Best universities in the United States

Find the best universities in the United States through Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings data

Best universities in

Rankings for Students

September 2 2020

Stanford University, Best universities in the United States 2016

Thinking about studying in the US can be overwhelming because there are so many options.

We thought you might like to know the top universities in the US based on the highly respected Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021.

There are 181 US universities and colleges among the world’s best and so wherever you want to study in the US, a top university will not be far away. Almost all states and about 130 cities are represented in the best US universities list.

Student experience in the US

UC Berkeley: self-motivating, thought-provoking and interactive
International perspective: a Nepalese student in the United States
International perspective: an Indian student in the United States
An open letter to Chinese students in the US: dealing with stress
A day in the life of a US university student
What is it like to study at a liberal arts college?
Navigating Yale University
University of Nebraska Medical Center: learning in the lab and on the ward
Required Reading: what is a historically black college?
What do international students think Thanksgiving is?
How to make friends at university in the United States

California is the most represented state among the best US universities, with 15 institutions, followed by 13 universities in New York, 12 universities in Texas and 10 universities in Massachusetts.

The universities at the very top of the ranking are concentrated in these popular destinations, which are well known for their higher education opportunities; the top five are based in California and Massachusetts.

It’s important to note that we also produce a separate US College Rankings in partnership with the Wall Street Journal designed with students in mind. At the heart of the US College Rankings is a student survey, taken by more than 170,000 students across the US and capturing the things that are most important to prospective students, such as teaching quality, learning environment, resources, diversity on campus and whether a student would recommend their institution.

You can see the full US College Rankings here, or scroll all the way down to see the top 10.

Applying to the United States

Hoping to apply to a US university as a foreign student?
Brits in America: tips on applying to US universities as an international student
How to write a US college admissions essay
Everything you need to know about the Common App
How to craft the perfect application for US universities
Four things international students should know about studying in the US
A guide to student bank accounts in the US
In-state vs out-of-state US colleges
The cost of studying at a university in the United States
OPT procedures for international students to work in the US
Scholarships available in the US for international students

Top 5 universities in the US

1. Stanford University

Based in Palo Alto, right beside Silicon Valley, Stanford University has had a prominent role in encouraging the region’s tech industry to develop.

Many faculty members, students and alumni have founded successful technology companies and start-ups, including Google, Snapchat and Hewlett-Packard.

In total, companies founded by Stanford alumni make $2.7 trillion (£2.2 trillion) each year.

The university is often referred to as “the Farm” because the campus was built on the site of the Stanford family’s Palo Alto stock farm. The campus covers 8,180 acres, but more than half of the land is not yet developed.

With its distinctive sand-coloured, red-roofed buildings, Stanford’s campus is thought to be one of the most beautiful in the world. It contains a number of sculpture gardens and art museums, and a public meditation centre.

As might be expected from one of the best universities in the world, Stanford is highly competitive. The admission rate stands at just over 5 per cent.

Of the 16,000 students – most of whom live on campus – 22 per cent are international.

The 10 most beautiful universities in the US

2. Harvard University

Harvard is probably the best known university in the world, topping the Times Higher Education reputation rankings most years.

Founded in 1636, it is the oldest higher education institution in the US.

About 21,000 students are enrolled, a quarter of whom are international. Although tuition is expensive, Harvard’s financial endowment allows for plenty of financial aid for students.

The Harvard Library system is made up of 79 libraries and counts as the largest academic library in the world.

Among many famous alumni, Harvard can count eight US presidents, 158 Nobel laureates, 14 Turing Award winners and 62 living billionaires.

Unlike some other universities at the top of the list, Harvard is at least equally reputed for arts and humanities as it is for science and technology, if not more so.

Vlogging a day at Harvard University

3. California Institute of Technology (CalTech)

Relative to the tiny size of its student population, CalTech has an impressive number of successful graduates and affiliates, including 39 Nobel laureates, six Turing Award winners and four Fields Medallists.

There are about 2,200 students at CalTech, and the primary campus in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, covers 124 acres. Almost all undergraduates live on campus.

Across the six faculties, there is a focus on science and engineering.

In addition to Nobel laureates and top researchers, the CalTech graduate community includes a number of politicians and public advisers, particularly in the areas of science, technology and energy.

All first-year students belong to one of four houses as part of the university’s alternative model to fraternities and sororities. A number of house traditions and events are associated with each house.

The university has the highest proportion of students who continue on to pursue a PhD, and the figure of the CalTech postgraduate has filtered into popular culture; all the main characters in the TV comedy The Big Bang Theory work or study at CalTech.

Caltech: ‘uniquely difficult but a wonderful place to study’

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

MIT also cultivates a strong entrepreneurial culture, which has seen many alumni found notable companies such as Intel and Dropbox.

Unusually, the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at MIT are not wholly separate; many courses can be taken at either level.

The undergraduate programme is one of the country’s most selective, admitting only 8 per cent of applicants. Engineering and computer science programmes are the most popular among undergraduates.

Thirty-three per cent of the 11,000 students are international, hailing from 154 countries.

Famous alumni include astronaut Buzz Aldrin, former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and physicist Richard Feynman.

Women in STEM: stories from MIT students

5. University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.

It is part of the University of California system, and is in fact the oldest campus within the system, having been founded in 1868.

Berkeley has an impressive catalogue of achievements counting 107 Nobel laureates, 25 Turing Award winners, 14 Fields Medallists, 28 Wolf Prize winners, 103 MacArthur Fellows, 25 Pulitzer Prize winners, 19 Academy Award winners and 207 Olympic Medals. Many politicians have also studied at the university.

The university’s official colours are blue and gold: where blue represents the California sky and ocean and gold the “Golden State” of California.

There are more than 1,000 student groups at the university covering interests and activities such as sports, politics and arts and crafts.

Best universities in California

Compare US universities with other regions

Best universities in Europe
Compare top Canadian universities
Top universities in South America
The best universities in Asia
Best universities in Africa
Best universities in Australia
Best universities in the UK

Top universities in the United States 2021

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2021 results.

World University Rank 2021	US Rank 2021	University	City	State
2	1	Stanford University	Stanford	California
3	2	Harvard University	Cambridge	Massachusetts
4	3	California Institute of Technology	Pasadena	California
5	4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge	Massachusetts
7	5	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley	California
8	6	Yale University	New Haven	Connecticut
9	7	Princeton University	Princeton	New Jersey
10	8	University of Chicago	Chicago	Illinois
12	9	Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore	Maryland
13	10	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania
15	11	University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles	California
17	12	Columbia University	New York City	New York
19	13	Cornell University	Ithaca	New York
=20	14	Duke University	Durham	North Carolina
22	15	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor	Michigan
24	16	Northwestern University	Evanston	Illinois
26	17	New York University	New York City	New York
28	18	Carnegie Mellon University	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania
29	19	University of Washington	Seattle	Washington
33	20	University of California, San Diego	San Diego	California
38	21	Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlanta	Georgia
44	22	University of Texas at Austin	Austin	Texas
48	23	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Champaign	Illinois
49	24	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Madison	Wisconsin
50	25	Washington University in St Louis	St. Louis	Missouri
53	26	University of Southern California	Los Angeles	California
=54	27	Boston University	Boston	Massachusetts
=56	28	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill	North Carolina
61	29	Brown University	Providence	Rhode Island
=64	30	University of California, Davis	Davis	California
68	31	University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara	California
=80	32	Ohio State University (Main campus)	Columbus	Ohio
=85	=33	Emory University	Atlanta	Georgia
=85	=33	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis	Minnesota
90	35	University of Maryland, College Park	College Park	Maryland
=94	36	Purdue University West Lafayette	West Lafayette	Indiana
=98	37	University of California, Irvine	Irvine	California
=101	38	Dartmouth College	Hanover	New Hampshire
105	39	Michigan State University	East Lansing	Michigan
=111	40	Vanderbilt University	Nashville	Tennessee
=114	41	Penn State (Main campus)	State College	Pennsylvania
117	42	University of Virginia (Main campus)	Charlottesville	Virginia
120	43	Georgetown University		Washington D.C
=121	44	Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland	Ohio
=124	45	University of Arizona	Tucson	Arizona
=124	=45	Rice University	Houston	Texas
=131	47	University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder	Colorado
=133	48	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania
=140	49	Indiana University	Bloomington	Indiana
=147	50	University of Rochester	Rochester (NY)	New York
=152	51	University of Florida	Gainesville	Florida
=155	52	Tufts University	Medford	Massachusetts
166	53	Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey	New Brunswick	New Jersey
169	54	University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham	Alabama
=170	55	University of Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Indiana
=176	56	Northeastern University	Boston	Massachusetts
=184	57	Arizona State University (Tempe)	Tempe	Arizona
=187	58	George Washington University		Washington D.C
197	59	Texas A&M University	College Station	Texas
201–250	=60	Brandeis University	Waltham	Massachusetts
201–250	=60	University of California, Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz	California
201–250	=60	University of Hawai’i at Mānoa	Honolulu	Hawai'i
201–250	=60	Howard University		Washington D.C
201–250	=60	University of Iowa	Iowa City	Iowa
201–250	=60	University of Massachusetts	Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, Worcester	Massachusetts
201–250	=60	University of Miami	Coral Gables	Florida
201–250	=60	University of South Florida (Tampa)	Tampa	Florida
201–250	=60	University of Utah	Salt Lake City	Utah
201–250	=60	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Blacksberg	Virginia
251–300	=70	University at Buffalo	Buffalo	New York
251–300	=70	University of California, Riverside	Riverside	California
251–300	=70	University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Ohio
251–300	=70	Florida State University	Tallahassee	Florida
251–300	=70	George Mason University	Fairfax	Virginia
251–300	=70	University of Illinois at Chicago	Chicago	Illinois
251–300	=70	University of New Mexico (Main campus)	Albuquerque	New Mexico
251–300	=70	Nova Southeastern University	Davie	Florida
251–300	=70	Oregon Health and Science University	Portland	Oregon
251–300	=70	State University of New York Albany	Albany	New York
251–300	=70	Wake Forest University	Winston-Salem	North Carolina
251–300	=70	William & Mary	Williamsburg	Virginia
301–350	=82	Boston College	Boston	Massachusetts
301–350	=82	University of California, Merced	Merced	California
301–350	=82	University of Colorado Denver	Denver	Colorado
301–350	=82	University of Delaware	Newark (DE)	Delaware
301–350	=82	Illinois Institute of Technology	Chicago	Illinois
301–350	=82	North Carolina State University	Raleigh	North Carolina
301–350	=82	University of Oregon	Eugene	Oregon
301–350	=82	Rush University	Chicago	Illinois
301–350	=82	Stony Brook University	Stony Brook	New York
301–350	=82	Syracuse University	Syracuse	New York
301–350	=82	Temple University	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania
301–350	=82	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	Knoxville	Texas
301–350	=82	University of Texas at Dallas	Richardson	Texas
301–350	=82	Tulane University	New Orleans	Louisiana
301–350	=82	Washington State University	Pullman	Washington
351–400	=97	Drexel University	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania
351–400	=97	University of Kansas	Lawrence	Kansas
351–400	=97	Wayne State University	Detroit	Michigan
401–500	=97	University of Alaska Fairbanks	Fairbanks	Alaska
401–500	=97	American University		Washington D.C
401–500	=97	Clark University	Worcester	Massachusetts
401–500	=97	Colorado School of Mines	Golden	Colorado
401–500	=97	Colorado State University, Fort Collins	Fort Collins	Colorado
401–500	=97	University of Connecticut	Mansfield	Connecticut
401–500	=97	University of Denver	Denver	Colorado
401–500	=97	Florida International University	Miami	Florida
401–500	=97	University of Georgia	Athens	Georgia
401–500	=97	Georgia State University	Atlanta	Georgia
401–500	=97	Iowa State University	Ames	Iowa
401–500	=97	University of Kentucky	Lexington	Kentucky
401–500	=97	University of Missouri-Columbia	Columbia	Missouri
401–500	=97	Missouri University of Science and Technology	Rolla	Missouri
401–500	=97	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Lincoln	Nebraska
401–500	=97	Oklahoma State University	Stillwater	Oklahoma
401–500	=97	Oregon State University	Corvallis	Oregon
401–500	=97	University of South Carolina-Columbia	Columbia	South Carolina
401–500	=97	University of Tulsa	Tulsa	Oklahoma
501–600	=119	Binghamton University, State University of New York	Binghamton	New York
501–600	=119	Hofstra University	Hempstead	New York
501–600	=119	University of Houston	Houston	Texas
501–600	=119	Louisiana State University	Baton Rouge	Louisiana
501–600	=119	University of Montana	Missoula	Montana
501–600	=119	University of Nebraska Medical Center	Omaha	Nebraska
501–600	=119	New Jersey Institute of Technology	Newark (NJ)	New Jersey
501–600	=119	Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff	Arizona
501–600	=119	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Troy	New York
501–600	=119	Stevens Institute of Technology	Hoboken	New Jersey
501–600	=119	University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio	Texas
601–800	=130	University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa	Alabama
601–800	=130	University of Alabama in Huntsville	Huntsville	Alabama
601–800	=130	University of Arkansas	Fayateville	Arkansas
601–800	=130	Auburn University	Auburn	Alabama
601–800	=130	University of Central Florida	Orlando	Florida
601–800	=130	Chapman University	Orange	California
601–800	=130	Clemson University	Clemson	South Carolina
601–800	=130	Creighton University	Omaha	Nebraska
601–800	=130	University of Idaho	Moscow	Idaho
601–800	=130	Kansas State University	Manhattan	Kansas
601–800	=130	Lehigh University	Bethlehem	Pennsylvania
601–800	=130	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Baltimore	Maryland
601–800	=130	University of Missouri-St Louis	St. Louis	Missouri
601–800	=130	Montana State University	Bozeman	Montana
601–800	=130	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Las Vegas	Nevada
601–800	=130	New Mexico State University (Main campus)	Las Cruces	New Mexico
601–800	=130	University of North Carolina at Greensboro	Greensboro	North Carolina
601–800	=130	Ohio University (Main campus)	Athens	Ohio
601–800	=130	University of Rhode Island	South Kingstown	Rhode Island
601–800	=130	San Diego State University	San Diego	California
601–800	=130	University of Texas at Arlington	Arlington	Texas
601–800	=130	Texas Tech University	Lubbock	Texas
601–800	=130	University of Toledo	Toledo	Ohio
601–800	=130	Western Washington University	Bellingham	Washington
601–800	=130	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	Milwaukee	Wisconsin
601–800	=130	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Worcester	Massachusetts
801–1000	=156	Baylor University	Waco	Texas
801–1000	=156	Bowling Green State University	Bowling Green	Ohio
801–1000	=156	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	Tallahassee	Florida
801–1000	=156	Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton	Florida
801–1000	=156	Florida Institute of Technology	Melbourne	Florida
801–1000	=156	Kent State University	Kent	Ohio
801–1000	=156	Louisiana Tech University	Ruston	Louisiana
801–1000	=156	Marquette University	Milwaukee	Wisconsin
801–1000	=156	University of Memphis	Memphis	Tennessee
801–1000	=156	Miami University	Oxford	Ohio
801–1000	=156	Mississippi State University	Starkville	Mississippi
801–1000	=156	The New School	New York City	New York
801–1000	=156	Old Dominion University	Norfolk	Virginia
801–1000	=156	Portland State University	Portland	Oregon
801–1000	=156	Rochester Institute of Technology	Rochester (NY)	New York
801–1000	=156	University of South Dakota	Vermillion	South Dakota
801–1000	=156	Southern Illinois University Carbondale	Carbondale	Illinois
801–1000	=156	University of Texas at El Paso	El Paso	Texas
1001+	=174	California State University, Long Beach	Long Beach	California
1001+	=174	East Carolina University	Greenville	North Carolina
1001+	=174	James Madison University	Harrisonburg	Virginia
1001+	=174	Morgan State University	Baltimore	Maryland
1001+	=174	University of North Carolina Wilmington	Wilmington	North Carolina
1001+	=174	Oakland University	Rochester	Michigan
1001+	=174	Texas State University	San Marcos	Texas
1001+	=174	Western Michigan University	Kalamazoo	Michigan

Top 10 universities in the US (THE/WSJ US College Ranking 2021)

WSJ/THE US College Rank 2021	University	City	State
1	Harvard University	Cambridge	Massachusetts
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge	Massachusetts
3	Yale University	New Haven	Connecticut
4	Stanford University	Stanford	California
=5	Brown University	Providence	Rhode Island
=5	Duke University	Durham	North Carolina
=7	California Institute of Technology	Pasadena	California
=7	Princeton University	Princeton	New Jersey
9	Cornell University	Ithaca	New York
10	Northwestern University	Evanston	Illinois

Get free support to study in the United States

Best universities in the United States