Home
Careers
news
The 10 best universities in the US, based on student experiences and outcomes, faculty research, and diversity

The 10 best universities in the US, based on student experiences and outcomes, faculty research, and diversity

Madison Hoff

Harvard University ranks at the top of QS' list of the best US universities again.DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

QS Quacquarelli Symonds just published the second annual list of the best US universities.
The research firm used four kinds of metrics to develop an overall score for 352 universities.
The following are the 10 US universities that ranked at the top of the 2021 QS ranking.

10. University of Pennsylvania

f11photo/Getty Images

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Total index score: 73.2

Read more about University of Pennsylvania on QS Top Universities.

9. New York University (NYU)

littleny/Getty Images

Location: New York City, New York

Total index score: 73.3

Read more about NYU on QS Top Universities.

8. Princeton University

Barry Winiker/Getty Images

Location: Princeton, New Jersey

Total index score: 74.1

Read more about Princeton University on QS Top Universities.

7. Columbia University

Bruce Yuanyue Bi/Getty Images

Location: New York City, New York

Total index score: 75.1

Read more about Columbia University on QS Top Universities.

6. Yale University

Barry Winiker/Getty Images

Location: New Haven, Connecticut

Total index score: 75.4

Read more about Yale University on QS Top Universities.

5. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

dszc/Getty Images

Location: Los Angeles, California

Total index score: 77.5

Read more about UCLA on QS Top Universities.

4. University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Location: Berkeley, California

Total index score: 77.7

Read more about University of California, Berkeley, on QS Top Universities.

3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

SeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Total index score: 85.6

Read more about MIT on QS Top Universities.

2. Stanford University

RuslanKaln/Getty Images

Location: Stanford, California

Total index score: 88.9

Read more about Stanford University on QS Top Universities.

1. Harvard University

Harvard University ranks at the top of QS' list of the best US universities again. DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Total index score: 93.3

Read more about Harvard University on QS Top Universities.

Method and data source

Every year, QS Quacquarelli Symonds publishes multiple rankings about the most highly-rated universities. This includes the top online MBA programs in the world and the best universities worldwide.

But QS also looks at the most highly-rated universities in the United States. QS' list of the best US universities in 2021 is its second annual list. To rank 352 US universities, the higher education analyst used four groups of metrics that cover each different aspects of a university: employability, diversity and internationalization, research, and learning experience.

Harvard University received the same ranking and overall score that it did in the inaugural ranking last year. According to QS calculations, Harvard received a perfect score in employability and research this year, a 96.8 out of 100.0 in learning experience, and a 76.0 in diversity and internationalization. In addition to Harvard, the top four from the 2020 ranking were all the same this year.

UCLA, which tied with Yale University for sixth in the 2020 ranking, moved up one spot this year. According to QS, UCLA's highest metric across the four groups was in learning experience with a 90.5 out of 100.0.

The full list for 2021, including how well each college and university scored in each of the four metrics, can be found on QS Quacquarelli Symonds here.