For the fifth consecutive time, the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has been adjudged the number one university in Ghana and West Africa in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings (WUR).
The 22nd edition of the WUR released on Thursday, October 9, 2025, also ranked UCC as the 11th best university in Africa and one of the world’s leading research-intensive universities.
The annual THE WUR is a comprehensive global university rankings league table, which compares and judges research-intensive universities across five core areas comprising teaching environment, research environment, research quality, international outlook, and industry or knowledge transfer.
The 2026 rankings involved 2,191 institutions across 115 countries and territories worldwide which qualified to be ranked.
In the area of research quality, UCC emerged number one in Ghana and West Africa and the only university in Ghana ranked among the top 11 universities in Africa.
Earlier in the year, the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings declared UCC as the top university in Ghana for quality education under the Sustainable Development Goal four (SDG 4).

Professor Denis Worlanyo Aheto, the acting Vice Chancellor of the University, announcing the achievement at a presser, said it was a testament to the school’s high quality scholarly research outputs over the years.
“By this feat, UCC has also demonstrated its continuous and impactful scholarly contribution to the national, sub-regional, regional, and global higher education ecosystem.
“This emphasises the relentless efforts and deep commitments of our entire faculty, staff and students towards conducting cutting-edge and impactful research of societal relevance,” he added.
Highlighting the significance of the university rankings, Prof Aheto explained that it was a critical decision making tool for key stakeholders in higher education including governments and funders.
He added that it was a useful branding and marketing tool for universities to attract both local and international students, partners, as well as external scholars and collaborators.
Prof Aheto commended management, staff, students and all other stakeholders of the university for their diverse contributions towards maintaining the “historic” feat and expressed the university’s resolve to improve and sustain its research output.
Accordingly, he said faculty and staff must be motivated to constantly conduct relevant research that led to innovative outputs for the benefit of society.
“All stakeholders must endeavour to work assiduously to ensure that UCC maintains its vision of being a globally acclaimed university for innovative teaching, research, outreach and professional development,” he stressed.
The acting Vice Chancellor entreated management, faculty and staff of the university to establish more partnerships with industry, both local and global, in addition to the university’s collaborations to advance the cause of the school.