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
Jahangirnagar University is a public research university located in Savar, Dhaka in Bangladesh. It was established in 1970 by the Jahangirnagar Muslim University Ordinance of the Pakistani Government, which was amended after the independence of Bangladesh to form Jahangirnagar University.
Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology , is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia from 1941 to 1945, and is the largest university in Western Australia, with students in .
Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Downtown Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County, in addition to a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher education in suburban Long Island. It enrolls 7,859 undergraduate and graduate students.
The University of Urbino Carlo Bo is an Italian university located in Urbino, a walled hill-town in the region of Marche, located in the north-eastern part of central Italy. The University was founded as Law school in 1506 by Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, with the name of "Collegio dei Dottori" .
Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali "Guido Carli" , known by the acronym "LUISS" or "LUISS Guido Carli", is a private university located in Rome, Italy, founded in 1974 by a group of entrepreneurs led by Umberto Agnelli, brother of Gianni Agnelli.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine.
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...
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution.
Brooklyn Law School is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty.
ESIEE Paris is a grande école of engineering located in Marne-la-Vallée. The school was established in 1904 and is part of the ESIEE network of graduate schools. ESIEE Paris offers its students general engineering training with the aim of enabling them to design, produce and oversee complex industrial systems while meeting strict economic constraints and dealing with an international environment. To accomplish this, the school renders advanced scientific and technological training, which is frequently updated to keep pace with changes in the leading edge technologies and supplemented by its a...
The University of Eastern Finland is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things, extended the autonomy of Finnish universities by giving each university an independent legal personality, as a public corporation or a foundation. Also, universities’ management and decision-making systems were reformed.
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established Iowa College. It has an open curriculum, which means students may choose most of the classes they take, instead of taking a prescribed list of classes.
Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest donors of the university. He donated lands and two million rupees for the establishment of the university which was set to be shifted elsewhere by the education authorities due to lack of funding. Furthermore, he provided lakh annually to the university, an approximate figure of lakhs between 1930s - 1940s.a The liberal king was conferred an Honorary Doctorate degree from the university. The Jeypor...
The University of Dayton is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist Universities in the United States and the second-largest private university in Ohio. Its campus is located in southern Dayton and spans 388 acres on both sides of the Great Miami River.
The University of Idaho is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University of Idaho was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. Its College of Law, established in 1909, was first accredited by the American Bar Association in 1925.
Oxford Brookes University is a public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The university was named after its first principal, John Henry Brookes, who played a major role in the development of the institution.
Southwest Jiaotong University is a national public science and engineering university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. It is a national key university co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education, China Railway Corporation, the Sichuan Provincial Government, and the Chengdu Municipal Government. The university is part of Project 211 and the Double First Class University Plan.
The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration is a federal state-funded institution of higher education located in Moscow, Russia. With the merger of ANE, RAPA, 12 other regional civil service academies in 2010, the newly formed Russian Presidential Academy became one of the larger socioeconomic and humanities universities in Russia and Europe.
Chongqing University is a national public university located in Chongqing, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China, and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education, the Chongqing Municipal People's Government, and SASTIND. The university is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University Plan.
The University of Pécs is one of the largest higher education institutions in Hungary. The history of the university began in the Middle Ages, when in 1367, at the request of King Louis I the Great, Pope Urban V granted permission to found the institution. This made it the first university in Hungary and the fourth in Central Europe. The official successor of the university is the Elisabeth University of Pozsony, founded in 1912. In 1921, after Bratislava became part of Czechoslovakia, the university was moved to Pécs In 1951, the Faculty of Medicine separated and existed as an independent in...
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management and the College of Engineering. It offers 65 majors and 70 minors in the sciences and humanities. Located just south of Lewisburg, the campus rises above the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
The Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo , locally known as PUC or the Catholic University , is a private and non-profit Catholic university. It is maintained by the Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo. The university is also responsible for the St. Lucinda Hospital and the TUCA theatre
Henry E. Brady ranks among our Top Influential Political Scientists Today.
Bangor University is a public university in Bangor, Wales. It received its Royal Charter in 1885 and was one of the founding institutions of the federal University of Wales. Formerly known as the University College of North Wales , and later the University of Wales, Bangor , it adopted its current name in 2007, as it became independent from the University of Wales.
Hongik University is a private university in Seoul, South Korea. Founded by an activist in 1946, the university is located in Mapo-gu district of central Seoul, South Korea with a second campus in Sejong.
The University of Tours , formerly François Rabelais University of Tours , is a public university in Tours, France. Founded in 1969, the university was formerly named after the French writer François Rabelais. It is the largest university in the Centre-Val de Loire region. As of July 2015, it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University.
Brno University of Technology is a university located in Brno, Czech Republic. Being founded in 1899 and initially offering a single course in civil engineering, it grew to become a major technical Czech university with over 18,000 students enrolled at 8 faculties and 2 university institutes.
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan's Ford.
National Defense University is a military university established in 2016 and primarily located in Beşiktaş, İstanbul. The university education and training started with the ceremony held on 12 February 2017 at the Air Force Academy. It is a continuation of the Turkish War Academies.
is a university with several branches in Japan, including Hakusan, Asaka, Kawagoe, Itakura, and Akabane. Overview The predecessor to Toyo University was , which was founded at Rinsho-in Temple by Enryo Inoue in 1887. Inoue felt that the subject of philosophy was neglected in Japanese schools of higher learning at the time. In 1906, the school was moved to its present site and its name was changed to Toyo University. The school's motto was "Protection of Country and Love of Truth".
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a private ecumenical Christian liberal seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University. Since 1928, the seminary has served as Columbia's constituent faculty of theology. In 1964, UTS also established an affiliation with the neighboring Jewish Theological Seminary of America. UTS confers the following degrees: Master of Divinity , Master of Divinity & Social Work dual degree , Master of Arts in Religion , Master of Arts in Social Justice , Master of Sacred Theology , and Doctor of Philosophy .
The University of France was a highly centralized educational state organization founded by Napoleon I in 1808 and given authority not only over the individual universities but also over primary and secondary education. The former individual universities were henceforth to be known as "academies" , but each still retained a rector and local board of its own. The University of France was disbanded in 1896.
Jinan University is a public research university based in Guangzhou, China. "Jinan" literally means "reaching southward", indicating the university's original mission to disseminate Chinese learning and culture from North to South when it was founded in 1906 in Nanjing. It is the first Chinese university to recruit foreign students and one of the universities with the largest number of international students in China.
IIT Delhi, officially the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, is a public institute of technology located in Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology created to be Centres of Excellence for India's training, research and development in science, engineering and technology.
California State University, Long Beach is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the California State University system . The university is one of the largest in the state of California by enrollment with a student body numbering 38,273 for the fall 2022 semester. With 5,562 graduate students as of fall 2022, the university enrolls one of the largest graduate student populations across the CSU system and in the state of California. CSULB is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity," reflecting the unive...
Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, Geelong Waterfront, and Warrnambool, as well as the online Cloud Campus. Deakin also has learning centres in Dandenong and Werribee, all in the state of Victoria.
California State University, Los Angeles is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 master's degree programs, and 4 doctoral degrees: the Doctor of Philosophy in special education in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles , Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, Doctor of Nursing Practice , and Doctor of Audiology . It also offers 22 teaching credentials.
Zurich University of the Arts has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich's School of Art and Design and the School of Music, Drama, and Dance . ZHdK is one of four universities affiliated to Zürcher Fachhochschule.
The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Texas System in 1965.
Long Island University is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU has NCAA Division I athletics and hosts the annual George Polk Awards in journalism.
Winston-Salem State University is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. History Winston-Salem State University was founded as Slater Industrial Academy on September 28, 1892. It began with 25 pupils and one teacher in a one-room frame structure. By 1895 the school was recognized by the State of North Carolina and in 1899 it was chartered by the state as Slater Industrial and Slater Normal School.
Iran University of Science and Technology is a research institution and university of engineering and science in Iran. The university is home to 15 faculties offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in a wide range of engineering-based subjects as well as maths, physics, and department of foreign languages. In 1995 IUST awarded Iran’s first PhDs in materials, metallurgical and traffic engineering. IUST is the only university in the Middle East which has a school of railway engineering and a school of progress engineering. It is also the only university in Iran which has a school of automotive engineering.
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.
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales , abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europe, Africa, Asia, America, and Oceania.
Nanjing Normal University is a provincial public university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Jiangsu, and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the provincial government. The university is part of the Double First Class University Plan and Project 211.
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performance, composition, conducting, music theory and history, and has trained some of the most important figures in international music life. The RCM also undertakes research, with particular strengths in performance practice and performance science.
The , sometimes referred to as the University of Lugano in English-speaking contexts, is a public Swiss university established in 1995, with campuses in Lugano, Mendrisio and Bellinzona . USI is the only university in Switzerland where the official language is Italian, but many of its programs are in English.
The Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México , commonly known as ITAM, is a private university. It is one of Mexico's most important institutions of higher learning; highly prestigious in the social sciences. It is also considered one of Mexico's think tanks and has the highest rank of admission to the Mexican Foreign Service.
Konkuk University is a South Korean private university founded in 1946. The university was founded based on three virtues: sincerity, fidelity, and righteousness. Konkuk University gives comprehensive education in agricultural and life science research to around 30,000 students, plus 2,500 international students. It has two campuses: one in Seoul and one in Chungju. The Seoul campus is located in the southeastern part of the city, near the Han River, and is served by the Konkuk University Station.