The Most Influential Schools in the World
Find the most influential colleges and universities in the world in nearly 25 academic disciplines
Find brilliant thinkers for your research papers and bibliographies. Using our proprietary AI program, we have ranked everyone in Wikipedia, Wikidata, Schematic Scholar, and CrossRef based on the number of citations, publications, and academically relevant web presence. This is how we find the most influential people in the world.
We then gather all the faculty and alumni associated with a college or university and attribute the people’s influence to their schools. Hence, the most influential schools are those that employ and graduate the most influential faculty and alumni.
Students and parents now have the easiest and fastest way to find colleges and universities with histories of impacting the world through their scholarship. If you ever wanted to find schools that have the most influence in engineering or in literature, you now can!
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If you are searching for your ideal college , our Build Your Own College Rankings tool has more options to help you find the right school for your degree. Methodology: How and Why We Rank by Influence …
List of the most influential schools in United States of America,
Keiser University is a private university with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and flagship residential campus in West Palm Beach, Florida. Additional branches are located in other parts of Florida and internationally. Keiser provides educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate levels in both traditional and online delivery formats. The school is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Hebrew College is a private college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, the college conducts Jewish scholarship in a pluralistic, trans-denominational academic environment. Its president is Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld. Hebrew College offers undergraduate completion and graduate degreess, Hebrew-language training, a rabbinical school, a cantorial program and adult-learning and youth-education programs.
Saint Vincent College is a private Benedictine college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 by Boniface Wimmer, a monk from Bavaria, it is operated by the Benedictine Monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the first Benedictine monastery in the United States, which was also founded by Wimmer.
Huntingdon College is a private Methodist college in Montgomery, Alabama. It was founded in 1854 as a women's college. History Huntingdon College was chartered on February 2, 1854, as Tuskegee Female College by the Alabama State Legislature and Governor John A. Winston. The first president was Andrew Adgate Lipscomb. Dr. Lipscomb laid the foundation of the college as a teaching college rather than a research institution.
Adrian College is a private United Methodist liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buildings. Adrian College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The spring 2020–21 enrollment was 1,677 students.
The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco , is a public law school in San Francisco, California. The law school was formerly known as the University of California, Hastings College of the Law from 1878 to 2023.
The Pacific School of Religion is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the school provides the necessary requirements for candidates to seek ordination within these denominations. These three denominations account for approximately half of the student population of PSR. The school has also maintained close relationships with the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as other denominations.
Johnson & Wales University is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its campuses in the fall of 2020. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is a public university in Pembroke, North Carolina. UNC Pembroke is a master's level degree-granting university and part of the University of North Carolina system. Its history is intertwined with that of the Lumbee nation.
Christopher Newport University is a public university in Newport News, Virginia. It was founded in 1960 and is named after Christopher Newport, captain of one of the ships which carried settlers of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian graduate seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794, it houses one of the largest theological libraries in the tri-state area. History Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was formed in 1959 by consolidating the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.'s Western Theological Seminary and the United Presbyterian Church of North America's Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary. The consolidation was the result of the 1958 merger between the PCUSA and the UPCNA to form the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
DeSales University is a private Catholic university in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. The university offers traditional, online, and hybrid courses and programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Named for St. Francis de Sales, the university was founded in 1964 as "Allentown College of Saint Francis de Sales" by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is a public university in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. It is one of ten general campuses of the University of Hawaiʻi System. It was founded as Hilo Center at Lyman Hall of the Hilo Boys School in 1945 and was a branch campus of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In 1970 it was reorganized by an act of the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and became a campus within the newly created University of Hawaiʻi System.
Union Institute & University is a private online university with its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and operates satellite campuses in Florida and California. Since early 2023, it has been experiencing severe financial challenges - federal financial aid has been cut off, it has not paid employees, and it has been evicted from its headquarters in Cincinnati for failing to pay rent.
The University of the Virgin Islands is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially became one of the historically black colleges and universities. The institution also changed its name in 1986 to the University of the Virgin Islands to reflect the growth and diversification of its academic curriculum, research programs, and regional community services. On August 18, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided that the uni...
Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia. Founded in 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Previously a college, Longwood became a university on July 1, 2002.
Whitworth University is a private, Christian university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and located in Spokane, Washington. Founded in 1890, Whitworth enrolls nearly 3,000 students and offers more than 100 graduate and undergraduate programs.
California State University, Stanislaus is a public university in Turlock, Stanislaus County, California. It is part of the California State University system. It was established in 1957 and offers 45 bachelor's degree programs, 17 master's degree programs, one doctoral degree , and 6 teaching credentials. Stanislaus State is a Hispanic-serving institution.
Purdue University Global, Inc. is part of the Purdue University system and is Purdue's online university for working adults. It is a public online university that operates as a public-benefit corporation. Formerly Kaplan University, its former owner, Graham Holdings Company, maintains an ongoing financial interest in Purdue Global's success.
Emory & Henry College is a private liberal arts college in Emory, Virginia. The campus comprises of Washington County, which is part of the Appalachian highlands of Southwest Virginia. Founded in 1836, Emory & Henry College is the oldest institution of higher learning in Southwest Virginia.
Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina, schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, a Boston philanthropist and chair of the Peabody Education Board in Massachusetts, to establish the school.
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Storer College
Storer College was a historically black college in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, that operated from 1867 to 1955. A national icon for black Americans, in the town where the 'end of American slavery began', as Frederick Douglass famously put it, it was a unique institution whose focus changed several times. There is no one category of college into which it fits neatly. Sometimes white students studied alongside black students, which at the time was prohibited by law at state-supported schools in West Virginia and the other Southern states, and sometimes in the North.
Mount St. Mary's University is a private Roman Catholic university in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It has the largest Catholic seminary in the United States. Undergraduate programs are divided between the College of Liberal Arts, the Richard J. Bolte School of Business, and the School of Natural Science and Mathematics. "The Mount" has over 40 undergraduate majors, minors, concentrations, and special programs, as well as bachelor's/master's combinations in partnership with other universities, 8 master's programs, and 6 postgraduate certificate programs.
Monmouth College is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Monmouth, Illinois. It enrolls approximately 767 students who choose courses from 40 major programs, 43 minors, and 17 pre-professional programs in a core curriculum. It offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees.
Central Methodist University is a private university in Fayette, Missouri. CMU is accredited to offer master's, bachelors, and associate degrees. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
Roanoke College is a private liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers 35 majors, 57 minors and concentrations, and pre-professional programs. Roanoke awards bachelor's degrees in arts, science, and business administration and is one of 280 colleges with a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
Tarleton State University is a public research university with its main campus in Stephenville, Texas. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 15,000 students in the fall of 2022. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
Touro University California is a private graduate school focused primarily on health professions and located on Mare Island in Vallejo, California. It is part of the Touro College and University System and is jointly administered with its sister campus Touro University Nevada.
National Louis University is a private nonprofit university with its main campus in Chicago, Illinois. NLU enrolls undergraduate and graduate students in more than 60 programs across its four colleges. It has locations throughout the Chicago metropolitan area as well as a regional campus in Tampa, Florida, where it serves students from 13 counties in that state’s central region.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private Christian university in Waxahachie, Texas. SAGU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and officially endorsed by the Assemblies of God USA. The university offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in a variety of liberal arts programs, as well as programs in Bible and church ministries.
The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico is a private Roman Catholic university with its main campus in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It provides courses leading to Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degrees in education, business administration, the sciences, and arts and humanities. It also has campuses in Arecibo and Mayagüez, as well as a satellite extension in Coamo. It is also home to a School of Law and a School of Architecture. The university also founded a medical school, Escuela de Medicina de Ponce, in 1977, but in 1980 became an independent entity that eventually became the Ponce H...
Plymouth State University , formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students . The school was founded as Plymouth Normal School in 1871. Since that time, it has evolved to a teachers college, a state college, and finally to a state university in 2003. PSU is part of the University System of New Hampshire.
Collin College is a public community college district in Texas. Founded in 1985, the district has grown as the county has grown from around 5,000 students in 1986 to more than 58,800 credit and noncredit students.
Concordia University Wisconsin is a private Lutheran university in Mequon, Wisconsin. It is part of the seven-member Concordia University System operated by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod . The university is a coeducational institution accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, offering 78 undergraduate majors and minors, 17 graduate programs, eight accelerated adult education programs, and three doctoral/professional programs, as well as accelerated evening and e-learning programs. Doctoral degrees are offered in pharmacy, physical therapy, and nursing practice. CUW also has 10 classroom centers providing community outreach with full adult education and post-graduate programs.
Mississippi University for Women is a coeducational public university in Columbus, Mississippi. It was formerly named the Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls and later the Mississippi State College for Women. Men have been admitted to MUW since 1982 and today make up about 20 percent of the student body. As a public liberal arts college, MUW is one of just 30 universities in the United States and Canada to be selected for membership in the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges.
Marine Corps University is a military education university system of the United States Marine Corps. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Master's Degrees.
Sul Ross State University is a public university in Alpine, Texas. The main campus is the primary institution of higher education serving the nineteen-county Big Bend region of far West Texas. Branch campuses, branded as Rio Grande College, are located in Del Rio, Uvalde, Eagle Pass, and Castroville.
The University of North Georgia is a public senior military college with multiple campuses in Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013, by a merger of North Georgia College & State University and Gainesville State College . Campus locations include Dahlonega, Oakwood , Watkinsville , Blue Ridge, and Cumming.
City University of Seattle is a private university in Seattle, Washington. City University was founded in 1973 as City College by a group of business leaders and educators in the Seattle area led by Michael A. Pastore with an original mission dedicated to providing higher education for working adults. In 1982, City College changed its name to City University of Seattle. Since then, the university has grown to consist of undergraduate and graduate programs across six areas: the School of Management; the Albright School of Education; the Division of Arts and Sciences; the Division of Doctoral Studies; the International College; and the Washington Academy of Languages.
Northwestern State University of Louisiana is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.
The University of Michigan–Flint is a public university in Flint, Michigan. It is one of the two regional universities operating under the policies of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, the other being the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Ottawa University is a private Baptist university with its main campus in Ottawa, Kansas. It also has a second residential campus in Surprise, Arizona, and adult campuses in the Kansas City, Phoenix and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. It was founded in 1865 and is affiliated with the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma and the American Baptist Churches USA. The residential campus in Ottawa has a student enrollment of more than 850 students, while the OUAZ campus in Surprise boasts more than 900. In total, Ottawa University serves more than 4,000 students across all of its campuses and online.
Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergraduates in over 30 majors, as well as graduate students in a handful of master's programs. The only undergraduate institution affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America , the college's undergraduate core curriculum emphasizes the humanities and the formation of a Reformed Christian worldview.
The Cleveland Institute of Music is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. The school was founded in 1920 by a group of supporters led by Martha Bell Sanders and Mary Hutchens Smith, with Ernest Bloch serving as its first director. CIM enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing education programs. There are typically about 100 openings per year for which 1,000-1,200 prospective students apply.
College of DuPage is a public community college with its main campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates satellite campuses in Addison, Carol Stream, Naperville and Westmont. With more than 20,000 students, the College of DuPage is the second largest provider of undergraduate education in Illinois, after University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The college serves students residing in Illinois' Community College District 502.
The NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress is a degree-granting technology and research institute in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It is a graduate school of New York University focusing on urban informatics. The Center, first opened in September 2013, is inside NYU's 370 Jay Street building.
Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students . Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and became an independent institution in 1947, naming itself Wilkes College, after English radical politician John Wilkes after whom Wilkes-Barre is named. The school was granted university status in January 1990. It is classified among "Doctoral/Professional Universities" and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bachelor's degrees in 23 fields of study and 5 master's degree programs. Chaminade University is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.
Gratz College is a private Jewish college in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origins to 1856 when banker, philanthropist, and communal leader Hyman Gratz and the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia joined to establish a trust to create a Hebrew teachers college. Gratz is a graduate college located in a suburban setting, with fully online courses.
Juniata College is a private liberal arts college in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a co-educational normal school, it was the first college started by members of the Church of the Brethren as a center for vocational learning for those who could not afford formal education. Today, Juniata has about 1,600 students from 42 states and territories and 45 countries.
