Top Universities in the USA 2020

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 2020 below, with data from the latest QS World University Rankings and THE World University Rankings.

QS Top Universities in the USA

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)	5
5	University of Chicago	10
6	Princeton University	13
7	Cornell University	14
8	University of Pennsylvania	15
9	Yale University	17
10	Columbia University	18
11	University of Michigan	21
12	Johns Hopkins University	24
13	Duke University	25
14	University of California, Berkeley (UCB)	28
15	Northwestern University	31
16	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	35
17	New York University (NYU)	39
18	University of California, San Diego (UCSD)	45
19	Carnegie Mellon University	48
20	University of Wisconsin-Madison	56

THE Top Universities in the USA

Rank	University	Global Rank
1	California Institute of Technology	2
2	Stanford University	4
3	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	5
4	Princeton University	6
5	Harvard University	7
6	Yale University	8
7	University of Chicago	9
8	University of Pennsylvania	11
9	John Hopkins University	12
10	University of California, Berkeley	13
11	Columbia University	16
12	University of California, Los Angeles	17
13	Cornell University	19
14	Duke University	20
15	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	21
16	Northwestern University	22
17	University of Washington	26
18	Carnegie Mellon University	27
19	New York University	29
20	University of California, San Diego	31