Overview

• QS released its 2026 Latin America and Caribbean ranking on October 1, placing Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile first and moving the University of São Paulo to second.
• Brazil remains the most represented country with 130 institutions in the table, an increase of 34 over last year.
• The Top 10 also features Unicamp in third, Tecnológico de Monterrey fourth, UFRJ fifth and Unesp sixth.
• Some coverage initially differed on which Chilean university led, but published lists show Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in the top spot.
• QS weights factors such as research output, citations, doctoral-qualified faculty, international research networks and academic and employer reputation, with QS’s Ben Sowter noting strong Brazilian research productivity.