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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 Economics, 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 London

Federal research university in London, England

#2 institution's overall influence

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# 3

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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# 4

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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# 5

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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# 6

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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# 7

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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# 8

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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# 9

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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# 10

University of Oxford

Collegiate research university in Oxford, England

#11 institution's overall influence

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# 11

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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# 12

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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# 13

University of Cambridge

Collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

#4 institution's overall influence

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# 14

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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# 15

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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# 16

School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences

French higher education institution

#134 institution's overall influence

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# 17

George Mason University

Public liberal arts and research university in Fairfax, Virginia

#190 institution's overall influence

#548 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$12K

Acceptance

81%

Graduation

70%

Student body

30K

Median SAT/ACT

1220/27

Fairfax, VA

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# 18

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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# 19

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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# 20

University of Manchester

Public research university in Manchester, England

#37 institution's overall influence

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# 21

University of Delhi

Central university located in New Delhi

#156 institution's overall influence

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# 22

University of Warwick

University in Coventry, United Kingdom

#157 institution's overall influence

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# 23

Graduate Center, CUNY

Doctoral-granting institution of the City University of New York in New York City, US

#497 institution's overall influence

Tuition + fees

$7K

Student body

New York, NY

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# 24

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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# 25

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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# 26

University of Bristol

Research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom

#64 institution's overall influence

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# 27

University of Toronto

University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

#23 institution's overall influence

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# 28

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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# 29

University of Bonn

Public research university located in Bonn, Germany

#30 institution's overall influence

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# 30

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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# 31

Georgetown University

Private university in Washington, D.C., United States

#69 institution's overall influence

#19 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$54K

Acceptance

15%

Graduation

94%

Student body

14K

Median SAT/ACT

1450/32

Washington, DC

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# 32

University of Edinburgh

Public research university in Edinburgh, Scotland

#13 institution's overall influence

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# 33

University of British Columbia

Public research university in British Columbia, Canada

#63 institution's overall influence

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# 34

Australian National University

University in Canberra, Australia

#107 institution's overall influence

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# 35

University of Virginia

Public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

#43 institution's overall influence

#40 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$17K

Acceptance

26%

Graduation

94%

Student body

24K

Median SAT/ACT

1415/32

Charlottesville, VA

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# 36

University of Essex

University in Essex, United Kingdom

#253 institution's overall influence

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# 37

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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# 38

Tufts University

Private research university in Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts

#73 institution's overall influence

#25 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$56K

Acceptance

15%

Graduation

92%

Student body

11K

Median SAT/ACT

1455/32

Medford, MA

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# 39

Humboldt University of Berlin

University in Germany

#12 institution's overall influence

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# 40

University of Sussex

University in Brighton and Hove, UK

#147 institution's overall influence

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# 41

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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# 42

Bocconi University

Private university in Milan, Italy

#600 institution's overall influence

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# 43

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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# 44

Amherst College

Liberal arts college in Massachusetts

#92 institution's overall influence

#26 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$56K

Acceptance

13%

Graduation

93%

Student body

Median SAT/ACT

1430/32

Amherst, MA

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# 45

University of Maryland

Public research university in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland

#79 institution's overall influence

#214 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$11K

Acceptance

47%

Graduation

87%

Student body

35K

Median SAT/ACT

1380/31

College Park, MD

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# 46

University of Glasgow

University located in Glasgow, Scotland, founded in 1451

#33 institution's overall influence

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# 47

University of Calcutta

Public state university in Kolkata, West Bengal

#77 institution's overall influence

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# 48

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Public university in Massachusetts, USA

#127 institution's overall influence

#953 student desirability

Tuition + fees

$16K

Acceptance

60%

Graduation

76%

Student body

28K

Median SAT/ACT

1295/28

Amherst, MA

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# 49

University of Vienna

Public university in Vienna, Austria

#19 institution's overall influence

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# 50

Rutgers University

Multi-campus American public research university in New Jersey, United States

#47 institution's overall influence

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