the best Spanish university.
| Position | Ranking. Escuela PCE 2024 |
| 1 | Autonomous University of Barcelona |
| 2 | University of Barcelona |
| 3 | Autonomous University of Madrid |
| 4 | Polytechnic University of Catalonia |
| 5 | Complutense University of Madrid |
| 6 | Universidad de Valencia |
| 7 | University of Navarra |
| 8 | Pompeu Fabra University |
| 9 | Polytechnic University of Valencia |
| 10 | Carlos III University |
