Rabat - There is not one Moroccan university among the 500 of the world’s best universities, according to the 2016 Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) .

Rabat – There is not one Moroccan university among the 500 of the world’s best universities, according to the 2016 Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

The Shanghai Ranking Consultancy released today its 14th annual ranking which ranks the achievements of internationally-accredited universities.

Six criteria were used to determine the rankings, including the number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Reuters, the number of award-winning staff and alumni, and the number of articles published in prestigious nature and science journals.

Harvard University is named as the world’s best university. It is followed by Stanford and UC Berkeley. British universities Cambridge and Oxford ranked fourth and seventh respectively.

King Abdulaziz University and King Saud University in Saudi Arabia were the only Arab universities to be included among the 500 universities. Both tied at 101st.

Morocco is the birthplace of the world’s first established university. Al Quaraouiyine, located in Fez, Morocco, is noted in the Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest and still operating university. The school was founded by Fatima al-Fihri, a wealthy merchant and philanthropist, in 859.

Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech was ranked among the top 800 universities in the world in 2015, according to World University Rankings released by Higher Education Times in London.

In the same year, Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane was ranked first amongst Moroccan Universities and third in North Africa in QS Ranking for the best Arab institutions.