Stanford University

Summary

Stanford University is a private institution that was founded in 1885. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 7,019, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 8,180 acres. It utilizes a quarter-based academic calendar. Stanford University's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 4. Its tuition and fees are $46,320 (2015-16).

Stanford University’s pristine campus is located in California’s Bay Area, about 30 miles from San Francisco. Stanford offers a wide range of student organizations, including the Stanford Pre-Business Association and Stanford Solar Car Project, which designs, builds and races a solar car every two years. The Stanford Cardinals are well known for the traditional "Big Game" against Cal, an annual football competition that awards the Stanford Axe—a sought-after trophy—to the victor. Stanford also has successful programs in tennis and golf. Only freshman are required to live on campus, but students are guaranteed housing for all four years and most choose to remain on campus. Greek life at Stanford represents approximately 10 percent of the student body.

Four of Stanford University’s seven schools offer undergraduate and graduate coursework, and the remaining three serve as purely graduate schools. Graduate programs include the highly rankedSchool of Education, School of Engineering, Law School, School of Medicine and the top-ranked Graduate School of Business. The Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment oversees collaboration between environmental research, teaching and outreach. Stanford has a number of well-known theatrical and musical groups, including the Ram’s Head Theatrical Society and the Mendicants, an all-male a cappella group. Notable Stanford alumni include former U.S. President Herbert Hoover, famed NFL quarterback John Elway, actress Sigourney Weaver and golfer Tiger Woods, who began his professional career at Stanford.

Yale University

Summary

Yale University is a private institution that was founded in 1701. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 5,477, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 343 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Yale University's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 3. Its tuition and fees are $47,600 (2015-16).

Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut, is known for its excellent drama and music programs, which reach outside the classroom with student organizations such as the Yale Whiffenpoofs, a famous a cappella group, and the Yale Dramatic Association. The Yale Bulldogs compete in the Ivy League and are well known for their rivalry with Harvard. Students are assigned to live in one of 12 residential colleges during their time at Yale. Each college has a master and dean who live in the college and eat with students in the dining halls. Cultural houses provide a space for students to build a sense of cultural identity on campus.

Yale is made up of the College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and 13 professional schools. Included in the professional schools are the top ranked Law School and highly ranked School of Management, School of Medicine , School of Art and School of Nursing. The School of Drama, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Divinity School are also well-regarded graduate programs. The Yale Record is the oldest college humor magazine in the nation. Dwight Hall is an independent umbrella organization that fosters student service and activism in the local New Haven community. Yale is well known for its secret societies, the most famous of which are the Skull and Bone Society, which boasts members such as George W. Bush and John Kerry, and the Scroll and Key Society. Distinguished Yale alumni include actress Meryl Streep, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and actor Edward Norton.

Princeton University

Summary

Princeton University is a private institution that was founded in 1746. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 5,391, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 600 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Princeton University's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 1. Its tuition and fees are $43,450 (2015-16).

Princeton, the fourth-oldest college in the United States, is located in the quiet town of Princeton, New Jersey. Within the walls of its historic ivy-covered campus, Princeton offers a number of events, activities and organizations. The Princeton Tigers, members of the Ivy League, are well known for their consistently strong men's and women's lacrosse teams. Students live in one of six residential colleges that provide a residential community as well as dining services but have the option to join one of more than 10 eating clubs for their junior and senior years. The eating clubs serve as social and dining organizations for the students who join them. Princeton's unofficial motto, "In the Nation's Service and in the Service of All Nations," speaks to the university's commitment to community service.

Princeton includes highly ranked graduate programs through the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. One unique aspect of Princeton's academic program is that all undergraduate students are required to write a senior thesis. Notable alumni include U.S. President Woodrow Wilson; John Forbes Nash, subject of the 2001 film "A Beautiful Mind"; model/actress Brooke Shields; and first lady Michelle Obama. According to Princeton legend, if a student exits campus through FitzRandolph Gate prior to graduation, he or she may be cursed never to graduate

University of California--Los Angeles

Summary

The University of California—Los Angeles, commonly referred to as UCLA, is a public institution that was founded in 1919. It is one of the most applied-to universities in the U.S. Upward of 41,000 students attend the university, and around 70 percent of them study at the undergraduate level. Roughly 12 percent of undergraduates and more than 20 percent of graduate students at UCLA are international. Students who are not California residents must pay a supplemental tuition. UCLA guarantees three years of housing to freshman undergraduates, and some university housing is available for graduate students as well.

Undergraduate studies take place across five academic divisions at UCLA: letters and science; arts and architecture; engineering and applied science; nursing; and theater, film and television. Some of the most popular majors for undergraduate students are political science, business economics and biology. Among the university’s highly ranked graduate schools are the Anderson School of Management, the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the university’s primary teaching hospital, is a highly regarded medical facility. Most of the university’s schools use a quarter-based academic calendar, and English is the language of instruction. Since 2009-2010, the university has received an average of $1 billion for research each year. UCLA has more than 350 research labs, centers and institutes, and nearly 300 of these facilities are dedicated to medical research. Undergraduates can assist faculty with research at UCLA – and earn academic credit – by participating in the Student Research Program.

California Institute of Technology

Summary

The California Institute of Technology, known as Caltech, was founded in 1891 as Throop University and received its current name in 1920. The science and engineering-focused school is located in Pasadena, California, roughly 11 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The student body numbers a little more than 2,000, and around 55 percent of students study at the graduate level. The student-faculty ratio is very low, at 3:1. Around 10 percent of Caltech undergraduates and 40 percent of graduate students are international. The school’s academic calendar is based on the quarter system and English is the language of instruction.

Caltech has six academic divisions, many of which have highly ranked graduate programs: biology and biological engineering; chemistry and chemical engineering; engineering and applied science; geology and planetary sciences; humanities and social sciences; and physics, mathematics and astronomy. The university guarantees housing for all first-year undergraduate and graduate students. Instead of typical undergraduate residence halls like those found at many U.S. universities, there are eight undergraduate houses, each with its own government and special traditions. Newly admitted graduate students are given priority for housing in the on-campus Catalina Apartments. 

Around 80 percent of undergraduates participate in research during their time at Caltech. The university offers a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships program where students write research proposals, collaborate with mentors and give presentations on their projects. Caltech has around 50 research institutes and centers, such as the Resnick Sustainability Institute and the Tectonics Observatory. Additionally, the university operates NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a center for robotic exploration of the solar system that engages both faculty and students.

University of Cambridge

Summary

The University of Cambridge, located around 60 miles north of London, traces its history back to 1209. Around 19,000 students attend the university and more than 35 percent of them study at the graduate level. There are six schools: arts and humanities; biological sciences; clinical medicine; humanities and social sciences; physical sciences; and technology. Dozens of academic departments and other divisions constitute these schools. The academic calendar at Cambridge is divided into three terms – Michaelmas (fall), Lent (winter) and Easter (spring). English is the language of instruction at the university.

Cambridge contains 31 residential colleges, which are responsible for admitting undergraduate and graduate students; three colleges – Lucy Cavendish College, Murray Edwards College and Newnham College – are women-only. Some small-group instruction for undergraduates also takes place at the colleges. Most undergraduate students at the University of Cambridge are guaranteed college housing for at least three years. Many new graduate students can also utilize college housing. Around 20 percent of the student body is from outside of the European Union; tuition costs are higher for non-EU students and vary depending on the field of study. Cambridge has more than 100 libraries, including college and department libraries. The university has around 140 centers and institutes that contribute to different areas of research, such as the Centre of African Studies; the Cambridge Centre for Economic and Public Policy; and the Institute of Theoretical Geophysics. In a recent year, the university received around $415 million in research grants and contracts.

Stanford University

Summary

Stanford University was founded in 1885 and is located in California’s Bay Area, around 30 miles south of San Francisco. Total student enrollment is around 16,000, and more than half of the student body studies at the graduate level. Seven schools comprise the university, many of which are highly ranked for graduate-level studies. Three of the schools offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees: humanities and sciences; earth sciences; and engineering. The business, law, education and medical schools offer only graduate-level degrees.

Stanford’s academic calendar is based on a quarter system and the language of instruction is English. Around 8 percent of the undergraduate student body is international, as is around 30 percent of the graduate student population. Housing is guaranteed for four years for undergraduates who enter as freshmen, and more than 90 percent of undergrads live on campus. Stanford also guarantees first-year housing for new graduate students. More than 60 percent of graduate students live on campus, as well as around 30 percent of faculty members. Stanford’s library system, which supports 20 libraries, comprises more than 9.3 million physical volumes. Research funding at Stanford has topped $1 billion, including funds from the federal government for projects at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy lab operated by Stanford. Scientists from all over the world – around 3,400 of them annually – take advantage of SLAC’s facilities. Upward of 1,000 scientific papers based on research conducted at the lab are published each year.

University of California--Berkeley

Summary

The University of California—Berkeley is situated roughly 15 miles from San Francisco in what is known as the Bay Area. The public university, also commonly known as Berkeley or Cal, was founded in 1868 and has a student body of around 37,000. More than 70 percent of Berkeley students study at the undergraduate level. The university is divided into 14 colleges and schools, including the highly ranked Haas School of Business, College of Chemistry, College of Engineering, School of Public Health and School of Law. The academic calendar is semester-based and English is the language of instruction.

UC—Berkeley offers students around 350 degree programs. Some of the most popular majors for Berkeley undergraduates have included electrical engineering and computer science; economics; political science; business administration; and psychology. Around a quarter of undergraduate students live on campus, including some 95 percent of freshmen. Many graduate students live off campus, but they have the option to live in university-owned accommodations. Roughly 16 percent of the student body is international, and tuition and fees are higher for out-of-state students. Around 3,000 international scholars come to Berkeley each year in temporary teaching or research positions. Berkeley research is conducted not just within academic department labs and research centers but also in some of the school’s museums and university-managed biological field stations. Research in botany, zoology, ecosystems and forestry is undertaken at the remote field station sites. Berkeley researchers discovered several of the elements on the periodic table, including californium and berkelium.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Summary

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded in 1861, is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston. About 11,000 students attend the university, with around 60 percent studying at the graduate level. MIT contains five schools: architecture and planning; engineering; humanities, arts, and social sciences; management; and science. English is the language of instruction at MIT. The academic calendar is a 4-1-4 system with a four-week “Independent Activities Period” in January. During this period, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and alumni participate in forums, lecture series, recitals and other special activities.

Approximately 40 percent of the graduate student body and about 10 percent of undergraduates at MIT are international. First-year undergraduate students are the only ones required to live on campus but many students further along in their studies choose to reside on campus as well. There are many opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students to gain research experience at one of MIT’s many labs or centers, including the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, one of the largest university research reactors in the U.S. Nearly 90 percent of MIT undergraduates participate in the school’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, which partners students and faculty for research projects. More than $675 million was spent on research at MIT in a recent year, with additional federal funding going to MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, a Department of Defense research and development lab focused on technological solutions to national security issues.

Harvard University

Summary

Founded in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest higher education institution in the U.S. Around 21,000 students attend Harvard, and the bulk of them – about 14,500 – study at the graduate level. More than 20 percent of the university’s students are international. Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but also has facilities such as the Harvard Medical School based in the nearby city of Boston. The university has the largest endowment of any school in the world. Harvard research takes place across a range of disciplines in more than 100 centers.

The university is made up of the undergraduate college, as well as 11 other degree-granting institutions including the highly ranked Business School, Graduate School of Education, Law School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. The medical school is affiliated with several teaching hospitals, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. For Harvard undergraduates, the most popular majors include social sciences, biology/biological sciences, history, math and psychology. The university’s academic calendar is semester-based and English is the language of instruction. Most undergraduate students live on campus for all four years, first residing around the Harvard Yard at the center of campus as freshmen and then in one of 12 undergraduate houses for the duration of their studies. Some university housing is available for graduate students. The Harvard Library is the largest academic library in the world, boasting around 19 million volumes at its more than 70 libraries.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is a highly focused science and engineering research and education institution located in Pasadena, CA. It is home to approximately 2,300 students and 300 faculty, and boasts 31 Nobel laureates among its past and current faculty and alumni. Caltech manages the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA, and owns and operates a global network of astronomical observatories and research facilities.

Overall score: 95.1

2011 ranking: 12