Based on consistent rankings from U.S. News, QS, and THE.

1. 🟥 Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts Founded: 1636 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~3.4% Enrollment: ~23,000

Most Influential Majors

• Economics
• Government
• Law
• Medicine
• Business

Top Alumni (Verified)

• Barack Obama – J.D., Harvard Law School
• Mark Zuckerberg – Studied Computer Science (no degree)
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg – LL.B., Harvard/Columbia Law
• Bill Gates – Studied Mathematics/CS (no degree)

2. 🟦 Stanford University

Location: Stanford, California Founded: 1885 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~3.7% Enrollment: ~17,000

Most Influential Majors

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Business
• Economics

Top Alumni

• Elon Musk – Attended for Ph.D. (left early)
• Sergey Brin – Ph.D. Computer Science
• Reed Hastings – M.S. Computer Science
• Sally Ride – Ph.D. Physics

3. 🟨 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts Founded: 1861 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~4.1% Enrollment: ~11,000

Most Influential Majors

• Engineering
• Computer Science
• Physics
• Mathematics

Top Alumni

• Kofi Annan – M.S. Management
• Buzz Aldrin – Sc.D. Astronautics
• Richard Feynman – B.S. Physics
• I. M. Pei – Architecture studies

4. 🟪 Yale University

Location: New Haven, Connecticut Founded: 1701 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~4.5% Enrollment: ~14,500

Most Influential Majors

• Political Science
• History
• Law
• Economics

Top Alumni

• George H. W. Bush – B.A. Economics
• Hillary Clinton – J.D., Yale Law
• Meryl Streep – M.F.A., Yale Drama
• Fareed Zakaria – Ph.D. Political Science

5. 🟧 Princeton University

Location: Princeton, New Jersey Founded: 1746 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~4.4% Enrollment: ~8,300

Most Influential Majors

• Public Policy
• Economics
• Mathematics
• Physics

Top Alumni

• Jeff Bezos – B.S. Electrical Engineering & CS
• Michelle Obama – B.A. Sociology
• Alan Turing – Visiting fellow (not a degree)
• Woodrow Wilson – Ph.D. Political Science

6. 🟩 University of Chicago

Location: Chicago, Illinois Founded: 1890 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~5% Enrollment: ~18,000

Most Influential Majors

• Economics
• Political Science
• Mathematics
• Sociology

Top Alumni

• Milton Friedman – Professor (not alumnus)
• Bernie Sanders – B.A. Political Science
• Carl Sagan – Ph.D. Astronomy
• Katherine Dunham – B.A./M.A. Anthropology

7. 🟫 Columbia University

Location: New York City, New York Founded: 1754 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~4% Enrollment: ~33,000

Most Influential Majors

• Journalism
• Political Science
• Engineering
• Economics

Top Alumni

• Barack Obama – B.A. Political Science
• Alexander Hamilton – Attended King’s College (Columbia predecessor)
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg – LL.B., Columbia Law
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Studied Eastern Religions

8. 🟦 University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Founded: 1740 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~5.8% Enrollment: ~22,000

Most Influential Majors

• Business (Wharton)
• Economics
• Nursing
• Engineering

Top Alumni

• Elon Musk – B.S. Physics & B.S. Economics
• Donald Trump – B.S. Economics (Wharton)
• John Legend – B.A. English
• Noam Chomsky – B.A. Linguistics

9. 🟩 California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Location: Pasadena, California Founded: 1891 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~3% Enrollment: ~2,400

Most Influential Majors

• Physics
• Engineering
• Chemistry
• Mathematics

Top Alumni

• Gordon Moore – Ph.D. Chemistry
• Frank Capra – B.S. Chemical Engineering
• Charles Richter – Ph.D. Physics
• Adam D’Angelo – Studied CS (attended briefly)

10. 🟦 Duke University

Location: Durham, North Carolina Founded: 1838 Type: Private Acceptance Rate: ~6% Enrollment: ~17,000

Most Influential Majors

• Public Policy
• Biology
• Economics
• Engineering

Top Alumni

• Tim Cook – M.B.A., Duke Fuqua
• Melinda French Gates – B.S. Computer Science & Economics
• Richard Nixon – J.D., Duke Law
• Ken Jeong