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!
Use the power of AI for your research!
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 Philosophy,
The Université de Sherbrooke is a French-language public research university in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, with a second campus in Longueuil, a suburb on the South Shore of Montreal. It is one of two universities in the Estrie region of Quebec , and the only French-language university for the region.
The University of Pretoria is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johannesburg-based Transvaal University College and is the fourth South African institution in continuous operation to be awarded university status. The university has grown from the original 32 students in a single late Victorian house to approximately 53,000 in 2019. The university was built on seven suburban campuses on .
Macalester College is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution with an enrollment of 2,174 students in the fall of 2018. The college has Scottish roots and emphasizes internationalism and multiculturalism.
The Catholic University of Portugal , also referred to as Católica or UCP for short, is a concordat university headquartered in Lisbon and with four locations: Lisbon, Braga, Porto and Viseu. Besides the four centres in Portugal, UCP also has the University of Saint Joseph in Macau as its affiliate.
The University of Douai was a former university in Douai, France. With a medieval heritage of scholarly activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started in 1562. It closed from 1795 to 1808. In 1887, it was transferred as University of Lille 27 km away from Douai.
Cheikh Anta Diop University , also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60,000.
Imam Khomeini International University , informally Qazvin International University, is an international university in Iran that was founded after the Islamic Revolution. The bill of IKIU’s constitution was ratified by the Iranian Parliament in January 1984. Constituent organs of IKIU include Board of trustees, president, and council. Deputies for Education, Research, and Students and Culture are some of the other departments. In addition, there is a Science and Technology Park, and central library with more than 100000 books and magazines.
The University of Twente is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. In addition, the UT was ranked the best technical university in The Netherlands by Keuzegids Universiteiten, the most significant national university ranking. The UT collaborates with Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and the Wageningen University and Research Centre under the umbrella of 4TU and is also a partner in the European Consortium of Innovative Universit...
Chernivtsi National University is a public university in the City of Chernivtsi in Western Ukraine. One of the leading Ukrainian institutions for higher education, it was founded in 1875 as the Franz-Josephs-Universität Czernowitz when Chernivtsi was the capital of the Duchy of Bukovina, a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary. Today the university is based at the Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans building complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
The Ukrainian Free University is a private graduate university located in Munich, Germany. History The Ukrainian Free University was established in Vienna on 17 January 1921. The idea to organize a Ukrainian university-in-exile came from Ukrainian academics, some of whom had held chairs at universities in the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. The UFU was transferred to Prague, Czechoslovakia, in the fall of 1921. The host government granted the UFU full academic accreditation and provided the university with financial support. The UFU received wide recognition for significant and prod...
Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Reitaku University is a private university in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Below it is referred to as just Reitaku. The predecessor of Reitaku University was Moralogy School, launched in 1935, and Reitaku University itself was established in 1959.
Portland State University is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades and was granted university status in 1969. It is one of two public universities in Oregon that are located in a large city. It is governed by a board of trustees. PSU is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
The is a French grande école located in the city of Lyon. It is one of the four prestigious écoles normales supérieures in France. The school is composed of two academic units —Arts and Sciences— with campuses in Lyon, near the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers.
Loyola University New Orleans is a private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, and is a member of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.
Jamia Millia Islamia is a central university located in New Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces during the British Empire in 1920, it moved to its current location in Okhla in 1935. It was given the deemed status by University Grants Commission in 1962. On 26 December 1988, it became a central university.
Rio de Janeiro State University is a public research university in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the country. The university's law and medical schools are among the best in the nation . Its Biology, Social Science, Nursing and Philosophy courses are also highly praised, as stated by Guia do Estudante.
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) was founded in 1885. A component part of the University System of Georgia, today Georgia Tech has five satellite campuses: in Savannah, Georgia; Metz, France; Athlone, Ireland; Shenzhen, China; and Singapore. Georgia Tech continues to grow rapidly. As of the beginning of the 2019 academic year, the student body numbered more than 36,000, which was an 11.5 percent increase over the previous year. The university’s programs of study are divided among six colleges: the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts; the College of Sciences; the College of Engineering; the College of Computing; the College of Design; and the College of Business.
Gadjah Mada University is a public research university located in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Officially founded on 19 December 1949, Gadjah Mada University is one of the oldest and largest institutions of higher education in the country, and has been credited as one of the best universities in Indonesia. In the 2023 QS World Universities Ranking, UGM is ranked 1st in Indonesia and 231st in the world.
University Charles III of Madrid is a public university in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Established in 1989, UC3M is an institution with a distinctly international profile. It offers a broad range of master's and bachelor's degree programs in English, and nearly 20% of the student body is made up of international students. It is the first university in Spain and the third in Europe in the number of its students participating in the Erasmus student exchange programs.
The United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals was the name given to the joint medical and dental school formed in London as a result of the merger of Guy's Hospital Medical School, St Thomas's Hospital Medical School and the Royal Dental Hospital of London.
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private institution of higher education in the state of Ohio and enrolls approximately 1,800 undergraduate students. Students choose from over 50 majors, minors, and concentrations, including self-designed majors.
The Schola Medica Salernitana was a medieval medical school, the first and most important of its kind. Situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the south Italian city of Salerno, it was founded in the 9th century and rose to prominence in the 10th century, becoming the most important source of medical knowledge in Western Europe at the time.
Liberty International is a non-profit, libertarian educational and networking organization based in Dallas, Texas. It encourages activism in libertarian and individual rights areas through the 'freely chosen strategies' of its members. Its history dates back to 1969 as the Society for Individual Liberty, founded by Don Ernsberger and Dave Walter. The previous name was adopted in 1989 after a merger with Libertarian International was coordinated by Vincent Miller, who became president of the new organization.
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Vikramashila
Vikramashila was one of the three most important Buddhist monasteries in India during the Pala Empire, along with Nalanda and Odantapuri. Its location is now the site of Antichak village near Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur district in Bihar.
Washington State University is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an undergraduate enrollment of 24,278 and a total enrollment of 28,581, it is the second largest institution for higher education in Washington state behind the University of Washington. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
The University of Oulu is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's Programmes are offered at the university. The university is often ranked as one of the best universities in Finland and in the top-400 worldwide.
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Brock University
Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bears the name of Maj.-General Sir Isaac Brock, who was responsible for defending Upper Canada against the United States during the War of 1812.
The University of Dallas is a private Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises three academic units: the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts, the Constantin College of Liberal Arts, and the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business. Dallas offers several master's degree programs and a doctoral degree program with three concentrations. As of 2017, there are 136 full-time faculty and 102 part-time faculty.
Texas Tech University is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on October 2, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University System. As of Fall 2023, the university enrolled 40,944 students, making it the sixth-largest university in Texas. Over 25% of its undergraduate student population identifies as Hispanic so the university has been designated a Hispanic-serving institution .
San Diego State University is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University system. In Fall 2022, SDSU hit an all time high enrollment record student body of nearly 37,000 and an alumni base of more than 300,000.
Corvinus University of Budapest is a private research university in Budapest, Hungary. The university currently has an enrolment of approximately 9,600 students, with a primary focus on business administration, economics, and social sciences, operating in Budapest and Székesfehérvár since 1948. Corvinus University accepts students at six faculties and offer courses leading to degrees at the bachelor, master and doctoral level in specialisations taught in Hungarian, English, French or German.
SOAS University of London is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area of central London.
Ritsumeikan University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan, that traces its origin to 1869. In addition to its main campus in Kyoto, the university also has satellite campuses in Ibaraki, Osaka and Kusatsu, Shiga.
The Paracelsus Medical University is a private university located in Salzburg municipality, Austria and Nuremberg, Germany. Organization and financing University managementWolfgang Sperl Theodor Fischlein Lydia Gruber Stephan Kolb The university's legal entity is the Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg - private foundation. The committee reports to the Board of Trustees.
The Academy of Gondishapur , also known as the Gondishapur University , was one of the three Sasanian centers of education and academy of learning in the city of Gundeshapur, Iran during late antiquity, the intellectual center of the Sasanian Empire. It offered education and training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science. The faculty were versed in Persian traditions. According to The Cambridge History of Iran, it was the most important medical center of the ancient world during the 6th and 7th centuries. The distinguished historian of science George Sarton called Jundishapur “the gre...
The Flying University was an underground educational enterprise that operated from 1885 to 1905 in Warsaw, the historic Polish capital, then under the control of the Russian Empire, and that was revived between 1977 and 1981 in the communist People's Republic of Poland. The purpose of this and similar institutions was to provide Polish youth with an opportunity for an education within the framework of traditional Polish scholarship when that collided with the ideology of the governing authorities. In the 19th century, such underground institutions were important in the national effort to resist Germanization under Prussian and Russification under Russian occupation.
Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the university sometimes carries the nomenclature Jefferson in its branding. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
Karen Bausman ranks among our Top Influential Engineers Today.
Southern California Institute of Architecture is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde and more adventurous than traditional architecture schools based in the United States. It consists of approximately 500 students and 80 faculty members, some of whom are practicing architects. It is based in the quarter-mile long former Santa Fe Freight Depot in the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles and also offers community events such as outreach programs, free exhibitions, and pub...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers in the country. It is both a degree-granting academic institution and a cancer treatment and research center located at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. It is affiliated with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. According to Newsweek, MD Anderson Cancer Center is considered the best hospital in the world for oncology and related cancer treatment.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and school, SAIC has been accredited since 1936 by the Higher Learning Commission, by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design since 1944 , and by the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design since the association's founding in 1991. Additionally it is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. In a 2002 survey conducted b...
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.
The Sorbonne Nouvelle University is a public university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was completely overhauled and restructured in 1970. History The historic University of Paris first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was reorganised in 1970 as 13 autonomous universities after the student protests of the French May. Sorbonne Nouvelle, or "Paris III", is one of the inheritors of University of Paris faculty of humanities .
Stellenbosch University is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Saharan Africa, together with the University of Cape Town - which received full university status on the same day in 1918. Stellenbosch University designed and manufactured Africa's first microsatellite, SUNSAT, launched in 1999.
Sogang University is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was established in 1960 by Fr. Theodore Geppert, SJ with the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus. Sogang is the oldest Jesuit institution of higher education and one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea, and it has been ranked as one of the top 3 Catholic universities in Asia.
Gonzaga University is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the university is named after the young Jesuit saint Aloysius Gonzaga. The campus houses 105 buildings on 152 acres of grassland alongside the Spokane River, in a residential setting a half-mile from downtown Spokane.
The University of Malawi is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, the largest is Chancellor College in Zomba . It is part of the Malawian government educational system. The last Vice-Chancellor was Professor John Kalenga Saka.
The Pontifical North American College is a Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for priests who are pursuing graduate work at other pontifical universities in Rome. The NAC also has a continuing education program for veteran priests.
The Medical College of Wisconsin is a private medical school, pharmacy school, and graduate school of sciences in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school was established in 1893 and is the largest research center in eastern Wisconsin. It is associated with Froedtert Hospital as well as Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and houses the Center for Infectious Disease Research There are two additional campuses, one in Green Bay and one in Wausau.
