Top internationally-ranked universities
Universities (1 - 5)
| Best price |
| Harvard University | University of Cambridge | Stanford University | Tsinghua University | University of Toronto | Yale University | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | University College London | National University of Singapore | University of California, Berkeley | |
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| U.S. News rankingThe U.S. News World's Best Universities rankings, based on the QS World University Rankings, evaluated schools in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, China, and more, and identified these to be the world's top universities. Source: U.S. News, 2024. | ||||||||||
| U.S. News rankingThe U.S. News World's Best Universities rankings, based on the QS World University Rankings, evaluated schools in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, China, and more, and identified these to be the world's top universities. Source: U.S. News, 2024. | 3 | 2 | 15 | 28 | 16 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 25 | 22 |
| Position on Times Higher Education rankingThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual ranking published by the British magazine “Times Higher Education”. Information is supplied by Thomson Reuters and provides performance based data. Main ranking indicators are based on the universities' core missions- teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. | ||||||||||
| Position on Times Higher Education rankingThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual ranking published by the British magazine “Times Higher Education”. Information is supplied by Thomson Reuters and provides performance based data. Main ranking indicators are based on the universities' core missions- teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. | 4 | 7 | 2 | 20 | 21 | 11 | 20 | 17 | 29 | 9 |
| Forbes rankAccording to the Forbes' annual list of America’s 650 Top Colleges. The rankings focus on the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, great career prospects, high graduation rates and low-levels of debt. Source: Forbes, 2024. | ||||||||||
| Forbes rankAccording to the Forbes' annual list of America’s 650 Top Colleges. The rankings focus on the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, great career prospects, high graduation rates and low-levels of debt. Source: Forbes, 2024. | 8 | N.A. | 1 | N.A. | N.A. | 4 | 30 | N.A. | N.A. | 1 |
| ARWU rankThe Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) uses six objective indicators to rank world universities. These indicators include the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution. Source: ARWU, 2024. | ||||||||||
| ARWU rankThe Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) uses six objective indicators to rank world universities. These indicators include the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution. Source: ARWU, 2024. | 1 | 5 | 2 | 29 | 28 | 11 | 23 | 22 | 114 | 3 |
| Tuition fees per yearTuition payments, known primarily as tuition, refer to the annual fee charged for educational instruction during higher education. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | ||||||||||
| Tuition fees per yearTuition payments, known primarily as tuition, refer to the annual fee charged for educational instruction during higher education. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | 39 966.00$ | 13 662.00$ | 41 250.00$ | N.A. | 8 998.00$ | 42 300.00$ | 12 634.00$ | 13 519.00$ | 6 007.00$ | 62 000.00$ |
| Tuition fees per year for international studentsTuition payments, known primarily as tuition, refer to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | ||||||||||
| Tuition fees per year for international studentsTuition payments, known primarily as tuition, refer to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | 39 966.00$ | 27 802.00$ | 41 250.00$ | 34 400.00$ | 26 983.00$ | 42 300.00$ | 37 782.00$ | 22 156.00$ | 12 014.00$ | 35 752.00$ |
| Admission rateAn admission rate shows the percentage of applicants that was accepted by university. Low acceptance rate makes it difficult to get a place, but also can indicate the prestige and high education level. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | ||||||||||
| Admission rateAn admission rate shows the percentage of applicants that was accepted by university. Low acceptance rate makes it difficult to get a place, but also can indicate the prestige and high education level. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | 6% | 21.5% | 6.6% | 16% | 43% | 7.1% | 37% | 10% | 5% | 25.6% |
| Enrolled international studentsThe percentage of international students among all students show if the university is attractive abroad and the level of diversity. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | ||||||||||
| Enrolled international studentsThe percentage of international students among all students show if the university is attractive abroad and the level of diversity. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | 20% | 19% | 7.4% | 13% | 11.4% | 18% | 13.5% | 31% | N.A. | 15% |
| Extracurricular activitiesA wide range of extracurricular activities, like sports, drama, choir classes, research trips, ect. shows that university supports not only academical interests of students but also their hobbies. Source: university's official website, 2024. | ||||||||||
| Extracurricular activitiesA wide range of extracurricular activities, like sports, drama, choir classes, research trips, ect. shows that university supports not only academical interests of students but also their hobbies. Source: university's official website, 2024. | 440 | 353 | 687 | N.A. | 1017 | 438 | 1065 | 210 | 65 | 725 |
| Student to staff ratioA measure of the average staffing level in the university. Shows how many students fall for one staff member. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | ||||||||||
| Student to staff ratioA measure of the average staffing level in the university. Shows how many students fall for one staff member. Source: university's official statistics, 2024. | 7:1 | N.A. | 5:1 | 11.6:1 | N.A. | 6:1 | 16:1 | 9:1 | N.A. | 17:1 |
| Nobel laureats staffSource: Nobel Prize's website, 2024. | ||||||||||
| Nobel laureats staffSource: Nobel Prize's website, 2024. | 66 | 59 | 36 | N.A. | 3 | 9 | 12 | 18 | N.A. | 28 |
Thinking about attending university? The first question is often “What do I want to study?” Then, it’s followed by the question “Where do I want to study?” Depending on what you want to study, you might find that there are certain universities with programs suited to your academic career path. However, if your goal is to attend a top-ranked university in the hopes of impressing future employers with a bit of clout, you’ll need to take a look at some international rankings.
What are academic rankings?
A good indicator of the quality of your studies and the prospects for your future is the ranking of a university. The ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities) uses six objective indicators to rank universities: the number of highly cited researchers, the number of Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals won by the university's students and staff, the number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, and other criteria.
These types of academic rankings work to compare various different aspects of university life on a scale that is more equal for international universities. Because each country has a bit of a different academic system, these rankings serve to balance out the playing field and allow prospective students to compare universities according to top features that matter the most in terms of academics.
U.S. News ranking
Aside from the Academic Ranking of World Universities, we look at two major ranking systems to rank international universities on Versus: the U.S. News ranking and the Times Higher Education ranking. The former is titled the U.S. News World's Best Universities rankings and gets released each fall. They use the QS World University Rankings to score universities, which looks at academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, the number of international students and faculty, plus the number of citations in academic papers per faculty.
Times Higher Education ranking
Whereas the U.S. News ranking is an American ranking system, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual ranking published by the British magazine “Times Higher Education.” Information is supplied by Thomson Reuters and provides performance-based data. According to Times Higher Education, the rankings are divided into different categories: Teaching (the learning environment); Research (volume, income, and reputation); Citations (research influence); International outlook (staff, students, and research); and Industry Income (knowledge transfer).
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