The University of Melbourne has been confirmed as the nation’s highest ranking university on the latest global rankings, with just three other Australian higher education centres making the top 100.

While the University of Melbourne rose 25 places on the annual Centre for World University Rankings, it was judged just 57th in the world. 

The second highest ranked Australian institution was the University of Sydney, at 71st. 

Encouragingly, both universities improved their position compared with last year’s rankings of 82 and 74 respectively.

The University of Queensland was ranked 74th while the Australian National University in Canberra secured 82nd spot.

The universities were ranked across eight categories, quality of education, alumni employment, research output, quality publications, influence and citations.

US-based universities made up eight of the top 10 higher education centres, according to the research, with Harvard University topping the list, followed by Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in England were the highest ranked non-American institutions, ranking fourth and fifth respectively.

The University of Tokyo was rated the top university in Asia at 12th.

The University of New South Wales (119th), Monash University (124th), the University of Western Australia (145th), the University of Adelaide (229th), Queensland University of Technology (241st) and Macquarie University (324th) made up Australia’s the rest of Australia’s top 10 higher education centres.

For the list of Australia’s top 25 universities and the reasoning behind the rankings, click here.

-with AAP