1. Princeton University
Princeton University is an American private university. The university belongs to the Ivy League, a group of private universities from the United States known for their high academic level. Princeton is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, with very low admission rates, and is often seen in the top 10 best universities. As of March 2020, the University is associated with 68 Nobel Prize winners, 15 Fields Medal winners, 14 Turing Award winners, and 209 Rhodes Scholars alumni. Princeton is one of the richest universities in the world with a financial envelope of more than $26 billion (2019). Part of these resources are invested in its art museum that exhibits numerous paintings, sculptures and archeology. Princeton is one of the most selective universities in the United States, in 2013 only 7.29% of bachelor's degree applications were accepted. For comparison, Harvard accepted 6.9% and Yale 7.5%. In 2011, the Business Journal rated Princeton as the most selective undergraduate degree in the Eastern United States, above Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Columbia among others.
2. University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a very prestigious university in the world, and one of the most famous and oldest University in the world. In 2020, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked Oxford University as the best university in the world for the fifth time in a row. The university, founded in the 11th century, is the oldest in the world after the University of Bologna. The entry requirements for a top university such as Oxford are very strict, out of many candidates only the best are accepted. This is reflected in the quality of education and research and in Oxford's consistent ranking among the top 5 best universities in the world. As of November 2019, 72 Nobel Prize winners, 12 winners (20%) of the Booker Prize, 6 winners of the AM Turing Award and 4 winners of the Fields Medal have studied or worked at the University of Oxford.
3. Columbia University
The University of Columbia is an American private university located in Manhattan, New York. It is part of the Ivy League and is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, ranking among the 10 best universities in the world according to numerous rankings. Founded in 1754, is the New York's oldest college, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges founded before American Revolution. It is one of the most selective universities in the United States, with an annual admission rate of 6%. Columbia administers the Pulitzer Prize annually. It has 96 Nobel laureates and, as of 2011, had more Nobel Prize winning students than any other academic institution in the world. The university is one of the 14 founding members of the Association of American Universities and was the first school in the United States to grant a medical degree.
4. ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich is a pioneering public research university in Europe and worldwide. Its campus is in the Swiss city of Zurich, where it is simply known as ETH. Its popularity is due to the many scientists who have passed through its classrooms and laboratories. In the 2020 edition of the World Ranking of QS Universities, ETH has been considered the sixth best university in the world (the second in Europe behind the University of Oxford), and the eleventh according to the Times Higher Education World Rankings 2019. ETH Zurich is a member of the IDEA League and Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME network) and the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU). Typically, various university rankings rank ETH Zurich as the best university in continental Europe, and the university is consistently ranked among the top 1-5 universities in Europe, and ETH Zurich ranks among the 3 to 10 best universities in the world.
5. Harvard University
Harvard University is a private university located on the east coast of the United States, in the city of Cambridge, State of Massachusetts. It was founded in 1636 and is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States. In its beginnings it only had nine students. Harvard University was founded in 1636. Its original name was New College or The College at New Town and it was created without a single professor, with a single student, and not even with a single building. Harvard is one of the most influential universities in the world. It is ranked number one in the Academic Ranking of World Universities in the world ranking of universities according to the HEEACT and in the US News & World Report ranking. In addition, it operates several museums of art, culture and science. Its library is the world's largest academic and private library system, comprising 79 individual libraries with more than 20 million volumes.
6. Imperial College London
The Imperial College London (officially The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a British university in London. The institution is mainly oriented towards science, technology and medicine, but also includes a faculty of arts and a business school. The university is well regarded both within the United Kingdom and internationally. Imperial College was initially a component of the University of London before becoming an independent institution on the occasion of its 100th anniversary in 2007. It is a member of the League of European Research Universities since January 1, 2010. Imperial is also a member of the Russell Group, the G5, the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Golden Triangle of British Universities.
7. Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, known as Stanford University is a private university located in Stanford, California, about 56 km to the southeast of San Francisco. Stanford is renowned for the quality of its teaching, for its wealth, and its proximity to Silicon Valley. It is considered by all the listings as one of the ten best universities in the world. The university was founded in 1891 by Leland Stanford and his wife Jane in memory of their only son, Leland Stanford Jr., who had died of typhoid fever at the age of fifteen. According to Forbes, Stanford has produced the second largest number of billionars of all U.S. universities. Former Stanford students have founded many different companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Nvidia, Yahoo!, Google, Nike, Palantir Technologies, PayPal, Instagram, Snapchat, Sun Microsystems, LinkedIn, Netflix, Pandora Radio, Electronic Arts, Dolby, Capital One, Bain Capital, DE Shaw & Co., Renren, TechCrunch, Victoria's Secret, Firefox, and WhatsApp.
8. University College London
University College London (UCL) is a British university. UCL is highly regarded worldwide. UCL was established in 1826. It was the first university institution founded in London, the first university institution in the UK established on a completely secular basis, which allowed students regardless of their religion and the first to allow women on an equal footing with men. UCL consistently ranks among the top five university institutions in the UK. In 2009, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked UCL as 4th in the world. The 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked UCL 4th in Europe and 3rd in the United Kingdom. According to the most recent Research Excellence Framework (2014), UCL was the highest rated university in the entire UK. The results show the research power of the University in general and of several of its departments in particular. UCL obtained the highest amount of research rated as 4-star or "world-leading" in Panel A: Medical and Biological Sciences, and Panel C: Social Sciences.
9. University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley is a public university based in Berkeley (California). It is the flagship institution of the University of California system and is ranked as one of the world's most prestigious universities and the No. 1 public university in the United States. The university has a 72-hectare campus, and has a total of about 500 hectares at its disposal in the East Bay region. UC Berkeley is the oldest institution and it flagship of the University of California and known as a quality and prestigious university. It offers approximately 350 undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide number of disciplines. The Dwinelle Decree of March 5, 1868 (Decree No. 583 of the California Assembly) says that "The University shall by design have the ability to provide comprehensive and general education and instruction in all departments of science, literature, and art, industrial and professional activities, and general education, and also special courses of instruction in preparation for the professions."
10. University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a very prestigious university in the English city of Cambridge and is one of the two most famous and oldest universities in the United Kingdom, along with Oxford. The two universities together are referred to as Oxbridge. Historically, Cambridge has a solid academic reputation. According to UCAS, the UK student application system, Cambridge and Oxford are the two most selective universities in all of England. There is a special application program for students who wish to study at one of these two universities. This is reflected in the quality of education and research. Trinity College alone has 36 Nobel Prize winners among its former students. By comparison, the whole of France has about 50 winners. The entire University of Cambridge has 82 Nobel Prize winners among its former students, the highest number in the world by most counts.
11. University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private university, primarily located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of the American city of Chicago, Illinois. The University was founded in 1890 by John D. Rockefeller. The University of Chicago is among the most prestigious universities in the world. According to The Times Higher Educational Supplement, it is the fourth best university in North America and the sixth best in the world. Theology is the best in the US according to the authoritative National Research Council. The university campus has 243 buildings and measures 84.4 hectares. The university's business school, the Booth School of Business, has ranked as the best business school in the world by Business Week ranking from 2006 to the present. The school is also considered the best in the world by the ranking of the British magazine The Economist 2012. As of October 2019, among the professors, researchers and students of the University there have been 100 Nobel laureates and 52 MacArthur scholars.
12. University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is an American public university located in the state of Michigan, main campus is in Ann Arbor and has other smaller campuses in Flint and Dearborn. It is one of the most prestigious public universities in the United States. Despite being a public institution, the University of Michigan is known for the high fees paid by students who come from out of state, being the most expensive in the country (2005). University of Michigan has one of the largest research budgets among any other in the United States and one of the largest staff of alumni with 420,000. The University of Michigan also has one of the most important academic medical centers in the United States, the University of Michigan Health System.
13. Yale University
The Yale University is a private university located in New Haven, Connecticut (United States). Founded in 1701 and a member of the select Ivy League, Yale is the third oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial Colleges recognized with a Royal Letter from the British monarch before the Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies. The Yale Law School is the highest ranked law school in the United States. Yale is one of the eight universities of the famous Ivy League, which also includes Harvard. Yale is very selective in its admissions. Fewer than 6% of the nearly 30,000 applicants annually are admitted to undergraduate programs. The Faculty of Law at Yale is the most selective in the country accepts only 6% of applicants. In 1887, the name Yale College was changed to Yale University, and the institution continued to add academic courses over the years.
14. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States) considered by numerous rankings as one of the best and most prestigious universities in the world. Maintaining for seven consecutive years the title of the best university in the world according to the world ranking of QS universities. Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, it used the model of polytechnic universities and emphasized laboratory instruction. MIT's initial emphasis on applied technology at the undergraduate and graduate levels led to close cooperation with the industry. The campus opened in 1916 and extends more than 1 mile (1.6 km) on the north bank of the Charles River Basin. In the past 60 years, MIT's educational disciplines have expanded beyond physics and engineering in fields such as biology, economics, linguistics, and management.