Cairo University maintains top 500 global ranking, third in Africa in 2026 Shanghai Ranking

The university placed among the world's top 500 universities, specifically in the 401–500 bracket globally, and secured third place in Africa for the second consecutive year. In Africa, it ranks behind the University of Cape Town 201–300 globally and the University of the Witwatersrand 301–400 globally. Other Egyptian universities also featured in the ranking: Alexandria University and Mansoura University were in the 601–700 bracket, while Ain Shams University and Al-Azhar University were in the 701–800 bracket.

Zagazig University ranked in the 901–1000 bracket. The ARWU, launched in 2003, annually ranks the top 1,000 universities worldwide using quantitative indicators. These indicators include the number of alumni and faculty members receiving Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals 10% and 20% respectively, highly cited researchers 20%, papers published in Nature and Science 20%, papers indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index 20%, and per-capita academic performance 10%.