The findings come in the 10th anniversary edition of the Soft-Power Index published by Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and Cambridge University Press & Assessment, which tracks where serving world leaders were educated as a proxy for the longer-term global influence of higher education.
The 2026 edition shows the US has overtaken the UK over the decade since the index was first published and has now established what HEPI describes as a “substantial and enduring lead” over other countries.
France ranks third, with 29 serving world leaders educated there, followed by Russia with 12. Australia and India jointly occupy fifth place, with eight world leaders each.
At institutional level, Harvard University leads the rankings, followed by the University of Oxford and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
For HEPI, the findings illustrate the potential long-term diplomatic and geopolitical value of international student mobility, as graduates of universities go on to occupy senior positions in government and public life.
“International students come here, contribute to our economy and society and then tend to go home again with warm and enduring thoughts about the UK,” said Nick Hillman OBE, CEO of HEPI and author of the report.
“The benefits fan out over many decades, with many former students at UK universities rising to the very top of their own home nations – including 60 current world leaders.”
The findings come at a difficult moment for both the UK and US, the two countries that dominate the index, as policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic grapple with the implications of tighter immigration and international student policies for higher education.
In the US, international student declines are already being felt financially, with a recent survey from the American Council on Education showing that 73% of senior higher education leaders reported decreased revenues linked to international student declines, while six in 10 expressed moderate or extreme concern about immigration restrictions and visa revocations.
In the UK, meanwhile, universities are navigating tougher compliance requirements for international recruitment, and plans for an international student levy.
Hillman used the report to criticise what he described as “reckless restrictions” being applied to international students through tougher the UK’s Basic Compliance Assessments (BCA).
“Policymakers are always keen to publicise Britain’s place in the world, but the reckless restrictions on international students currently being applied via the Home Office under the tougher BCA are not fit-for-purpose and are already doing real damage that will show up in years to come,” he said.
Commenting on the release of the index, Francesca Woodward, global managing director for English at Cambridge University Press & Assessment said: “Anyone serious about soft power needs to get serious about universities. Successful higher education projects global influence.
Anyone serious about soft power needs to get serious about universities. Successful higher education projects global influence.
Francesca Woodward, Cambridge University Press & Assessment
“HEPI’s Soft Power Index offers a fascinating snapshot of where world leaders studied, and an indication of the lasting impact of universities’ internationalism.
“After a decade, we can see the shifting balance of soft power and global higher education,” said Woodward.
