Rankings: The 7 best universities in Denmark for 2025/2026
Although just a small nation of around 6 million people, Denmark’s universities claim some of the top spots in international rankings.
Three of the best universities in Denmark are located in Copenhagen, the capital: the University of Copenhagen (KU), solidly ranked among the top 100 universities in the world; the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), one of the world’s best engineering schools; and the Copenhagen Business School (CBS), world-renowned for its top-ranked MBA programme.
When choosing a university in Denmark, note that the most popular international university rankings rely heavily on research output - and therefore miss a lot of Denmark’s university colleges and business academies that focus on practical education.
| University | QS Ranking 2026 | THE Ranking 2025 | ARWU Ranking 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Copenhagen (KU) | 101 | 97 | 32 |
| Technical University of Denmark (DTU) | 107 | 124 | 151 |
| Aarhus University | 131 | 110 | 80 |
| University of Southern Denmark (SDU) | 303 | 251 | 301 |
| Aalborg University (AAU) | 306 | 251 | 401 |
| Roskilde University (RUC) | – | 501 | – |
| Copenhagen Business School (CBS) | – | – | 701 |
The QS World University Rankings are among the most important, most-referenced rankings. The QS ranking relies heavily on its academic survey, asking thousands of academics worldwide about the reputation of universities.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (or the THE Rankings for short) compile a wide range of statistics. Equal weight is put on teaching quality, research excellence, and research impact through citations (meaning how often a university’s research is referenced elsewhere).
The Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (often just Shanghai Ranking, or ARWU) focuses on research output and quality, for example measured by the number of published and cited scientific papers and the number of staff or alumni winning the Nobel Prize or Fields Medal.
Studies repeatedly show that people in Denmark are the happiest in the world. And international students couldn’t agree more: Universities in Denmark offer high-quality education with a modern approach to teaching, there are no tuition fees for Europeans, and you can choose from hundreds of Bachelors or Masters in English.
Read more about studying in Denmark
