When students start the process of selecting the next college or university in their academic career, they consider many factors. Factors include location, degrees offered, tuition and overall affordability, extracurricular benefits, and more. Sometimes future college and university students, along with their parents, look at the ranking of the school when compared with other academic institutions. The following is a list of the top universities from around the world.
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena’s California Institute of Technology or Caltech is a private school established in 1891. The school affords its students with the ability to read great textbooks and work alongside the leaders in the field who wrote them. Another tremendous and unique feature is the school’s student to faculty ratio, which is three-to-one. Caltech features world-famous research centers including the Seismological Laboratory, the International Observatory Network, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Thousands of students attempting to get into the school face steep competition as the school only offers 226 spots to new freshman.
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford in the UK dates back to the 13th century. The University continues to function through the students paying full tuitions, accumulated assets, and the largest portion of its income is from research grants and contracts. The student body at Oxford is approximately 40% international. Materials produced from Oxford University Press help one in five people globally learn English.
Stanford University
Stanford University is a school located in California, in the United States. It features an expansive habitat reserve currently used to help the endangered California tiger salamander. Scientists study ecosystems at Stanford and do research for the U.S. Department of Energy. Students go there to learn at the tremendous facilities. Stanford has produced Pulitzer Prize winners, 158 National Academy of Science members, and 22 Nobel Laureates, to name a few of the successful members of the alumni.
University of Cambridge
Founded in 1209, Cambridge University in the UK is one of the world’s oldest universities. Cambridge has produced some of the world’s greatest scientific minds and mathematicians. Some of the most notable names include Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, James Watson, and Stephen Hawking. Rivaled only by Oxford in the UK, Cambridge is among the most elite research institutions globally.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Founded in 1861, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, in the United States is the producer of many successful alumni. The University has the leading science research center in the world. Like other institutions on the list, MIT has numerous Nobel Laureates, National Medal of Technology and Innovation winners, as well as MacArthur Fellows and National Medal of Science winners.
Harvard University
Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the oldest academic institution in the United States. Founded in 1636, Harvard is a university with a huge endowment fund in the billions. Harvard has an alumni pool, which features Pulitzer Prize winners, Nobel Laureates heads of states and more. People attend Harvard for its business, law, and medical schools.
Attempting to get into any of these top schools in the world is not an easy thing to accomplish. Students must have excellent academic records, extracurricular activities, and more to make it. Once inside any of these institutions students have the potential to join some of the greatest minds in history and around the world.