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Which colleges and universities are the most influential in the US? And which are the most influential schools in the world?

Find excellent universities in your field, see which colleges have made the biggest historical impact in your discipline, find out which schools are both influential and affordable, and more!
How we measure influence…
What is desirability?

Name

Country

Discipline

Subdiscipline

Min Year of Influence

Max Year of Influence

List of the most influential schools in Biology, for the years 2000 – 2020

# 1

Harvard University

Private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

#1 institution's overall influence

#2 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$50K

Acceptance

Graduation

97%

Student body

25K

Median SAT/ACT

1520/34

Cambridge, MA

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# 2

University of California, Berkeley

Public research university in Berkeley, California, United States

#6 institution's overall influence

#29 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$14K

Acceptance

15%

Graduation

92%

Student body

41K

Median SAT/ACT

1425/33

Berkeley, CA

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# 3

Stanford University

Private research university located in Stanford, California, United States

#10 institution's overall influence

#1 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$51K

Acceptance

Graduation

94%

Student body

14K

Median SAT/ACT

1495/33

Stanford, CA

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# 4

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

#9 institution's overall influence

#3 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$52K

Acceptance

Graduation

93%

Student body

14K

Median SAT/ACT

1535/35

Cambridge, MA

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# 5

University of Cambridge

Collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

#4 institution's overall influence

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# 6

University of London

Federal research university in London, England

#2 institution's overall influence

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# 7

Columbia University

Private Ivy League research university in New York City

#3 institution's overall influence

#6 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$53K

Acceptance

Graduation

95%

Student body

28K

Median SAT/ACT

1505/34

New York, NY

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# 8

Yale University

Private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States

#7 institution's overall influence

#4 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$53K

Acceptance

Graduation

98%

Student body

15K

Median SAT/ACT

1515/34

New Haven, CT

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# 9

University of Oxford

Collegiate research university in Oxford, England

#11 institution's overall influence

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# 10

Cornell University

Private university in Ithaca

#14 institution's overall influence

#14 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$55K

Acceptance

11%

Graduation

94%

Student body

24K

Median SAT/ACT

1465/33

Ithaca, NY

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# 11

University of Chicago

Private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States

#5 institution's overall influence

#8 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$57K

Acceptance

Graduation

94%

Student body

12K

Median SAT/ACT

1520/34

Chicago, IL

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# 12

University of California, San Diego

Public university in La Jolla, California, United States

#49 institution's overall influence

#71 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$14K

Acceptance

30%

Graduation

87%

Student body

36K

Median SAT/ACT

1365/30

La Jolla, CA

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# 13

Johns Hopkins University

University in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

#20 institution's overall influence

#21 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$54K

Acceptance

11%

Graduation

92%

Student body

24K

Median SAT/ACT

1505/34

Baltimore, MD

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# 14

Princeton University

Private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States

#8 institution's overall influence

#5 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$50K

Acceptance

Graduation

97%

Student body

Median SAT/ACT

1505/33

Princeton, NJ

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# 15

California Institute of Technology

Private research university located in Pasadena, California

#27 institution's overall influence

#9 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$52K

Acceptance

Graduation

94%

Student body

Median SAT/ACT

1555/35

Pasadena, CA

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# 16

University of Edinburgh

Public research university in Edinburgh, Scotland

#13 institution's overall influence

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# 17

University of Michigan

Public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

#15 institution's overall influence

#37 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$16K

Acceptance

23%

Graduation

91%

Student body

42K

Median SAT/ACT

1420/32

Ann Arbor, MI

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# 18

University of Pennsylvania

Private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

#17 institution's overall influence

#10 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$56K

Acceptance

Graduation

95%

Student body

27K

Median SAT/ACT

1485/33

Philadelphia, PA

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# 19

University of California, San Francisco

University

#165 institution's overall influence

Student body

San Francisco, CA

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# 20

The Rockefeller University

University

#118 institution's overall influence

Student body

New York, NY

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# 21

New York University

Private research university in New York City

#16 institution's overall influence

#44 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$52K

Acceptance

20%

Graduation

85%

Student body

47K

Median SAT/ACT

1410/31

New York, NY

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# 22

University of Washington

Public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States

#44 institution's overall influence

#69 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$11K

Acceptance

49%

Graduation

84%

Student body

46K

Median SAT/ACT

1340/29

Seattle, WA

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# 23

Duke University

Private university in Durham, North Carolina, United States

#31 institution's overall influence

#12 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$56K

Acceptance

Graduation

95%

Student body

15K

Median SAT/ACT

1510/34

Durham, NC

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# 24

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Public research university in Madison, Wisconsin., USA

#26 institution's overall influence

#216 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$11K

Acceptance

52%

Graduation

85%

Student body

36K

Median SAT/ACT

1365/29

Madison, WI

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# 25

Imperial College London

Public research university located in London, United Kingdom

#50 institution's overall influence

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# 26

University of California, Los Angeles

Public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States

#24 institution's overall influence

#31 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$13K

Acceptance

14%

Graduation

91%

Student body

44K

Median SAT/ACT

1405/32

Los Angeles, CA

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# 27

University of Toronto

University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

#23 institution's overall influence

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# 28

Washington University in St. Louis

University in St. Louis, Missouri, United States

#66 institution's overall influence

#20 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$53K

Acceptance

15%

Graduation

94%

Student body

12K

Median SAT/ACT

1520/33

Saint Louis, MO

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# 29

University of Pittsburgh

State-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

#67 institution's overall influence

#987 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$19K

Acceptance

59%

Graduation

81%

Student body

27K

Median SAT/ACT

1350/30

Pittsburgh, PA

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# 30

McGill University

English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec

#42 institution's overall influence

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# 31

University of British Columbia

Public research university in British Columbia, Canada

#63 institution's overall influence

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# 32

Pennsylvania State University

Public university In State College and multiple campuses in Pennsylvania, United States

#87 institution's overall influence

Tuition + fees

$18K

Acceptance

56%

Graduation

86%

Student body

47K

Median SAT/ACT

1260/27

University Park, PA

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# 33

University of Manchester

Public research university in Manchester, England

#37 institution's overall influence

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# 34

University of Minnesota

Public research university in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

#34 institution's overall influence

#890 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$15K

Acceptance

52%

Graduation

78%

Student body

44K

Median SAT/ACT

1375/28

Minneapolis, MN

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# 35

Susquehanna University

In Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania

#455 institution's overall influence

#347 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$47K

Acceptance

72%

Graduation

74%

Student body

Selinsgrove, PA

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# 36

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Public research university in Urbana and Champaign, Illinois, United States

#46 institution's overall influence

#162 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$17K

Acceptance

62%

Graduation

85%

Student body

52K

Median SAT/ACT

1330/29

Champaign, IL

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# 37

University of Arizona

Public university in Tucson, Arizona, United States

#88 institution's overall influence

#605 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$12K

Acceptance

84%

Graduation

60%

Student body

39K

Median SAT/ACT

1190/24

Tucson, AZ

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# 38

University of Vienna

Public university in Vienna, Austria

#19 institution's overall influence

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# 39

Brown University

University in Providence, Rhode Island

#36 institution's overall influence

#7 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$55K

Acceptance

Graduation

96%

Student body

Median SAT/ACT

1485/33

Providence, RI

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# 40

University of Leeds

University in Leeds, United Kingdom

#70 institution's overall influence

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# 41

Carnegie Mellon University

Private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

#45 institution's overall influence

#35 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$55K

Acceptance

17%

Graduation

90%

Student body

16K

Median SAT/ACT

1500/34

Pittsburgh, PA

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# 42

University of Sussex

University in Brighton and Hove, UK

#147 institution's overall influence

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# 43

Purdue University

Public research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States

#55 institution's overall influence

#1204 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$10K

Acceptance

58%

Graduation

77%

Student body

40K

Median SAT/ACT

1295/28

West Lafayette, IN

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# 44

Boston University

Private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

#38 institution's overall influence

#56 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$54K

Acceptance

22%

Graduation

87%

Student body

30K

Median SAT/ACT

1415/31

Boston, MA

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# 45

Northwestern University

Private research university with campuses in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, United States

#28 institution's overall influence

#24 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$55K

Acceptance

Graduation

94%

Student body

19K

Median SAT/ACT

1490/34

Evanston, IL

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# 46

Saint Francis University

Four-year, coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Loretto, Pennsylvania

#486 institution's overall influence

#1108 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$36K

Acceptance

75%

Graduation

67%

Student body

Median SAT/ACT

1145/23

Loretto, PA

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# 47

University of Rochester

Private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States

#99 institution's overall influence

#61 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$54K

Acceptance

29%

Graduation

85%

Student body

11K

Median SAT/ACT

1410/32

Rochester, NY

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# 48

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Public university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States

#469 institution's overall influence

#334 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$13K

Acceptance

93%

Graduation

54%

Student body

11K

Median SAT/ACT

1015/20

Indiana, PA

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# 49

University of Texas at Austin

Public research university in Austin, Texas, United States

#41 institution's overall influence

#43 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$11K

Acceptance

39%

Graduation

81%

Student body

45K

Median SAT/ACT

1355/30

Austin, TX

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# 50

Rice University

University in Houston, Texas, USA

#93 institution's overall influence

#15 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$47K

Acceptance

11%

Graduation

93%

Student body

Median SAT/ACT

1505/34

Houston, TX

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