Higher education in the United States is one of the highest quality in the world. In various world rankings, the best American universities are in the lead, only the old British Oxford and Cambridge can compete with them, but they are no longer in the first positions. American university degrees are highly regarded by employers around the world. Having received a specialty in the USA, you can count on a career in Europe and in rapidly developing Asia.
Higher education in the United States is a costly investment that will certainly pay off. But if it is not possible to pay for full tuition at a US university, you can get basic education at home, and in the US study for a master's, postgraduate or MBA programs. But in order to enter these programs, you need certain groundwork: participation in scientific and technical projects, work experience in the specialty, volunteering.
American universities offer a variety of assistance programs for talented students, up to full tuition reimbursement. Such eminent universities as Stanford, Harvard, Duke University are in the lead here. The conditions for obtaining grants can be found on the websites of the universities. Applicants can hope to receive a grant by reaching the maximum score (or close to it) when passing the SAT or ACT exams.
The Times Higher Education, a competent British education weekly, compiles its own university rankings. The Times Higher Education Ranking of the 50 Best Universities in the United States is designed to help prospective American university students.
Times Higher Education’s top 50 best universities in USA 2025
| Rank | Name Country/Region | No. of FTE Students | No. of students per staff | International Students | Female:Male Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Stanford University | 14,517 | 6.4 | 23% | 47 : 53 |
| 3 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 11,085 | 8.0 | 33% | 41 : 59 |
| 4 | Harvard University | 20,050 | 9.0 | 25% | 51 : 49 |
| 6 | Princeton University | 7,753 | 7.3 | 23% | 47 : 53 |
| 7 | California Institute of Technology | 2,240 | 6.1 | 33% | 37 : 63 |
| 9 | University of California, Berkeley | 39,991 | 17.9 | 22% | 52 : 48 |
| 10 | Yale University | 11,924 | 5.2 | 21% | 51 : 49 |
| 13 | The University of Chicago | 15,792 | 6.2 | 36% | 47 : 53 |
| 15 | Johns Hopkins University | 15,772 | 4.1 | 28% | 56 : 44 |
| 16 | University of Pennsylvania | 21,312 | 6.2 | 22% | 54 : 46 |
| 17 | Columbia University | 25,914 | 5.2 | 35% | n/a |
| 18 | University of California, Los Angeles | 42,634 | 9.6 | 15% | 56 : 44 |
| 20 | Cornell University | 23,620 | 10.0 | 24% | 51 : 49 |
| 23 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | 45,783 | 8.1 | 16% | 51 : 49 |
| 24 | Carnegie Mellon University | 13,562 | 11.9 | 44% | 44 : 56 |
| 25 | University of Washington | 49,486 | 10.1 | 16% | 56 : 44 |
| 26 | Duke University | 15,527 | 3.9 | 18% | 52 : 48 |
| 27 | New York University | 48,461 | 11.8 | 42% | 58 : 42 |
| 28 | Northwestern University | 18,894 | 13.1 | 18% | 52 : 48 |
| 34 | University of California, San Diego | 40,596 | 12.0 | 19% | 45 : 55 |
| 36 | Georgia Institute of Technology | 32,079 | 28.0 | 29% | 34 : 66 |
| 42 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 50,250 | 19.6 | 23% | 51 : 49 |
| 52 | University of Texas at Austin | 48,558 | 16.4 | 8% | 55 : 45 |
| 59 | University of California, Davis | 37,926 | 13.3 | 18% | 60 : 40 |
| 63 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 41,209 | 9.9 | 13% | n/a |
| =64 | Brown University | 9,781 | 10.3 | 19% | n/a |
| 68 | Washington University in St Louis | 13,825 | 7.3 | 22% | 52 : 48 |
| 69 | University of California, Santa Barbara | 25,540 | 27.5 | 18% | 54 : 46 |
| 72 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 30,782 | 7.7 | 8% | 60 : 40 |
| 74 | University of Southern California | 44,083 | 14.2 | 24% | 49 : 51 |
| 78 | Boston University | 26,677 | 10.8 | 29% | 58 : 42 |
| 85 | University of Minnesota | 59,556 | 11.8 | 9% | 55 : 45 |
| 86 | Purdue University West Lafayette | 42,633 | 18.3 | 17% | 44 : 56 |
| =92 | University of California, Irvine | 35,675 | 16.2 | 26% | 53 : 47 |
| =92 | Vanderbilt University | 12,971 | 3.9 | 17% | 55 : 45 |
| =99 | Ohio State University (Main campus) | 55,538 | 11.4 | 11% | 51 : 49 |
| =106 | Emory University | 13,127 | 4.0 | 19% | 61 : 39 |
| 114 | University of Maryland, College Park | 33,988 | 17.0 | 9% | 49 : 51 |
| =116 | Michigan State University | 44,514 | 16.1 | 11% | 52 : 48 |
| 118 | Texas A&M University | 64,427 | 20.5 | 6% | 47 : 53 |
| =119 | Rice University | 7,318 | 9.8 | 26% | 42 : 58 |
| 122 | Penn State (Main campus) | 45,875 | 14.2 | 15% | 48 : 52 |
| =123 | University of Massachusetts | 63,500 | 13.3 | 14% | 50 : 50 |
| 132 | University of Florida | 48,114 | 16.7 | 9% | 56 : 44 |
| 133 | University of Rochester | 9,855 | 7.3 | 34% | 50 : 50 |
| =138 | University of Colorado Boulder | 35,844 | 16.5 | 8% | 45 : 55 |
| =145 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus | 26,305 | 5.4 | 10% | 56 : 44 |
| =155 | University of Arizona | 45,517 | 19.9 | 7% | 56 : 44 |
| =161 | Dartmouth College | 6,226 | 7.4 | 16% | 49 : 51 |
| =164 | Case Western Reserve University | 10,294 | 8.8 | 25% | 51 : 49 |
