California had nine universities in the US News & World Report's top 50. The list included private universities such as the University of Southern California, California Institute of Technology and Stanford University. Six branches of the public University of California system made the list, as well, including the campuses at Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Davis, Santa Barbara and Irvine.
New York was home to six of the nation's top 50 universities, according to US News & World Report's ranking methodology. Household names such as Columbia University, Cornell University and New York University all made the 2011 top 50 list. Lesser known, but still highly-touted institutions such as the University of Rochester, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Yeshiva University also ranked in the top 50 research universities. All of New York state's schools listed were private institutions of higher learning, with none of the state's publicly-funded schools making the list.
Massachusetts had the third-highest number of universities listed in the US News & World Report's top 50 list with five institutions making the cut. Harvard University took the top spot in 2011, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, Boston College and Brandeis University also made the list. Massachusetts, like New York, only had its private colleges listed in the top 50 while state-funded schools such as the University of Massachusetts at Amherst fell short of the top 50 designation.
Pennsylvania had the fourth-highest number of universities in the US News & World Report top 50 thanks to the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University, Lehigh University and Penn State University. North Carolina and Illinois each had three universities making the cut: Duke University, Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Illinois was represented by the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign. Texas, Georgia and Virginia each had two schools listed in the US News & World Report top 50. Rice University and the University of Texas - Austin represented the Lone Star state, while Georgia's representation came from Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary gave Virginia its accolades.