Top Universities of USA
USA Universities
Are you looking to study at top universities in the USA? Get the list of best US universities and detailed information on class sizes, the student-faculty ratio, the tuition costs, and the student experience for each of the top colleges and universities. More than 20 top universities, including the Ivy League institutes such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, have been listed along with their complete details.
It is an ideal guide for students willing to pursue higher education in the US.
Based on the latest ranking of colleges and universities, we have listed the most sought-after institutes to help students do a comparative analysis of various factors. The clickable map of US Universities makes it easy to locate an institute. Click on any universities in the table below to get detailed information on that specific institute.
Browse the state-wise list of US universities and find the right college that would serve your purpose. It not only has an exhaustive list of Top 50 Universities and colleges according to their rank but also provides necessary information on the cost of studying and the total student population in each institute.
Top 50 Universities in United States |
|---|
| Rank | University | Location | State | Year Established |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvard University | Cambridge | Massachusetts | 1636 |
| 2 | Stanford University | Stanford | California | 1891 |
| 3 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | Cambridge | Massachusetts | 1861 |
| 4 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | Berkeley | California | 1868 |
| 5 | Columbia University | New York City | New York | 1754 |
| 6 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | Los Angeles | California | 1919 |
| 6 | Yale University | New Haven | Connecticut | 1701 |
| 8 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 1740 |
| 9 | Princeton University | Princeton | New Jersey | 1746 |
| 10 | Cornell University | Ithaca | New York | 1865 |
| 11 | New York University (NYU) | New York City | New York | 1831 |
| 12 | University of Chicago | Chicago | Illinois | 1890 |
| 13 | Duke University | Durham | North Carolina | 1838 |
| 14 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore | Maryland | 1878 |
| 15 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles | California | 1880 |
| 16 | Northwestern University | Evanston | Illinois | 1851 |
| 17 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | 1900 |
| 18 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | Michigan | 1817 |
| 19 | California Institute of Technology (Caltech) | Pasadena | California | 1891 |
| 20 | Brown University | Providence | Rhode Island | 1764 |
| 21 | Boston University | Boston | Massachusetts | 1867 |
| 21 | Rice University | Houston | Texas | 1912 |
| 23 | Georgetown University | Washington, D.C. | Washington, D.C. | 1789 |
| 24 | University of Washington | Seattle | Washington | 1861 |
| 25 | University of Texas at Austin | Austin | Texas | 1883 |
| 26 | University of California, San Diego (UCSD) | San Diego | California | 1960 |
| 27 | Emory University | Atlanta | Georgia | 1836 |
| 28 | University of California, Davis (UCD) | Davis | California | 1908 |
| 28 | Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis | Missouri | 1853 |
| 30 | University of Rochester | Rochester | New York | 1850 |
| 30 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville | Tennessee | 1873 |
| 32 | Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) | Atlanta | Georgia | 1885 |
| 33 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign | Illinois | 1867 |
| 34 | George Washington University | Washington, D.C. | Washington, D.C. | 1821 |
| 35 | Tufts University | Medford | Massachusetts | 1852 |
| 35 | University of Florida | Gainesville | Florida | 1853 |
| 37 | Dartmouth College | Hanover | New Hampshire | 1769 |
| 38 | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill | North Carolina | 1789 |
| 39 | University of Miami | Coral Gables | Florida | 1925 |
| 40 | University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame | Indiana | 1842 |
| 41 | Rutgers University – New Brunswick | New Brunswick | New Jersey | 1766 |
| 41 | University of California, Irvine (UCI) | Irvine | California | 1965 |
| 43 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland | Ohio | 1967 |
| 43 | University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) | Chicago | Illinois | 1982 |
| 45 | Stony Brook University | Stony Brook | New York | 1957 |
| 46 | University at Buffalo SUNY | Buffalo | New York | 1846 |
| 47 | Pennsylvania State University | University Park | Pennsylvania | 1855 |
| 48 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill | Massachusetts | 1863 |
| 48 | University of Maryland, College Park | College Park | Maryland | 1856 |
| 50 | University of Virginia | Charlottesville | Virginia | 1819 |
Top 10 Universities in USA
1. Harvard University, Massachusetts
Harvard University was founded in 1636. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, close to Boston. Its vast library system is home to the oldest collection of books in the United States, which also happens to be the most extensive private collection in the world. However, if you think Harvard is about diving deep into books only, you are mistaken. The University athletic teams compete in the Ivy League, and the Harvard and Yale football teams are old rivals. The on-campus residential housing is an intrinsic part of student life at Harvard. Check Where is Harvard University to learn more.
2. Stanford University, California
Stanford University was founded in 1885 by Jane and Leland Stanford in memory of their only child. The University’s pristine campus, one of the largest in the United States, is located in California’s suburban Bay Area, some 30 miles from San Francisco. The University is home to many student organizations, such as the Stanford Pre-Business Association and the Stanford Solar Car Project. The University has three academic schools and four professional schools. It is one of the top fundraising institutions in the country. Its faculty and alumni have founded several companies that earn over $2.7 trillion in annual revenue. It is the alma mater of many US Congress members, astronauts, billionaires, Turing Award, and Nobel laureates. Check Where is Stanford University to learn more about the university.
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts
Established in 1861, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is an independent, private research university based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The five different schools of MIT are engineering, humanities, arts, social sciences, management, and science, besides architecture and planning. The University is connected to as many as 85 Nobel Laureates, 58 National Medal of Science recipients, 45 MacArthur Fellows, and 29 National Medal of Technology and Innovation winners. Scientific and technological advances attributed to MIT include the first chemical synthesis of penicillin, the development of the radar, the discovery of quarks, and the invention of magnetic core memory, which paved the way for digital computers. Check Where is Massachusetts Institute of Technology to learn more.
4. The University of California, Berkeley (UCB), California
Founded in 1868, the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) is a Public Research University in Berkeley, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system and is also the oldest in the system. As of 2019, the University has been associated with as many as 107 Nobel laureates and 25 Turing Award winners. Some notable alumni include Nobel Laureates Barry Barish, Steven Chu, Robert Laughlin, Amartya Sen, and Lawrence Klein. The University has also been the alma mater to several entrepreneurs such as Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning and many more. Some of the significant scientific inventions and discoveries can also be attributed to this University’s alumni, such as the Atomic bomb – J. Robert Oppenheimer, Carbon 14 & Photosynthesis – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben, and Cyclotron – by Ernest O. Lawrence. Check Where is the University of California, Berkeley to learn more.
5. Columbia University, New York City, New York
Columbia University was founded in 1754 in New York City, before the Declaration of Independence. It is one of the prestigious Ivy League colleges. Columbia University is the oldest institution in New York. There are 20 schools in this University, which offer more than 350 areas of study. The notable alumni of the University include five Founding Fathers of the United States, three presidents of the United States, over 100 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 39 Oscar winners. The undergraduate and graduate students of Columbia University also get the opportunity to participate in the World Leaders Forum. It is a year-round event where world leaders from over 85 countries come to discuss critical issues faced by nations worldwide. Check Where is Columbia University to learn more.
6. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system and is the second oldest. It was founded in 1919. During the 2017-2018 year, UCLA received 102,225 undergraduate applications, making it the most applied to University in the United States. UCLA offers more than 3,900 courses in 109 academic departments. As many as 24 Nobel laureates have been associated with UCLA, some of them are Randy W. Schekman for Medicine, Donald Cram for Chemistry, and William Sharpe for Economics. Other notable people include Pulitzer Prize winner geographer Jared Diamond, actor and director Leonard Nimoy, and the fifth governor of the state of Hawaii Ben Cayetano. Check Where is the University of California, Los Angeles to learn more.
7. Yale University, Connecticut
Yale University is a private Ivy League Research University located in New Haven, Connecticut. Its history goes back to 1701 when it was founded as the Collegiate School in Saybrook, Connecticut, before moving to New Haven 15 years later. It was renamed Yale College in 1718 in honor of Welsh benefactor Elihu Yale. In 1861, it became the first University in the US to award a Ph.D. The main campus spans 260 acres of New Haven, and some of its buildings date back to the mid-18th century. The University comprises 14 schools covering humanities, arts, sciences, and social sciences. Students are also trained in quantitative reasoning, writing, and foreign languages. Check Where is Yale University to learn more.
8. University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania, also known as Penn, came into existence in 1740, and it is one of the colleges that formed before the Declaration of Independence. The University of Pennsylvania is also one of the Ivy League research Universities. Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, is credited to be the founder of this University. There are four undergraduate and 12 graduate and professional schools in Penn. As of Fall 2019, there were 22,318 full-time and 4,357 part-time students in Penn. This University is credited with several innovations and discoveries. Some of them are ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, COBOL programming language, dialysis machine, and many more.Some famous people who graduated from Penn include some of the founding fathers of the United States, two presidents of the United States including current president Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, one of the greatest investors of America, and Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX. Check Where is the University of Pennsylvania to learn more.
9. Princeton University, New Jersey
Founded in 1746, Princeton University is among the oldest colleges in the United States. It is located in the quiet suburban town of Princeton in New Jersey. The University campus has on offers many events, activities, and organizations apart from a thoroughly engaging academic environment. Its old-world ambiance is especially perceptible in Nassau Hall, the temporary capitol building of the United States in 1783. This Ivy League institution is one of the best research universities in the world, with connections to more than 40 Nobel laureates, 17 National Medal of Science recipients, and five National Humanities Medal winners. Check Where is Princeton University to learn more.
10. Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private University in Ithaca, New York state. It was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White as New York’s first land grant University. There are fifteen colleges and schools under Cornell University, and as of fall 2019, there were 24,027 students at the University. Cornell University was the first University to award the world’s first degree in journalism and the first US university to offer a major in American studies. Notable alumni of this Ivy League University include Nobel laureates Eric Betzig, Toni Morrison, and Arthur Ashkin, billionaire businessman Ratan Tata, and actor Frank Morgan. Check Where is Cornell University to learn more.
