The United States is rightfully known as home to most of the world's finest colleges and universities. However, there are literally thousands of institutions of higher education of varying quality throughout the country. Below is a selection of some of the country's best colleges and universities.
The Ivy League
The schools of the Ivy League remain the gold standard for a liberal arts or sciences education. All eight of the schools that are members of the Ivy League are located in one of seven northeastern states. The country's oldest university, Harvard, is often considered to be the best. Another Ivy League school, Yale University, is particularly highly regarded for its drama program. Regardless of which one of the Ivy League schools one attended, the student would be well served.
Technological Schools
For students particularly interested in engineering or science degrees, the best two colleges to consider are:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and
- California Institute of Technology (CalTech).
CalTech has one of the lowest faculty-to-student ratios in the country. It also works with NASA and the National Science Foundation on a number of research projects. MIT, just across the river from Harvard, has research projects with the Departments of Defense, and Health and Human Services. MIT also has excellent schools of business management and economics.
In addition to these excellent universities, there are also smaller institutions, colleges, where one can find a rigorous liberal arts curriculum
- Williams College and
- Amherst College.
These are both in Massachusetts, are two of the country's best. Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and Bowdoin College in Maine also have long histories of academic excellence.
While all the previously mentioned schools are on either the east or west coast, one should not overlook the high number of excellent education institutions located throughout the interior of the United States. Professors from the University of Chicago, for instance, regularly win the most prestigious international awards in the fields of physics and economics. This university is also home to some of the most influential political philosophers. Just outside Chicago is Northwestern University, which is well-known for its journalism school.
The Research Triangle
The southern state of North Carolina is home to The Research Triangle. Here you can find three of the best universities in the USA
- University of North Carolina,
- North Carolina State, and
- Duke.
These three are also well known due to their exploits with college basketball.
On Top Down South
Among the many Texas colleges, Rice University in Houston is routinely ranked in the top 20 American universities. It has many strong programs, but its music and architecture schools are considered especially noteworthy. Two other popular Texas schools are among the country's finest. Baylor University is a private Baptist institution that strongly emphasizes both education and community service among its students. Texas A&M may be more well known for its football team, but also has excellent agriculture and veterinary programs.
The Top 10 Colleges
Here is a unanimous list of the 10 best colleges in the USA.
- Harvard
- Princeton
- Yale
- Columbia
- CIT
- MIT
- Stanford
- University of Chicago
- University of Pennsylvania
- Duke
Many of these colleges were on the list 100 years ago but you shouldn’t enroll here just because it’s on the list. You should only do so if it’s the best one for you. When it comes to deciding what is the best college for you, this really depends on your circumstances.
Factors such as what you are studying and what you want to do with your life post-college. Also location and cost are two other relevant factors.
If you make the decision based around you and not peer group pressure you are sure to have a fantastic college experience.
