Best universities in Turkey 2025

Do you want to study in Turkey? This list of the top universities in Turkey, using Times Higher Education World University Ranking data, will help you choose a university in Turkey

November 21 2024

Top 7 universities in Turkey 2025

Scroll down for the full list of the best universities in Turkey

Turkey Rank 2025	World University Rank 2025	World University Rank 2024	University	City/town
=1	351–400	351–400	Koç University	Istanbul
=1	351–400	351–400	Middle East Technical University	Ankara
=1	351–400	351–400	Sabancı University	Istanbul
4	501–600	501–600	Istanbul Technical University	Istanbul
=5	601–800	601–800	Bilkent University	Ankara
=5	601–800	601–800	Boğaziçi University	Istanbul

Turkey welcomes more than 250,000 international students each year to its 207 universities. In fact, Turkey is in the top 10 in the world in terms of international student numbers, through both the Erasmus+ scheme and international partnerships with universities.

Many universities teach the majority of their courses in English, but students have the opportunity to learn Turkish too, which is among the most widely spoken languages in the world.

There are a wide-range of institutions in the country, including large research-intensive institutions and smaller specialist universities.

As well as having a range of high-quality universities, Turkey is a great country for students to choose because of its proximity to many other countries in Europe and the Middle East.

The full ranking of universities in Turkey can be found below.

Top 4 universities in Turkey

=1. Koç University

Koç University was established in 1993 and is located in Istanbul, Turkey.

The university consists of colleges of social sciences and humanities, administrative sciences and economics, science, engineering, law, nursing and medicine. The majority of courses are taught in English, aside from courses within the colleges of nursing and law.

Koç University is a leading research university in the region, with 132 research laboratories, 20 research centres, and five research and education forums.

=1. Middle East Technical University

Middle East Technical University was established in 1956.

The university started off in two small buildings, then moved to its current site in Ankara in 1963.

All of the university’s degree programmes are taught in English and the university is home to more than 1,700 international students from almost 100 different countries. Faculties include architecture, arts and sciences, economic and administrative sciences, education, engineering and foreign languages. There are also four graduate schools.

Facilities include Turkey’s first science and research development park. Known as METU Technopolis and located on its main campus, the park is a hub for high-tech start-ups.

=1. Sabancı University

Sabancı University was created in 1994 through one of Turkey’s leading family foundations, the Sabancı Group.

There are three faculties (engineering and natural sciences, arts and social sciences, the Sabanci Business School) and a language school.

It is the only university in Turkey that allows students to choose their own programmes. Students follow a set curriculum in the first year, then have the opportunity to choose classes across all disciplines.

Every student at Sabancı University must do an internship before they graduate. The career development and internship office at the university provides students with career counselling and helps students to find internships.

4. Istanbul Technical University

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) was founded in 1773 by Sultan Musafa III as the Imperial School of Naval Engineering, making it the third oldest technical university in the world.

The university has 13 faculties – including aeronautics and astronautics, mechanical engineering and chemical and metallurgical engineering – which offer nearly 40 postgraduate and doctoral programmes. There are also a number of research institutes, such as the Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Centre and the Center for Satellite Communications and Remote Sensing, and more than 350 laboratories.

The university's international graduate exchange programmes allow students to earn dual diplomas at American partner institutions, and there are many double major programmes on offer, along with more than 900 international partnerships and a large number of programmes on offer via Erasmus.

Best universities in Turkey 2025

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2025 profile

Turkey Rank 2025	World University Rank 2025	World University Rank 2024	University	City/town
=1	351–400	351–400	Koç University	Istanbul
=1	351–400	351–400	Middle East Technical University	Ankara
=1	351–400	351–400	Sabancı University	Istanbul
4	501–600	501–600	Istanbul Technical University	Istanbul
=5	601–800	601–800	Bilkent University	Ankara
=5	601–800	601–800	Boğaziçi University	Istanbul
=7	801–1000	801–1000	Bahçeşehir University	Istanbul
=7	801–1000	601–800	Cankaya University	Ankara
=7	801–1000	601–800	Hacettepe University	Ankara
=7	801–1000	NR	Kadir Has University	Istanbul
=7	801–1000	801–1000	Ozyegin University	Istanbul
=7	801–1000	801–1000	Yıldız Technical University	Istanbul
=13	1001–1200	1201–1500	Anadolu University	Eskisehir
=13	1001–1200	1201–1500	Atatürk University	Erzurum
=13	1001–1200	1001–1200	Bartin University	Bartin
=13	1001–1200	1501+	Inönü University	Malatya
=13	1001–1200	NR	Istanbul Gelişim University	Istanbul
=13	1001–1200	1001–1200	Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa	Istanbul
=13	1001–1200	NR	İstinye University	Istanbul
=13	1001–1200	1201–1500	Selçuk University	Konya
=13	1001–1200	NR	Yaşar University	Bornova
=22	1201–1500	1001–1200	Akdeniz University	Antalya
=22	1201–1500	1201–1500	Duzce University	Duzce
=22	1201–1500	1201–1500	Ege University	Izmir
=22	1201–1500	1201–1500	Erciyes University	Kayseri
=22	1201–1500	1001–1200	Firat University	Elazig
=22	1201–1500	1201–1500	Gazi University	Ankara
=22	1201–1500	1201–1500	Gebze Technical University	Gebze
=22	1201–1500	1201–1500	Istanbul Medeniyet University	Istanbul
=22	1201–1500	1001–1200	Istanbul University	Istanbul
=22	1201–1500	1001–1200	Necmettin Erbakan University	Konya
=22	1201–1500	1001–1200	TOBB University of Economics and Technology	Ankara
=22	1201–1500	NR	University of Health Sciences, Turkey	Istanbul
=34	1501+	1501+	Acıbadem University	Istanbul
=34	1501+	NR	Adana Alparslan Türkeş Science and Technology University	Adana
=34	1501+	NR	Afyon Kocatepe University	Afyonkarahisar
=34	1501+	1501+	Aksaray University	Aksaray
=34	1501+	NR	Altınbaş University	Istanbul
=34	1501+	1501+	Ankara University	Ankara
=34	1501+	1501+	Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University	Ankara
=34	1501+	1201–1500	Atılım University	Ankara
=34	1501+	NR	Aydın Adnan Menderes University	Aydın
=34	1501+	1501+	Başkent University	Ankara
=34	1501+	1201–1500	Bezmiâlem Vakif University	Istanbul
=34	1501+	1501+	Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University	Bilecik
=34	1501+	1501+	Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University	Bolu
=34	1501+	1501+	Bozok University	Yozgat
=34	1501+	NR	Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University	Burdur
=34	1501+	1501+	Bursa Technical University	Bursa
=34	1501+	1501+	Bursa Uludağ University	Bursa
=34	1501+	1501+	Çankırı Karatekin University	Çankırı
=34	1501+	1201–1500	Cukurova University	Adana
=34	1501+	1501+	Dicle University	Diyarbakir
=34	1501+	1201–1500	Dokuz Eylül University	Izmir
=34	1501+	1501+	Dumlupinar University	Kutahya
=34	1501+	1501+	Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University	Erzincan
=34	1501+	1501+	Eskişehir Osmangazi University	Eskişehir
=34	1501+	NR	Eskişehir Technical University	Eskişehir
=34	1501+	1501+	Gaziantep University	Gaziantep
=34	1501+	1501+	Hitit University	Çorum
=34	1501+	1501+	Istanbul Aydın University	Istanbul
=34	1501+	1201–1500	Istanbul Bilgi University	Istanbul
=34	1501+	1501+	Istanbul Medipol University	Istanbul
=34	1501+	1201–1500	Izmir Institute of Technology	Izmir
=34	1501+	1501+	Izmir University of Economics	Izmir
=34	1501+	1201–1500	Karabük University	Karabük
=34	1501+	1501+	Karadeniz Technical University	Trabzon
=34	1501+	1501+	Kastamonu University	Kastamonu
=34	1501+	1501+	Kirikkale University	Kirikkale
=34	1501+	1501+	Kırşehir Ahi Evran University	Kırşehir
=34	1501+	1501+	Kocaeli University	Kocaeli
=34	1501+	NR	Konya Technical University	Konya
=34	1501+	1501+	Manisa Celal Bayar University	Manisa
=34	1501+	1501+	Marmara University	Istanbul
=34	1501+	NR	Mersin University	Mersin
=34	1501+	NR	Mugla Sitki Kocman University	Kötekli
=34	1501+	NR	Muş Alparslan University	Muş
=34	1501+	1501+	Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University	Niğde
=34	1501+	1501+	Ondokuz Mayis University	Samsun
=34	1501+	1501+	Ordu University	Ordu
=34	1501+	1501+	Pamukkale University	Denizil
=34	1501+	1501+	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University	Rize
=34	1501+	1201–1500	Sakarya University	Adapazari
=34	1501+	1501+	Sivas Cumhuriyet University	Sivas
=34	1501+	1501+	Süleyman Demirel University	Isparta
=34	1501+	1501+	Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University	Tokat
=34	1501+	NR	Trakya University	Edirne
=34	1501+	1501+	Uşak University	Uşak
=34	1501+	1501+	Van Yüzüncü Yil University	Van
=34	1501+	1501+	Yeditepe University	Istanbul
=34	1501+	1501+	Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University	Zonguldak