Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the hierarchical rank of a teacher, researcher or other employee in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia.

The academic ranks are specific for each country, there is no worldwide-unified ranking system. Among the common ranks are professor, associate professor (docent), assistant professor and lecturer/instructor.

In most cases, the academic rank is automatically attached to a person at the time of employment in a position with the same name, and deprived when a working relationship ends. Thus, the term "academic rank" usually means the same as "position in academia".

In some countries, however, the terms "position" and "academic rank" are not synonymous. So in modern Russia there exist the docent and professor ranks, yet the set of positions in academia is broader. The academic rank is conferred only after the person has been successfully working in the docent or professor position for a certain period (and later underwent a centralized control procedure), i.e. not at enrollment, and is kept for life.

The list of academic ranks below identifies the hierarchical ranking structure found amongst scholars and personnel in academia. The lists below refer specifically to colleges and universities throughout the world, although other institutions of higher learning may follow a similar schema.

Ranks in universities of Afghanistan are listed below according to the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) of Afghanistan. These ranks are issued stepwise by the MoHE after some procedures, a period of service and conditions.

Honorary degree:

Term of address in general: ostād or استاد