Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University all made it into the top 100, at numbers 1, 2, and 65 respectively. Behind them were UMass Amherst at 148, Northeastern University at 176, and Tufts University at 198. Two New England schools were also in the top 200: Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut came in at number 12, and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island was at 119.

The report ranked the top 1,750 universities around the world, from a pool of 1,849, and six Massachusetts universities made it into the top 200. Schools were ranked using 13 indicators, such as publications, international collaboration, and global research reputation.