Argentina: University of Buenos Aires
World rank: 378
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina, with around 300,000 total students. It is especially known for its "science and technique" structure, which is made up of approximately 6,000 researchers and scholars working on more than 1,500 research projects. Three Nobel Prize winners attended the university: Dr. Bernardo Houssay, Federico Leloir, and César Milstein.
Australia: University of Sydney
World rank: 95
Location: Sydney, Australia
The University of Sydney was founded in 1850 and currently has about 51,400 students. The university was ranked 8th in the world for its education program, and 13th for accounting and finance, as well as law. In 2013, Sydney alumni were ranked the 5th richest in the world, according to Wealth-X.
Austria: University of Vienna
World rank: 205
Location: Vienna, Austria
The University of Vienna was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. The university has approximately 92,000 students and 6,700 academic employees. Nine winners of the Nobel Prize have been affiliated with the university either through teaching or research.
Belgium: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
World rank: 94
Location: Leuven, Belgium
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven has approximately 41,300 students and offers classes in both English and Dutch. The courses are research-based, and the university offers three-year bachelor's programs and one- or two-year master's programs. The amount of international students at the university stands at 7,400, practically double what it was ten years ago. Notable alumni include Paul Bulcke, CEO of Nestle, and Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council.
Brazil: University of São Paulo
World rank: 131
Location: Buntantã, São Paulo, Brazil
The University of São Paulo is young compared to many other established universities, as it was founded in 1934. It provides free tuition, which is a major draw for students; the university gets about 150,000 applications each year, and only accepts approximately 11,500 of those students. Its main campus is located in the wealthy city of São Paulo, but its 90,000 students are spread between campuses in seven cities.
Canada: University of Toronto
World rank: 31
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
University of Toronto has about 83,000 students spread between three Canadian campuses: one in Toronto, one in Mississauga, and one in Scarborough. Its students are not just from Canada—in fact, more than 150 countries are represented at the school. There are more than 700 undergraduate programs and more than 400 graduate programs available, but the university is ranked very highly for its education, English, and geography programs.
Chile: Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
World rank: 450
Location: Santiago, Chile
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile is a private university with approximately 22,654 total students. Over the years, the university has made advances in many fields, including chemistry, engineering and medicine. Its influence even extends to America—back in 2011, the University of Notre Dame signed an agreement with PUC for a dual graduate degree program in civil engineering and the geological sciences.
China: Peking University
World rank: 55
Location: Haidian, Beijing, China
Peking University has about 24,000 total students studying at its 2,743,532 square-foot campus in Beijing. It prides itself on its impressive faculty, which includes members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Third World Academy of Sciences. It is ranked 15th in the world for its chemistry program.
Czech Republic: Charles University in Prague
World rank: 313
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Charles University in Prague dates back to 1348, making it one of the oldest universities in the world. Several of the available degrees—such as addiction studies and climatology—are not offered at any other university in the Czech Republic. According to the university's website, the unemployment rate for its graduates is less than 2.5 percent.
Denmark: University of Copenhagen
World rank: 79
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
The University of Copenhagen has approximately 38,000 students between four campuses, and provides programs in the areas of health and medical sciences, humanities, law, science, social sciences, and theology. Students in every department have a tradition called "Friday bar," where students and faculty get together on Fridays and socialize in celebration of the weekend. The university has alliances with several other schools, including Yale University, The University of Tokyo, and University of Cambridge.
France: École Normale Supérieure-Paris
World rank: 35
Location: Paris, France
École Normale Supérieure in Paris is extremely selective, which allows its student body to remain small at approximately 2,700 students. The school has some notable alumni, including philosopher Michel Foucault and chemist Louis Pasteur. It is ranked highly for its philosophy and mathematics programs.
Germany: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
World rank: 82
Location: Munich, Germany
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich offers courses in a wide variety of areas, including law, humanities and cultural studies, and medicine. Its physics program is ranked 13th in the world, and both its history and archaeology and its chemistry programs ranked 27th. It has several impressive alumni, including novelist Thomas Mann and Pope Benedict XVI.
Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong
World rank: 155
Location: Pokfulam, Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong opened its doors in 1912, and one of its earliest alumni was the renowned Dr. Sun Yat-sen, considered to be the founder of modern China. The school offers incredible opportunities for graduates, with a 100 percent graduate employment rate for the past seven years consecutively. Additionally, many of the scholars working at the university belong to the top 1% of their respective fields.
India: Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
World rank: 328
Location: New Delhi, India
The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi is one of seven institutes of technology built to advance this area of study in the country. The school was named an Institute of National Importance in India, which is a prestigious title that means the institute plays a large role in training highly skilled personnel in a specific area. The school has departments for several different areas of engineering, such as electrical and civil engineering, and also for other areas like the humanities and mathematics.
Ireland: Trinity College Dublin
World rank: 200
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Trinity College Dublin was founded in 1592 and is the oldest university in Ireland. Its campus of 17,o00 students is very diverse, with 188 different nationalities represented on campus, and more than 50 percent of the student body coming from outside of Dublin. According to the QS World University Rankings, Trinity College is most highly ranked in the subject areas of accounting and finance and the biological sciences.
Israel: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
World rank: 22
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has about 23,000 students studying at its 19 faculties and schools. It has graduated eight Nobel Prize winners, as well as one recipient of the Fields Medal in Mathematics, who is now a professor at the university. Three presidents and three prime ministers of Israel have also attended the university.
Italy: Sapienza University of Rome
World rank: 91
Location: Rome, Italy
Sapienza University of Rome was founded back in 1303, making it one of the oldest universities in Europe. It has now grown tremendously, with 125,000 students, 59 libraries, and 21 museums. Though it has many campuses in Rome, its main one is CittÀ Universitaria, which spans 4,730,000 square feet.
Japan: University of Tokyo
World rank: 13
Location: Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
The University of Tokyo has 28,113 students, a large majority of which come to the school to study engineering. This makes sense, as the university is ranked 4th in the world for its civil and structural engineering program, and 7th for its chemical engineering program. Fifteen prime ministers of Japan have attended the University of Tokyo.
Mexico: National Autonomous University of Mexico
World rank: 337
Location: Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico is the oldest university in North America, founded way back in 1551. It is also one of the world's largest universities, with a whopping 337,763 students spread throughout several campuses in Mexico and some foreign campuses as well. In addition to its academic faculties, it also has national schools of music, plastic arts, nursing and obstetrics, and social work.
Netherlands: Utrecht University
World rank: 88
Location: Utrecht, Netherlands
Utrecht University is home to 29,755 students and offers 50 bachelor's degrees and 169 master's degree programs. The school has some impressive alumni, including Christiaan Eljkman, Nobel Prize winner and one of the discoverers of the vitamin; Gerard't Hoof, who discovered that small proteins control brain activity; and Johanna Westerdijk, the first female professor in the Netherlands. Utrecht University is well known for its scientific research.
New Zealand: University of Auckland
World rank: 273
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
The University of Auckland was established in 1883, and has grown from 95 students at that time to more than 40,000 students today. Students from more than 93 countries come to study at the university and take advantage of its globally ranked programs, including accounting and finance, law, politics, education, and psychology.
Norway: University of Oslo
World rank: 111
Location: Oslo, Norway
University of Oslo is the oldest university in Norway, and has graduated five Nobel Prize winners. There are approximately 27,000 students, and the most popular areas of study for graduates are the humanities, followed by the social sciences. Several prime ministers of Norway have attended the university.
Russia: Lomonosov Moscow State University
World rank: 48
Location: Moscow, Russia
Lomonosov Moscow State University describes its campus as "complex," with 1,000 total buildings and 3,280,839 square feet of space. Its library system has 9 million books, making it one of the largest in Russia. The university has approximately 47,000 total students, and twelve of its alumni are Nobel Prize winners.
Saudi Arabia: King Saud University
World rank: 420
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
King Saud University was founded in 1957 and is the oldest university in Saudi Arabia. Tuition to the university is completely free for its approximately 36,000 students, and additional scholarships are also available. Students can study the natural and social sciences, the humanities, and professional studies.
Singapore: National University of Singapore
World rank: 74
Location: Singapore
The National University of Singapore takes a global approach to education while putting an emphasis on Asian perspectives. The university has three campuses in Singapore, and is known for its research in the areas of engineering, life sciences and biomedicine, social sciences, and natural sciences. There are approximately 37,500 students at the school, and alumni include several presidents of Singapore, and Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization.
South Africa: University of the Witwatersrand
World rank: 114
Location: Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa
University of the Witwatersrand, often referred to as "Wits," has approximately 28,000 students who can choose from degrees in the faculties of commerce, law, and management; engineering and the built environment; health sciences; and humanities and science. The university also has extensive resources, including two libraries and 14 divisional libraries, 14 museum and art galleries, and more than 100 student clubs.
South Korea: Seoul National University
World rank: 24
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Seoul National University is South Korea's first national university, and is made up of 28,011 students studying at 16 different colleges, one graduate school, and nine professional schools. Despite the university's small class sizes and excellent reputation, tuition is significantly cheaper than that of American private universities. Many global leaders attended Seoul National University, including UN Security-General Ban Ki-moon and Song Sang-Hyn, president of the International Criminal Court.
Spain: University of Barcelona
World rank: 120
Location: Barcelona, Spain
The University of Barcelona has six campuses throughout the city, and features 18 faculties, one university school, eight university institutes, and several other centers. There are 63,020 students taking advantage of 64 undergraduate degree courses and 138 master's degree courses. The Health University of Barcelona campus was recognized as a Campus of International Excellence in 2010 by the Ministry of Education.
Sweden: Karolinska Institute
World rank: 73
Location: Solna, Sweden
Karolinska Institute is a medical university that accounts for more than 40 percent of the medical research in Sweden. Its pharmacy program is ranked 7th in the world and its medicine program is ranked 16th, according to the QS World University Rankings. The university's total enrollment is only about 7,050.
Switzerland: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
World rank: 18
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
With more than 18,000 students from over 110 countries, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) is one of the best universities in Europe for students interested in engineering and the natural sciences. More than twenty one Nobel Laureates either graduated, conducted research, or taught at the university, proving how prestigious the school truly is.
Taiwan: National Taiwan University
World rank: 65
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
National Taiwan University has approximately 17,000 university students and 15,000 graduate students—the fact that this number is nearly equal indicates its success as a research university. National Taiwan University has quite a few academic programs, but its chemistry and earth and marine sciences programs are highly ranked.
Thailand: Chulalongkorn University
World rank: 283
Location: Pathumwan, Bangkok, Thailand
Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and is also one of the country's most prestigious schools. It has approximately 32,500 students and has been ranked globally for its programs in social science, technology and life science & biomedicine. The school has also given honorary degrees to many world figures, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Turkey: Middle East Technical University
World rank: 396
Location: Çankaya Ankara, Turkey
The Middle Eastern Technical University was founded in 1956 and currently has about 26,500 students. It is a leading research university, and has taken part in many projects from organizations like NASA, NATO, the UN, and World Bank. According to METU's website, most departments at the university only accept the top 1 percent of applicants. The school has 43 undergraduate programs and five graduate schools, and all classes are taught in English.
United Kingdom: University of Cambridge
World rank: 4
Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
University of Cambridge is made up of 31 self-governing colleges that individually select students and have their own internal procedures. The university has about 19,000 students and is ranked incredibly high in many subjects, including first in history and archaeology, and second in modern languages, psychology, material sciences, English language and literature, earth and marine sciences, and the biological sciences. Famous alumni include naturalist Charles Darwin, British Primatologist Jane Goodall, and Harvard founder John Harvard.
United States: Harvard University
World rank: 1
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Harvard University is the best college in the world, according to the CWUR. It has about 21,000 total students, and has alumni from more than 200 countries. Harvard has an incredible amount of esteemed graduates, with 47 Nobel Laureates, 48 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 32 heads of state. The university also has the largest academic library in the world, with 18.9 million volumes split between more than 70 different library units.