University of Malawi (UNIMA) has emerged as Malawi’s top-performing institution in the 2026 Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings, overtaking all other local universities in the global assessment of sustainability.
The rankings measure universities’ contributions to sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They do not measure overall academic excellence, teaching quality or research reputation. Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) retains that distinction after emerging as Malawi’s highest-ranked university in the latest Times Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings released in 2024.
Formerly known as the THE Impact Rankings, the Sustainability Impact Ratings assess universities’ performance across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals through research, teaching, outreach and stewardship.
UNIMA’s performance marks a notable turnaround after some of the university’s academic staff publicly questioned the value of the rankings when they were first introduced in 2023.
LUANAR finished as Malawi’s second-highest performing institution in the sustainability rankings, followed by the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS). The Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) completed the list of ranked Malawian universities.
Several private universities, including the Catholic University of Malawi (CUNIMA), Pentecostal Life University and DMI St John the Baptist University, did not appear in this year’s rankings.
The Sustainability Impact Ratings should not be confused with the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. While LUANAR remains Malawi’s highest-ranked university in THE’s latest published rankings for the region, MUST appears in the 2026 World University Rankings as a reporter institution. This means it submitted institutional data but did not meet the threshold required to receive a full global ranking.
Globally, the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom topped the 2026 Sustainability Impact Ratings, ahead of Griffith University in Australia and Western Sydney University, which had occupied the number one position for the previous four years.
The University of Oxford continues to lead the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Princeton University, the University of Cambridge, Harvard University and Stanford University.
The 2026 Sustainability Impact Ratings evaluated 1,646 universities from 116 countries and territories, making them the world’s largest assessment of universities’ contributions to sustainable development.
Asia dominated this year’s assessment, accounting for more than half of all participating institutions. The Philippines recorded the highest number of ranked universities with 160, followed by India with 110. Mali, Nicaragua, Niger and Tajikistan joined the rankings for the first time.
The rankings were released during the Global Sustainable Development Congress in Jakarta, Indonesia. Times Higher Education describes the Sustainability Impact Ratings as the world’s only global performance tables that assess universities against all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
