The 10 Most Prestigious Universities in the World

 

Among the various interesting rankings that are periodically released, there is also that relating to the best universities in the world. While there are several studies on the subject, we base our ranking on one of the most reliable, the one written by the Times Higher Education magazine that is related to the most prestigious universities in the world in 2015. The ranking has evaluated over 140 countries participants in the research and here are the 10 most prestigious universities in the world.

Classification Criteria

The ranking is based on the collection of purely subjective data coming from authoritative people such as senior lecturers and academics. The classification is based on a score ranging from 0 to 100 which is the average of the score for teaching and score for research.

10. Columbia University, USA

Founded as a royal college, Columbia University is the oldest university in New York State and one of the longest-lived in the entire USA. Over 80 students who studied at this university later became famous in different fields.

Foundation year: 1754
Famous students: Barack Obama, Joseph Stiglitz, Franklin Roosevelt
Score: 21.0

9. California Institute of Technology, USA

It’s a very renowned institute in science, engineering, and research. Many of the famous physicists, chemists, biologists, scientists, and engineers have received their education right here.

Foundation year: 1891
Famous students: Edwin McMillan, C. Gordon Fullerton, Carver Mead
Score: 24.1

8. Yale University, USA

It’s a private research university and the third oldest institute in all of the USA. It was the first university to award the title of Doctorate in America, in 1861. The course of study covers several disciplines, from humanities and arts to social sciences and foreign languages.

Foundation year: 1701
Famous students: George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush
Score: 33.1

7. Princeton University, USA

Founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey, the University took its current name in 1896 in honor of the area where it’s located. The number of students is quite modest, around 10,000 with about 12% of the students coming from other countries.

Foundation year: 1746
Famous students: David Gross, Richard Feynman, Angus Deaton
Score: 35.0

6. University of California, Berkeley, USA

Part of the University of California, Berkley is located in the San Francisco Bay area. It currently has around 27,000 undergraduates and over 10,000 doctoral students. As many as 19 Berkeley students have won Nobel Prizes, especially in the fields of chemistry, physics, and economics.

Foundation year: 1868
Famous students: Saul Perlmutter, Gregory Peck, Joan Didion
Score: 60.0

5. Stanford University, USA

As many as 21 Nobel laureates have come out of this university and many graduates have founded or taken part in companies such as Yahoo, Nike, Instagram, Snapchat, PayPal, and Netflix.

Foundation year: 1885
Famous students: Herbert Hoover, Sally Ride
Score: 72.1

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

It’s a private university located in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The university boasts as many as 85 Nobel laureates, plus a number of other laureates, especially in science and technology.

Foundation year: 1861
Famous students: Kofi Annan, Drew Houston, Joseph Stiglitz
Score: 77.8

3. University of Oxford, UK

We move to the UK to talk about the University of Oxford. It’s the oldest university in the UK and the English-speaking world. The date of foundation is not known with certainty, but the first traces of teaching date back to 1096. It’s located in the medieval center of Oxford.

Foundation year: 1096
Famous students: Stephen Hawking, Hugh Grant, Oscar Wilde
Score: 80.4

2. University of Cambridge, UK

The University of Cambridge hosts over 18,000 students from all over the world, as much as from 120 different countries. It’s divided into 31 autonomous colleges and 92 exponents have won the Nobel Prize.

Foundation year: 1209
Famous Students: Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton
Score: 84.3

1. Harvard University, USA

In the first place, we find the USA-based renowned Harvard University. It’s the oldest university in the USA and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard is also home to the largest academic library in the world, with 400 million manuscripts.

Foundation year: 1636
Famous Students: Mark Zuckerberg, Matt Damon, Bill Gates
Score: 100.0