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 Social Work,
The Wilson College, established in 1832 in Mumbai, is one of India's oldest colleges; its foundation precedes that of the University of Mumbai, to which it is affiliated, by 25 years. Wilson College was granted autonomy by Mumbai University in November 2021. It was awarded an A rating by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council in 2005.
Indira Gandhi National Open University, known as IGNOU, is a public distance learning university located in New Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 with a budget of 20 million, after the Parliament of India passed the Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985 . IGNOU is run by the central government of India, and with a total active enrollment of over 4 million students, it is the largest university in the world.
Bluffton University is a private Mennonite university in Bluffton, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, with four programs that have earned programmatic accreditation: dietetics, education, music, and social work. The university has more than eighty majors, minors, and interdisciplinary programs, and sixteen NCAA DIII athletic teams.
James Cook University is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairns and Townsville, and one in the city state of Singapore. JCU also has study centres in Mount Isa, Mackay, Thursday Island and Rockhampton. A Brisbane campus, operated by Russo Higher Education, delivers undergraduate and postgraduate courses to international students. The university's main fields of research include environmental sciences, biological scienc...
The University of the Republic is a public research university in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is the oldest and largest university in the country, as well as the second largest public university in South America and the world's 57th largest by enrollment, with a student body of 137,757 undergraduate students in 2018 and 6,351 postgraduate students in 2012. It was founded on 18 July 1849 in Montevideo, where most of its buildings and facilities are still located. Its current rector is Rodrigo Arim.
Shahid Matangini Hazra Government College for Women, established in 2015, is located in West Bengal, India, is an undergraduate women's college in Purba Medinipur district. It offers undergraduate courses in arts and science. This college is affiliated to Vidyasagar University.
Western New England University School of Law is a private, ABA-accredited law school in Western Massachusetts. Established in 1919, the law school has approximately 8,000 alumni who live and work across the United States and internationally. Western New England Law offers both full-time and part-time programs. It is a college within Western New England University.
Frostburg State University is a public university in Frostburg, Maryland. The university is the only four-year institution of the University System of Maryland west of the Baltimore-Washington passageway in the state's Appalachian highlands. Founded in 1898 by Maryland State Senator, John Leake, Frostburg was selected because the site offered the best suitable location without a cost to the state. Today, the institution is a largely residential university.
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, is the health sciences branch of the University of Oklahoma. It serves as the primary place of training for many of Oklahoma's health professions. It is one of only four health centers in the United States with seven professional colleges.
Concord University is a public university in Athens, West Virginia. It was founded on February 28, 1872, when the West Virginia Legislature passed "an Act to locate a Branch State Normal School, in the town of Concord Church, in the County of Mercer". This normal school was founded by veterans of both the Union and the Confederacy, Concord is named for the ideal of "harmony and sweet fellowship".
The is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being the University of Amsterdam . The literal translation of the Dutch name is "Free University". "Free" refers to independence of the university from both the State and the Dutch Reformed Church. Both within and outside the university, the institution is commonly referred to as "the VU". Although founded as a private institution, the VU has received government funding on a parity basis with public universities since 1970.
Savannah College of Art and Design is a private art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. It was founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the United States. The university enrolls more than 16,000 students from across the United States and around the world with international students comprising up to 17 percent of the student population. SCAD is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and other professional accrediting bodies.
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. After the demerger of the Victoria University, it gained an independent university charter in 1904 as the Victoria University of Manchester.
The Lahore College for Women University Is a public university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1922 with a capacity of 60 students, it now has a full-time enrollment of about 15,000 students and admits students at Intermediate, Graduate, Masters and Ph.D. levels.
The University of Liberia is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the university opened in 1862 as Liberia College. UL has four campuses: the Capitol Hill Campus in Monrovia, the Fendall campus in Louisiana, outside Monrovia, the Medical School Campus in Congo Town, and the Straz-Sinje Campus in Sinje Grand Cape Mount County. The university enrolls approximately 18,000 students and is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in West Africa. It is accredited by the Liberian Commission on Higher Ed...
McCormick Theological Seminary is a private Presbyterian seminary in Chicago, Illinois. It shares a campus with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, bordering the campus of the University of Chicago. A letter of intent was signed on May 5, 2022, to sell the shared campus to the University of Chicago. The agreement allows the two seminaries to lease back facilities on the campus. Although it primarily serves the Presbytery of Chicago and the Synod of Lincoln Trails, McCormick Theological Seminary also educates members of other Christian denominations.
The Interdenominational Theological Center is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest free-standing African-American theological school in the United States.
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University of Ghana
The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in Ghana. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast. It was originally an affiliate college of the University of London, which supervised its academic programs and awarded degrees. After Ghana gained independence in 1957, the college was renamed the University College of Ghana. It changed it name again to the University of Ghana in 1961, when it gained full university status.
St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada.
Helsinki University of Technology was a technical university in Finland. It was located in Otaniemi, Espoo in the metropolitan area of Greater Helsinki. The university was founded in 1849 by Grand Duke of Finland, Emperor Nicholas I and received university status in 1908. It moved from Helsinki to Otaniemi campus area in 1966. The merger of HUT with two other schools created the Aalto University in 2010, and HUT briefly held the name Aalto University School of Science and Technology before being split into four schools in 2011.
Mohammed V University is a public university in Rabat, Morocco. It was founded in 1957 under a royal decree . It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. It is named after Mohammed V of Morocco.
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of Wellington.
Georgia Southern University is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, with additional campuses in Savannah and Hinesville . Founded in 1906, Georgia Southern is the fifth-largest institution in the University System of Georgia. Southern offers over 140 different academic majors in the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. The university has a combined enrollment of approximately 27,000 students from all 50 states and over 80 countries. Georgia Southern is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and a...
The Bronx Community College of the City University of New York is a public community college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. History The college was established in 1957 through the efforts of civic-minded groups who felt that there was a growing need for more higher education facilities in the Bronx. Classes began at Hunter College, and later at the former site of the Bronx High School of Science.
The University of Castilla–La Mancha is a Spanish university. It offers courses in the cities of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Toledo, Almadén and Talavera de la Reina. This university was recognised by law on 30 June 1982, and began to operate three years later.
Dominican University is a private Roman Catholic university in River Forest, Illinois, affiliated with the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees, certificate programs, and a PhD in information studies. Dominican University offers more than 50 majors in the Rosary College of Arts and Sciences and 20 programs in five graduate academic divisions.
The Medical Academy named after S. I. Georgievsky of Vernadsky CFU is the institution of higher medical education situated in Simferopol . According to some independent estimations, it is one of the most prominent medical schools in Ukraine. The university has 6 faculties and 54 departments. As of 2009, 4700 students were studying here . The university was decorated with Order of the Red Banner of Labour and is certified by the International Education Society as AA-level high school giving its priority under top 1000 medical university around the world.
Pace University is a private university with three campuses in New York: Pace University in New York City, Pace University in Pleasantville, and Pace Law in White Plains. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about 13,000 students as of fall 2021 in bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs.
Tennessee Wesleyan University is a private Methodist university in Athens, Tennessee. It was founded in 1857 and is affiliated with the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. It maintains a branch campus in Knoxville, where it offers evening programs in business administration. It also conducts its nursing classes in Knoxville.
The University College Stockholm , formerly the Stockholm School of Theology , is an independent school for theology and human rights in Stockholm, Sweden, sponsored by the Uniting Church in Sweden. The institution has been accredited by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education to award degrees in the field of theology as well as in the field of human rights . In cooperation with Uppsala University, Stockholm School of Theology also awards a Master's degree in human rights.
St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is non-denominational, it was founded in 1856 by leaders of the Universalist Church, who were seeking to establish a seminary west of New England and were enthusiastically courted by the citizens of Canton. The church almost did not place the school in Canton, however, as they felt students might be exposed to too much "excitement" within the village limits in 1856. The denomination, which ha...
The City Colleges of Chicago is the public community college system of the Chicago area. Its colleges offer associate degrees, certificates, free courses for the GED, and free English as a second language courses.
Our Lady of the Lake University , known locally as the Lake, is a private Catholic university in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1895 by the Sisters of Divine Providence, a religious institute originating in Lorraine, France, during the 18th century. The Texas chapter of the institute still sponsors the university. Our Lady of the Lake University was the first San Antonio institution of higher education to receive regional accreditation and its Worden School of Social Service is the oldest Social Work school in Texas.
De Montfort University Leicester is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was taken from Simon de Montfort, a 13th-century Earl of Leicester.
The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. Holy Cross was the first Catholic college in New England and is among the oldest Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States.
The International University of Rabat or UIR is a semi-public university founded in 2010 in Morocco. It delivers double-degrees, in collaboration with foreign universities, in law, engineering, aeronautics, energy engineering, architecture, business management and political sciences.
Texas Southern University is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the United States with nearly 8,000 students enrolled and over 100 academic programs. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
Rutgers University–New Brunswick is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. It is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway. It is the oldest campus of the university, the others being in Camden and Newark. The campus is composed of several smaller campuses that are large distances away from each other: College Avenue, Busch, Livingston, Cook, and Douglass, the latter two sometimes referred to as "Cook/Douglass", as they are adjacent to each other. Rutgers–New Brunswick also includes several buildings in downtown New Brunswick.
Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church , it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in the United Negro College Fund.
Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: Hahnemann Medical College, originally founded as the nation's first college of homeopathy, and the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first U.S. medical school for women, which became the Medical College of Pennsylvania when it admitted men in 1970; these institutions merged in 1993, became affiliated with Drexel University College of Medicine in 1998, and were fully absor...
Mississippi College is a private Baptist university in Clinton, Mississippi. Founded in 1826, MC is the second-oldest Baptist-affiliated college or university in the United States and the oldest college or university in Mississippi.
Chaffey College is a public community college in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The college serves students in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It is the oldest community college in California.
The Chicago Theological Seminary is a Christian ecumenical American seminary located in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of several seminaries historically affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Chicago, originally established in 1855 under the direction of the abolitionist Stephen Peet and the Congregational Church by charter of the Illinois legislature.
The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub-Saharan Africa, creating an African elite. Fort Hare alumni were part of many subsequent independence movements and governments of newly independent African countries.
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of The City University of New York is a public community college in the South Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system and was created by an act of the Board of Higher Education in 1968 in response to demands from the Hispanic/Puerto Rican community, which was urging for the establishment of a college to serve the people of the South Bronx. In 1970, the college admitted its first class of 623 students at the site of a former tire factory. Several years later, the college moved to a larger site nearby at 149th Street and Grand Concourse.
St. Catherine University is a private Catholic university in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was established as one of the first institutions of higher learning specifically for women in the Midwest and was known as the College of St. Catherine until 2009. St. Kate's offers baccalaureate programs for women as well as graduate and associate programs for women and men.
Lincoln University is a public state-related historically black university near Oxford, Pennsylvania. Founded as the private Ashmun Institute in 1854, it has been a public institution since 1972 and is the second HBCU in the state, after Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Lincoln is also recognized as the first college-degree granting HBCU in the country. Its main campus is located on 422 acres near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university has a second location in the University City area of Philadelphia. Lincoln University provides undergraduate and graduate coursework to approximately 2,000 students.
The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, it is located in Niger-Delta region of Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was ranked the sixth in Africa and the first in Nigeria by Times Higher Education in 2015. In July 2021, Prof. George Owunari was appointed substantive Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Haskell Indian Nations University is a public tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for Native American children, the school has developed into a university operated by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs that offers both associate and baccalaureate degrees. The college was founded to serve members of federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States. It is the oldest continually operating federal school for American Indians.
Harbin Medical University is a public university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. HMU is appointed as a national education and training base for biomedical scientists and teaching talents by the National Bureau of Advanced Health Care Education, and a key university of Heilongjiang Province in the national "211 Project".
