Your Roadmap to a Great Education

Academics and data scientists building tools to find the best schools and degree programs for you.

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Hi, I’m Jed Macosko, President of Academic Influence. I’m a lifelong educator and current professor of physics at Wake Forest University. Students deserve to know that their investment in higher education is well-spent. I created Academic Influence in partnership with award winning expert in Machine Learning, Winston Ewert, to develop our trademarked Influence Ranking Engine.

This innovative methodology employs objective analysis to rank colleges and degree programs by their real-world impact – something that no other college ranking methodology offers.

Explore our extensive catalog of rankings to discover ROI-positive degree programs to meet your needs and build the future that you have dreamed about.

Recognized by:

Safest Colleges in America

Which are the safest college campuses in America? Learn what makes a safe college campus and get insight into what students should look for.

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Why Academic Influence?

Innovative Ranking Technology

Our college rankings provide meaningful insights for your education. AcademicInfluence.com ranks colleges and academics using innovative machine learning to identify academic impact. We rank schools based on the faculty and alumni who are influential over 24 academic disciplines.

Influential People Matter

People are the foundation of our college rankings. We help you find highly cited, inspiring experts in over 24 disciplines, and the schools they are affiliated with. The colleges and universities that have histories of hiring and graduating influential people rise to the top.

Expert Guidance

We provide tools and resources to help you find your college match based on our expertise in higher education. If you need personal expert guidance, we can connect you to college admissions counselors trained to help you achieve your academic goals.

I find Academic Influence’s methodology to be innovative and refreshing as it uses a big data, machine-learning approach to rank universities based upon the influence/impact of its faculty and graduates. This moves away from a major flaw of existing rankings: reliance on self-reported, outdated or reputational data and toward impartial, openly available information.

— Dr. Santa J. Ono, president of the

School Rankings

Academic Institutions Rankings

Academic Influence employs advanced machine learning to identify the schools with the highest levels of academic excellence and most influential faculty. Explore our rankings of the best Christian schools, best online schools, best traditional US schools and even the best universities in the world to find your ideal learning environment.

Which Colleges and Universities Have the Most Alumni Who Are CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies?

Dr. Winston Ewert | Chief Software Engineer

Dr. Jed Macosko | Professor

Most Affordable Colleges and Universities in the U.S. 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Top Schools that Offer Free Master’s Degrees Online

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Best Online HBCU Doctoral Programs 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

15 Best Self-paced Online Colleges Ranked for 2025

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

The 15 Safest Colleges in America

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

50 Best Christian Colleges and Universities 2024

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Online Colleges with the Most Generous Financial Aid in 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

By State Rankings

In order to find the best degree program that meets your needs and aspirations, one of the first steps is to decide where you want to go (and how much you want to pay!). Exploring available college degree programs by state allows you to compare in-state and out-of-state tuition around the country. We also have rankings of the best overall associate’s and bachelor’s degrees for each state as well as online options by state.

Best Research Universities in California 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Best Grad Schools In Texas 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Best Grad Schools in Florida 2024

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Best Small Colleges in Ohio 2024

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Best Grad Schools California 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Best Christian Colleges in Virginia 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Best Community Colleges in California 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Best Grad Schools in New York 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Online Degree Rankings

Online education at a high quality online college provides students with a new level of accessibility, flexibility, and convenience. This allows working students and adult learners with busy schedules to pursue online degrees like an online MBA. But finding the ideal degree program amid the hundreds of available options represents a challenge. We use advanced machine learning technology to create the most authoritative rankings of online college degree programs ( associates, bachelors, masters and Doctorate) available to you.

Top 8 Fastest Accelerated Online Psychology Doctorates (PhDs)

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

15 Fastest Accelerated Online Master’s of Psychology Programs

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Top 15 Most Affordable Online Economics PhD Programs (Doctorates) 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Top 10 Best Online Communications PhD Degree Programs (Doctorates)

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Top 8 Best Online Applied Behavioral Analysis PhDs (Doctorates)

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

10 Fastest Accelerated Online Bachelor’s of Computer Science

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

11 Fastest Accelerated Online Master’s of Speech Pathology

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Best Online History Doctorate Degree Programs (PhDs) 2025

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Affordability Rankings

We know that higher education can be expensive. Community colleges, state universities and some online colleges offer lower cost options that can often be just as good, or even better, depending on your learning style. To get started, visit our Affordability Rankings by State or check out our ranking of the 50 Most Affordable Colleges & Universities. We’ve also ranked online colleges by affordability.

Most Affordable Colleges and Universities in the U.S. 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Most Affordable Colleges in Florida 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Most Affordable Colleges in Massachusetts Ranked for Students in 2024

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Most Affordable Colleges in Texas 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Most Affordable Colleges in Ohio 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Cheapest Colleges in Illinois Ranked for Students in 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Most Affordable Colleges in Connecticut 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Most Affordable Colleges in New York 2025

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

Choosing Your Major

Choosing your major is one of the most stressful parts of going to college. Not everyone knows what they want to be or what job they want to do for the rest of their lives. The good news is that Academic Influence has put together some resources to help you on your journey. To get started, you can check out our full list of common college majors.

What Can I Do with a Master’s Degree in Medical Science?

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in History?

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Physics?

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Dr. Jed Macosko | Professor

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Biology?

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Dr. Jed Macosko | Professor

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Chemistry?

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Dr. Jed Macosko | Professor

What Can I Do with a Master’s Degree in Philosophy?

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Anthropology?

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Dr. James Barham | Education Writer

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Mathematics?

Dave Tomar | Academic Integrity Coordinator

Dr. Jed Macosko | Professor

Tools for Prospective Students

Use our tools to discover and compare universities tailored to your preferences, delve into academic rankings, and explore degree and career insights—all in one place.

Find Schools

Discover schools tailored to your preferences.

Select a Metric

Choose a Degree Level

Find Degrees

Get degree and job information.

College Compare

Compare colleges with your desired criteria.

College Strategist

Find your Reach, Target, and Saftety schools.

People Rankings

Dive into a world of knowledge and find inspiring figures from 24 academic fields and more than 300 sub-disciplines. Our approach draws on rich sources like Wikipedia and Semantic Scholar, perfect for spicing up research papers and building your bibliography. Whether you’re curious about legendary philosophers or leading mathematicians, we’ve got the insights to light up your research journey.

Influential People of the Day

Checkout our daily dose of influential people in the slideshow below, use the people search tool to find other people with accomplishments in their respective disciplines, or read about our ranking methodology to understand how we rank people and schools.

Michael Posner

American human rights lawyer, (1950 - ), Chicago, Illinois, USA

Law

A Portrait in Words

Michael H. Posner is an American lawyer, the Founding Executive Director and later the President of Human Rights First , the former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States, currently director for the Center of Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern School of Business, as well as Professor of Business and Society at New York University Stern School of Business, and a board member of the International Service for Human Rights.

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Michael Posner

International Law

#801

World Rank

#977

Historical Rank

#356

USA Rank

international-law Degrees

David Cannadine

British historian

History

A Portrait in Words

Sir David Nicholas Cannadine is a British author and historian who specialises in modern history, Britain and the history of business and philanthropy. He is currently the Dodge Professor of History at Princeton University, a visiting professor of history at Oxford University, and the editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. He was president of the British Academy between 2017 and 2021, the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. He also serves as the chairman of the trustees of the National Portrait Gallery in London and vice-chair of the editorial board of Past & Present.

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David Cannadine

History

#45

World Rank

#118

Historical Rank

history Degrees

Lee Bollinger

American lawyer and educator, (1946 - ), Santa Rosa, California, USA

Education

Law

A Portrait in Words

Lee Carroll Bollinger is an American attorney and educator who served as the 19th president of Columbia University from 2002 to 2023 and as president of the University of Michigan from 1996 to 2002. He is currently the Seth Low Professor of the University and a faculty member of Columbia Law School. He is a noted legal scholar of the First Amendment and freedom of speech. While serving as President of the University of Michigan, he was at the center of two notable United States Supreme Court cases regarding the use of affirmative action in admissions processes. He also served as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York board of directors for 2011, and was a member of the board from 2006 to 2012.

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Lee Bollinger

Higher Education

#10

World Rank

#11

Historical Rank

USA Rank

higher-education Degrees

Edward Witten

American theoretical physicist

Physics

A Portrait in Words

Edward Witten is an American mathematical and theoretical physicist. He is a professor emeritus in the school of natural sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, quantum gravity, supersymmetric quantum field theories, and other areas of mathematical physics. Witten's work has also significantly impacted pure mathematics. In 1990, he became the first physicist to be awarded a Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union, for his mathematical insights in physics, such as his 1981 proof of the positive energy theorem in general relativity, and his interpretation of the Jones invariants of knots as Feynman integrals. He is considered the practical founder of M-theory.

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Edward Witten

Particle Physics

World Rank

Historical Rank

USA Rank

particle-physics Degrees

Richard Swinburne

British philosopher of religion

Philosophy

A Portrait in Words

Richard Granville Swinburne is an English philosopher. He is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years, Swinburne has been a proponent of philosophical arguments for the existence of God. His philosophical contributions are primarily in the philosophy of religion and philosophy of science. He aroused much discussion with his early work in the philosophy of religion, a trilogy of books consisting of The Coherence of Theism, The Existence of God, and Faith and Reason.

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Richard Swinburne

Philosophy

#63

World Rank

#198

Historical Rank

philosophy Degrees

Linda Martín Alcoff

American philosopher

Philosophy

A Portrait in Words

Linda Martín Alcoff is a Latin-American philosopher and professor of philosophy at Hunter College, City University of New York. Alcoff specializes in social epistemology, feminist philosophy, philosophy of race, decolonial theory and continental philosophy, especially the work of Michel Foucault. She has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Visible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self , The Future of Whiteness , and Rape and Resistance . Her public philosophy writing has been published in The Guardian and The New York Times.

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Linda Martín Alcoff

Feminist Philosophy

World Rank

Historical Rank

USA Rank

feminist-philosophy Degrees

Mikhail Shifman

American physicist

Physics

A Portrait in Words

Mikhail "Misha" Arkadyevich Shifman is a theoretical physicist , formerly at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow, Ida Cohen Fine Professor of Theoretical Physics, William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Minnesota.

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Mikhail Shifman

Particle Physics

#36

World Rank

#38

Historical Rank

#20

USA Rank

particle-physics Degrees

Meet Our Team

See bios

James Barham

Education Writer

Jed Macosko

Professor

Robert J. Marks II

Professor

Dave Tomar

Academic Integrity Coordinator

Jenn Finley

Content Manager

Chloe Dembski

Content and Media Editor

Winston Ewert

Chief Software Engineer

Tommy Doak

UI/UX/Web Developer

James Linder

Media Director

Karina Macosko

Videographer and Interviewer

Your Roadmap to a Great Education

Trending Articles:

Which Colleges and Universities Have the Most Alumni Who Are CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies?

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Most Affordable Colleges and Universities in the U.S. 2025

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Why Academic Influence?

Innovative Ranking Technology

Influential People Matter

Expert Guidance

School Rankings

Academic Institutions Rankings

Which Colleges and Universities Have the Most Alumni Who Are CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies?

Most Affordable Colleges and Universities in the U.S. 2025

Top Schools that Offer Free Master’s Degrees Online

Best Online HBCU Doctoral Programs 2025

15 Best Self-paced Online Colleges Ranked for 2025

The 15 Safest Colleges in America

50 Best Christian Colleges and Universities 2024

Online Colleges with the Most Generous Financial Aid in 2025

Choosing Your Major

What Can I Do with a Master’s Degree in Medical Science?

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in History?

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Physics?

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Biology?

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Chemistry?

What Can I Do with a Master’s Degree in Philosophy?

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Anthropology?

What Can I Do With a Master’s Degree in Mathematics?

Tools for Prospective Students

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Select a Metric

Choose a Degree Level

Find Degrees

Select a Category

Choose a Degree

College Compare

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College Strategist

ACT Score

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People Rankings

Influential People of the Day

Michael Posner

A Portrait in Words

Meet Our Team