Founded in 1636, Harvard was ranked the best university in the world in 2009. The university is the oldest educational institution in the United States and its graduates have earned over 40 Nobel Prizes. Harvard University is located on the eastern coast of the U.S. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The University of Cambridge is one of the oldest universities in the United Kingdom. It was founded when Oxford scholars, tired of constant clashes between students and the local people, fled to the north in the year 1209. Regularly among the top five best schools in the world, the University of Cambridge is comprised of 31 colleges and is located in the town of Cambridge, United Kingdom. In 2009, QS ranked the university as the second best in the world.
Yale University was founded in Connecticut on the East Coast of the United States at the turn of the 18th century. Programs include divinity, arts and sciences, law, medicine, drama and environmental studies. Students from all over the world have attended Yale University since the beginning of the 19th century. The university was voted the third-best school in the world in 2009.
Located in the heart of London, United Kingdom, University College London was ranked 4th of the best universities in the world in 2009. University programs emphasize science, biomedicine, the arts and social sciences. Its students come from nearly 140 countries around the world to participate in the university’s research-led academic programs.
One of the oldest English-speaking universities in the world, the University of Oxford tied with Imperial College London for fifth-best school in the world in 2009. Located in the small British town of Oxford, the university boasts a tutorial system in which the students meet weekly or biweekly with their professors and debate instead of participating in regular exams. The University of Oxford is made up of 39 self-governing colleges and is consistently rated as one of the five best schools in the world.
Imperial College London and the University of Oxford tied for 5th place on the list of best universities in the world in 2009, according to QS. The college was established in 1907 and is located in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Imperial College London’s programs focus on science, engineering, business and medicine.
John D. Rockefeller and the American Baptist Education Society founded the University of Chicago in 1890. In 1998, the university shifted its focus from broad inter-disciplinary education to emphasize foreign languages and cross-cultural studies. QS ranked the University of Chicago the seventh-best university in the world in 2009.
Located in New Jersey, Princeton University is the fourth-oldest university in the United States. Founded in 1746, Princeton’s faculty and alumni have been awarded over 30 Nobel Prizes in medicine, physics, peace, literature, economics and chemistry. In 2009, QS ranked Princeton University as the eight-best school in the world.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was ranked as the ninth-best university in the world overall but the best university in the world for engineering and IT programs in 2009. The institute accepted its first students in 1865 and focuses on progressing engineering, mathematics and IT and applying the research practically to real-life situations.
QS ranked the California Institute of Technology as the tenth-best school in the world in 2009. Located in Pasadena, California, CalTech boasts over 30 Nobel Prize winners and over 50 recipients of the National Medal of Science among its faculty and alumni. CalTech’s academic programs focus on science, technology and engineering.