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Best Universities in United States 2026

A consensus ranking of 223 universities in United States, aggregating QS, THE, ARWU (Shanghai) and U.S. News into one transparent table. Part of our <a href="/rankings/country/">global rankings by country</a> coverage (North America).

Data verified: June 2026 · Latest published edition of each ranking
How these rankings work: each university's position in QS, THE, ARWU and U.S. News is converted to a percentile, averaged with equal weight, and re-ordered by that average. Only universities appearing in at least one major ranking are shown. Full details on the methodology page.
#University QS 2026THE 2026ARWU 2025U.S. News 2026 Consensus score
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge 1 2 3 2 99.9
2 Harvard University · Cambridge 5 3 1 1 99.9
3 Stanford University · Stanford 3 6 2 3 99.8
4 University of California, Berkeley · Berkeley 17 9 5 6 99.5
5 Princeton University · Princeton 25 4 7 16 99.3
6 California Institute of Technology · Pasadena 10 7 9 23 99.3
7 Yale University · New Haven 21 10 11 9 99.2
8 University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia 15 14 14 15 99.1
9 University of Chicago · Chicago 13 15 10 26 99.1
10 Cornell University · Ithaca 16 20 12 16 99
11 Columbia University 38 20 8 10 99
12 Johns Hopkins University · Baltimore 24 16 19 14 98.9
13 University of California, San Francisco · · 21 16 98.6
14 University of California, Los Angeles · Los Angeles 46 19 16 13 98.6
15 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor · Ann Arbor 45 23 · 21 98.5
16 Northwestern University · Evanston 42 30 31 24 98
17 University of Washington 81 25 17 31 97.9
18 New York University · New York 55 26 28 32 97.9
19 University of California, San Diego 66 47 20 21 97.8
20 Duke University · Durham 62 28 46 27 97.4
21 University of Texas at Austin 68 50 49 65 96.5
22 Rockefeller University · · 29 104 95.9
23 University of Wisconsin, Madison 110 · 36 72 95.8
24 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 140 78 39 51 95.7
25 Washington University in St Louis 167 67 26 · 95.2
26 University of Illinois Urbana, Champaign 70 · 53 109 95.2
27 Carnegie Mellon University · Pittsburgh 52 24 101-150 126 94.3
28 University of Minnesota, Twin Cities 210 88 51 72 94.1
29 University of Southern California 146 · 68 77 94
30 University of California, Santa Barbara 179 72 70 91 94
31 University of Maryland, College Park 207 · 55 72 93.5
32 University of California, Davis 114 64 101-150 96 93.4
33 Brown University 69 65 101-150 150 93.3
34 Pennsylvania State University, University Park 82 · 101-150 91 92.9
35 Boston University 88 · 101-150 86 92.9
36 Vanderbilt University 250 · 62 66 92.7
37 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · · 101-150 40 92.7
38 University of Minnesota 210 88 · · 92.5
39 Purdue University West Lafayette 88 85 101-150 173 92.5
40 Emory University 182 102 101-150 69 92.5
41 University of California, Irvine 293 97 79 96 92
42 University of Pittsburgh 281 · 88 52 91.5
43 University of Colorado Boulder 299 159 62 107 91.4
44 Georgia Institute of Technology 123 · 151-200 79 90.8
45 Rice University 119 · 101-150 219 90.2
46 Michigan State University 161 · 151-200 133 89.2
47 University of Florida 212 · 151-200 109 88.8
48 Arizona State University 173 225 151-200 192 88.2
49 Indiana University, Bloomington 306 · 101-150 163 88
50 University of Arizona 287 · 151-200 115 87.5
51 University of Rochester 236 127 201-300 201 86.7
52 Rutgers University–New Brunswick 328 325 · 156 86.5
53 Case Western Reserve University 294 · 151-200 176 86.3
54 Northeastern University, US 384 225 · 220 86.2
55 North Carolina State University 272 325 · 269 85.6
56 University of Virginia 275 · 201-300 137 84.8
57 University of Massachusetts, Amherst 247 · 201-300 162 84.8
58 University of Utah 540 225 151-200 141 84.3
59 University of California, Santa Cruz 458 · 151-200 133 84.3
60 Baylor College of Medicine · · 201-300 131 84.2
61 Texas A&M University 144 · 201-300 · 83.9
62 Tufts University 334 189 201-300 296 83.5
63 University at Buffalo · 325 · 369 82.7
64 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University · 275 201-300 281 82.4
65 Oregon Health & Science University · 375 201-300 196 82.1
66 Dartmouth College 247 180 301-400 326 81.8
67 University of Miami 314 225 301-400 234 81.6
68 University of California, Riverside 440 325 201-300 242 81.2
69 George Washington University 358 225 301-400 245 80.9
70 University of Notre Dame 294 194 301-400 407 80.1
71 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston · · 201-300 323 79.4
72 University of South Carolina-Columbia · 450 · 390 79
73 University of Connecticut 534 375 201-300 292 78.7
74 Stony Brook University 452 325 301-400 226 78.7
75 Georgetown University 285 225 401-500 302 78.6
76 University of Illinois Chicago 334 225 401-500 261 78.5
77 University of Iowa 530 325 301-400 238 77.6
78 University of Kansas 465 375 301-400 340 76.5
79 Florida State University 549 325 301-400 310 76.4
80 University of Houston 556 450 201-300 416 76
81 University of Delaware 553 450 201-300 455 75.5
82 University of Hawaii at Manoa 546 275 301-400 483 74.9
83 Oregon State University 624 · 201-300 399 74.6
84 Colorado State University 458 550 301-400 340 74.4
85 University of Massachusetts 951-1000 112 · · 72.8
86 University of Cincinnati 721-730 · 301-400 207 72.8
87 Iowa State University 449 450 401-500 380 72.8
88 Washington State University 423 450 401-500 416 72.6
89 Illinois Institute of Technology 591 325 · 785 71.6
90 University of South Florida 654 375 401-500 357 71.4
91 University of Nebraska-Lincoln 711-720 550 · 490 70.7
92 University of Kentucky 781-790 450 301-400 407 70.7
93 University of Missouri, Columbia 697 · 201-300 · 70.1
94 Boston College 526 275 501-600 518 69.8
95 University of Maryland, Baltimore · · 401-500 310 69.7
96 University of Colorado at Denver 851-900 · 201-300 440 69.7
97 Temple University 721-730 450 401-500 360 69.5
98 George Mason University 951-1000 450 201-300 510 69.5
99 The University of Georgia 525 · 301-400 · 69.3
100 Virginia Commonwealth University 901-950 450 301-400 411 68.9
101 University of Texas at Dallas 597 450 401-500 537 68.9
102 University of Central Florida 701-710 450 401-500 434 68.9
103 Brandeis University 741-750 450 301-400 · 68.4
104 Tulane University 597 450 501-600 394 68.2
105 Louisiana State University 851-900 700 · 385 67.3
106 University of Alabama at Birmingham 1001-1200 · 301-400 170 67.1
107 Missouri University of Science and Technology 628 550 · 839 66.4
108 American University 587 700 · 747 66.1
109 University of Oregon 751-760 450 501-600 411 66
110 Saint Louis University 951-1000 450 · 623 65.9
111 Drexel University 711-720 450 501-600 493 65.5
112 Wake Forest University 791-800 450 501-600 497 64.5
113 Florida International University 582 450 601-700 504 64.5
114 The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio · · 501-600 366 63.3
115 Stevens Institute of Technology 673 550 · 1014 62.7
116 Rush University · 450 601-700 500 62.5
117 University of Arkansas · 700 · 806 62.3
118 Colorado School of Mines 571 450 601-700 755 61.5
119 University of California, Merced · 450 501-600 763 61.4
120 Rochester Institute of Technology 951-1000 700 · 645 61.3
121 Wayne State University 781-790 550 601-700 464 61.2
122 Texas Tech University 731-740 700 501-600 568 61.2
123 Medical University of South Carolina · · 501-600 473 60.6
124 Georgia State University 781-790 550 601-700 588 59.7
125 SUNY University at Albany 901-950 700 · · 59.4
126 Medical College of Wisconsin · · 501-600 546 58.8
127 Auburn University 851-900 700 501-600 623 58.8
128 University of Missouri-Kansas City 1001-1200 550 · · 58.7
129 The University of Alabama 901-950 900 · 653 58.7
130 University of North Carolina at Charlotte 1001-1200 700 · 714 58.1
131 Syracuse University 741-750 450 801-900 483 57.8
132 University of Nevada, Las Vegas · 700 501-600 747 57.5
133 University of Vermont 1001-1200 · 401-500 572 57.1
134 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 695 550 601-700 937 56.5
135 Indiana University, Indianapolis · · 401-500 841 56.5
136 Thomas Jefferson University · · 601-700 500 55
137 SUNY Binghamton University 1001-1200 700 · · 55
138 University of Denver 1001-1200 550 · 1117 53.9
139 Northern Arizona University 1001-1200 · 501-600 578 53.7
140 Baylor University 1001-1200 900 601-700 440 53.2
141 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 851-900 700 · 1253 52.9
142 Oklahoma State University 851-900 700 701-800 747 52.2
143 University of Maryland, Baltimore County 801-850 700 701-800 847 51.6
144 New Jersey Institute of Technology 761-770 550 801-900 873 51.4
145 Kansas State University 901-950 700 601-700 · 51.2
146 Mississippi State University 1001-1200 700 601-700 810 51.1
147 The Catholic University of America · 900 · 1060 51
148 The University of Texas at San Antonio 1001-1200 700 701-800 625 50.9
149 New Mexico State University (Main campus) 1201-1400 700 · 951 50.8
150 Clark University 1001-1200 900 · · 50
151 University of Nevada, Reno 1001-1200 · 501-600 809 49.8
152 Utah State University 1001-1200 · 501-600 827 49.5
153 The City College of New York 1001-1200 · 501-600 833 49.4
154 Florida Atlantic University 1001-1200 900 · 1067 48.9
155 University of Texas at Arlington 1001-1200 700 701-800 793 48.8
156 San Diego State University 1001-1200 1100 501-600 822 48.5
157 University of Wyoming 1001-1200 900 601-700 869 47.9
158 University of Toledo 1001-1200 700 601-700 1089 47.6
159 Northern Illinois University · 900 · 1195 47.6
160 University of New Hampshire 1001-1200 · 601-700 775 47.1
161 William & Mary 1001-1200 900 · 1207 46.5
162 University at Albany · · 701-800 638 46.5
163 Ohio University 1001-1200 700 801-900 810 46.1
164 Lehigh University 668 700 901-1000 · 45.5
165 West Virginia University 1001-1200 · 501-600 · 45
166 University of Arkansas at Fayetteville 1001-1200 · 501-600 · 45
167 Rutgers University, Newark 771-780 · 901-1000 645 44.6
168 University of North Texas 901-950 · 601-700 · 44.3
169 University of Rhode Island 1001-1200 900 801-900 772 44.1
170 Portland State University 1201-1400 900 · 1171 43.8
171 University of Nebraska Medical Center · 550 801-900 · 43.7
172 Clemson University 951-1000 · 601-700 · 43.1
173 Brigham Young University 1001-1200 · 701-800 817 43
174 The University of Tulsa 1001-1200 550 · 1794 42.6
175 Southern Methodist University 1001-1200 · 701-800 877 42
176 University of Alaska Fairbanks 901-950 700 901-1000 · 41.2
177 Kent State University 1001-1200 · 701-800 937 41
178 University of Louisville 1001-1200 · 601-700 · 40
179 Old Dominion University · 900 801-900 1067 38.9
180 University of Tennessee Health Science Center · · 901-1000 572 38.2
181 University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 1201-1400 · 801-900 722 37.9
182 Michigan Technological University 901-950 · 901-1000 901 37.9
183 Binghamton University · · 601-700 1188 37.8
184 Montana State University, Bozeman · · 801-900 839 36.5
185 Loyola University Chicago 1001-1200 · 901-1000 908 34.8
186 The University of Texas at El Paso 1201-1400 1100 801-900 1134 34.6
187 Augusta University · · 801-900 1032 31.7
188 SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University · · 701-800 1441 26.5
189 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences · · 901-1000 1212 22.2
190 North Dakota State University · · 901-1000 1372 18.2

About United States higher education

The United States has the largest and most diverse higher education system in the world, with over 4,000 degree-granting institutions. American universities dominate global rankings — MIT, Harvard, and Stanford consistently top QS, THE, ARWU and U.S. News. The US system is known for its liberal arts tradition, research intensity, and flexibility in major selection.

Data sources

QS World University Rankings 2026QS Quacquarelli Symonds · Jun 2025 · official release
THE World University Rankings 2026Times Higher Education · Oct 2025 · official release
ARWU 2025ShanghaiRanking Consultancy · Aug 2025 · official release
U.S. News Best Global Universities 2026U.S. News & World Report · official release
Cite this page:
EduRank (2026). Best Universities in United States 2026. Retrieved June 2026, from https://edurank.co/rankings/country/us/
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