Morocco’s ongoing dispute over tuition fees for certain master’s and doctoral programs has dominated headlines in recent weeks. A newly released global university ranking now adds another layer to that conversation: not a single Moroccan institution cracks Africa’s top ten.
The latest edition of the Webometrics Global Web Rankings for Universities, published in late July 2026, ranks Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech as the country’s top performer — 29th in Africa and 1,505th worldwide. It edges out Mohammed V University in Rabat, placed 39th on the continent and 1,850th globally, and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, which comes in at 43rd in Africa and 1,974th worldwide.
Further down the list sit Ibn Zohr University in Agadir (55th in Africa, 2,320th globally), Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra (56th, 2,322nd), Hassan II University in Casablanca (70th, 2,563rd), Sultan Moulay Slimane University in Beni Mellal (72nd, 2,599th), Chouaib Doukkali University in El Jadida (84th, 2,973rd), Mohammed First University in Oujda (92nd, 3,210th) and Moulay Ismail University in Meknes (98th, 3,334th). Other Moroccan institutions also appear in the rankings, including Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan, the International University of Rabat, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Hassan I University in Settat and the Mohammadia School of Engineers.
On the continental stage, the University of Cape Town tops the table, ahead of the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria, with Cairo University rounding out seventh place. Globally, Harvard retains its number one spot, trailed by Stanford and Oxford, while Michigan, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Cambridge, Pennsylvania, Washington and Yale round out the top ten.
The gap remains stark. Roughly 1,500 places separate Cadi Ayyad, Morocco’s best-ranked institution, from Harvard atop a survey covering 5,500 universities worldwide, scored on criteria including digital presence, openness, research impact and academic excellence.
The figures land at an awkward moment for Moroccan higher education, as the introduction of registration fees for select master’s and doctoral tracks continues to draw scrutiny over whether such measures will genuinely raise the quality of training, boost scientific research, or strengthen the competitiveness of Moroccan universities on both the African and global stage.
