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Top Universities in the USA 2021
The USA is currently the most popular overseas study destination, with over 750,000 international students pursuing their dream course in a wide variety of quality universities.
A number of American institutions are ranked highly by university ranking providers such as QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings, achieving high consistency in aspects like research output and stellar contributions to respective industries.
Apart from its excellent higher education offerings, the USA offers an abundance of activities - both city-bound and nature-themed - to satisfy the needs of those who wish to explore and immerse in new experiences.
For those who are seeking to pursue your foundation, undergraduate or postgraduate pathways in the USA, university rankings can provide a sense of whether the institution is right for you.
Ranking providers like the QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World (THE) University Rankings are globally recognised, often used by students as part of their research before applying to study abroad.
With that, we’ve compiled the top universities in the USA for 2021 below, with data from the latest QS World University Rankings and THE World University Rankings.
QS Top Universities in the USA 2021
| Rank | University | Global Rank |
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | 1 |
| 2 | Stanford University | 2 |
| 3 | Harvard University | 3 |
| 4 | California Institute of Technology (Caltech) | 4 |
| 5 | University of Chicago | 9 |
| 6 | Princeton University | 12 |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania | 16 |
| 8 | Yale University | 17 |
| 9 | Cornell University 18 | 18 |
| 10 | Columbia University | 19 |
| 11 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | 21 |
| 12 | Johns Hopkins University | 25 |
| 13 | Northwestern University | 29 |
| 14 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | 30 |
| 15 | New York University (NYU) | 35 |
| 16 | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | 36 |
| 17 | Duke University | 42 |
| 18 | Carnegie Mellon University | 51 |
| 19 | University of California, San Diego (UCSD) | 54 |
| 20 | Brown University | 60 |
THE Top Universities in the USA 2021
| Rank | University | Global Rank |
| 1 | Stanford University | 2 |
| 2 | Harvard University | 3 |
| 3 | California Institute of Technology | 4 |
| 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 5 |
| 5 | University of California, Berkeley | 7 |
| 6 | Yale University | 8 |
| 7 | Princeton University | 9 |
| 8 | The University of Chicago | 10 |
| 9 | John Hopkins University | 12 |
| 10 | University of Pennsylvania | 13 |
| 11 | Columbia University | 17 |
| 12 | Columbia University | 17 |
| 13 | Cornell University | 19 |
| 14 | Duke University | 20 |
| 15 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | 22 |
| 16 | Northwestern University | 24 |
| 17 | New York University | 26 |
| 18 | Carnegie Mellon University | 28 |
| 19 | University of Washington | 29 |
| 20 | University of California, San Diego | 33 |
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