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Top 10 Best Universities in the world (2022)
This post highlights the top 10 universities in the world, most of which are research institutions. Let’s see the list below:
The top 10 universities in the world are institutions that have maintained credibility over the years despite some of them being over 100 years old.
Students all over the world are often on a quest for the best universities to attend (who wouldn’t want to attend the best university?) and it’s no surprise that they often travel from one end of the world to another “just to study”.
This post highlights the top 10 universities in the world, most of which are research institutions.
Top Universities in the World (2022)
| RANK | UNIVERSITY | LOCATION | RENOWNED ALUMNI |
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT) | Cambridge, United States | Kofi Annan |
| 2 | University of Oxford | Oxford, United Kingdom. | Tony Abbott |
| 3 | Stanford University | California, United States | Larry Page |
| 4 | University of Cambridge | Cambridge, United Kingdom | Isaac Newton |
| 5 | Havard University | Cambridge, MA, United States | Robert Lee Frost |
| 6 | The California Institute of Technology | California, United States | Gordon Moore |
| 7 | Imperial College London | South Kensington, London | Sir Alfred Egerton FRS |
| 8 | ETH Zurich | Zürich, Switzerland | Albert Einstein |
| 9 | University College London | London, United Kingdom | Mahatma Gandhi |
| 10 | University of Chicago | Chicago, United States | Luis Alvarez |
10. University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is located in Chicago, United States. Although it has arts and science faculties, the university is widely appreciated for its professional schools like its School of medicine, the Booth School of Business, and the Harris School of Public Policy Studies among others.
The University boasts of about 16,000 students with 1/4 of them from overseas. Its acceptance rate is 7.3%, making it one of the most difficult institutions to get into.
Some of its popular faculty members include former US president Barack Obama; novelists Philip Roth and Saul Bellow; and political legends like pollster Nate Silver and Obama strategist David Axelrod among others.
9. University College London (UCL)
University College London (UCL) is known as the number one London University for research strength. It is located in London, U.K.
The university is famous for being the first university in England to welcome women to university education and the first university in England to accept students of any religion or social background.
UCL is also known to be one of the top, if not topmost institutions for global study. It has about 18,000 international students with over 150 countries represented. The institution is ranked among the top 20 universities worldwide for graduate employability. Â
8. ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich is a top research institution in Zürich, Switzerland. It was founded by the Swiss Government in 1854 and since then, the public university has maintained its mission in educating engineers and scientists. ETH Zurich has a primary focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The University has an acceptance rate is 27%, making it easier to get into the institution compared to the other institutions on this list.
Albert Einstein is one of their famous alumni.
7. Imperial College London
Imperial College London is also a top institution and a popular choice for international students who want to study in the UK.
The South Kensington-based institution in London is focused mainly on science, engineering, medicine, and business. It offers a top-notch research-based education in these fields and has an acceptance rate of 14%.
The institution is best known for its globally accepted research which mostly addresses worldwide challenges.
59% of its students are non-UK citizens, making it one of the choice schools for international students.
6. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
The California Institute of Technology is a research institute known for its prowess in science and engineering. It is primarily devoted to pure and applied sciences.
It is located in Pasadena, California, US. According to the USA ranking for institutions of technology, Caltech is only slightly below MIT in terms of research, diversity and internationalization, and employability.
The top tech school is equally rated one of the hardest schools to get into, with an acceptance rate of 6.7%. Some of its notable alumni include:
- William Shockley (known for his research on semiconductors and discovery of the transistor effect).
- Gordon Moore (Author, Moore’s Law)
5. Havard University
Harvard University was established in 1636. It is the oldest higher institution in the US and is publicly recognized as a world-class university. Its total enrolment so far is 21,000 students with an acceptance rate of 5%. It is largely appreciated for its scholarship offers and financial aid packages.
Some of the popular and influential people who studied at Havard include:
- Robert Lee Frost (American Poet)
- Mira Sorvino (Award-winning movie star)
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Essayist, poet, philosopher)
- Charles Thomas Munger (Billionaire Investor)
It is located in Cambridge, MA, United States.
4. University of Cambridge
Cambridge University is a collegiate public research institute with students from all around the world. No doubt, it is one of the most popular universities in the world with over 18,000 students and an acceptance rate of 21%.
According to Wikipedia, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s third-oldest surviving university.
It is organized into 31 colleges which are largely independent. Some of them are Christ’s College, Churchill College, St. John’s College, Trinity College, and St. Edmund’s College among others.
The international tuition is estimated at 21,732 GBP.
Some renowned alumni from the institution include:
- Isaac Newton (publicly known for discovering the law of motion and the law of gravity)
- Willian Harvey (the first person to recognize the full circulation of the blood in the human body and provide experiments and arguments to support this idea).
- Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel Economist)
The university is located in Cambridge, United Kingdom
3. Stanford University
Legally known as Leland Stanford Junior University, the institution is another research university located in Stanford, California, United States.
With 2,228 faculties, the institution is known for innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Some of the top majors at Stanford University include Computer Science Major, Â Economics Major, Â Human Biology Major, and Symbolic Systems Major.
The university has an acceptance rate of about 5%, making it one of the most competitive institutions in the world and with its track record, this is no surprise.
Some of Stanford University‘s top alumni who have made a name for themselves in the world include:
- Larry Page (co-founder, Google)
- Tiger Woods (Golf Legend)
- Sergey Brin (co-founder, Google)
- Reed Hastings (co-founder, Netflix)
- Peter Thiel (co-founder, Paypal)
2. University of Oxford
Rated the second best university in the world in 2022, the University of Oxford is also a research institution described as “the oldest university in the English speaking world”.
Oxford University offers a range of 48 undergraduate degrees, covering disciplines like humanities, law, languages, and fine art. Joint honors programs such as Archaeology and Anthropology are also offered in the institution.
Oxford’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) spotlighted the university‘s submission as the highest volume of world-leading research.
One of its famous alumni is Tony Abbott, former Prime Minister of Australia.
It is located in Oxford, United Kingdom.
1. Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT)
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology is the NO 1 University in the world. The institution is ranked so by many leading educational bodies and media including “US News” and “Niche”. Located in the city of Cambridge, U.S, the private institution is best known for scientific and technological research. The 161-year-old institution is one of the oldest universities in the world (founded in 1861), yet the school’s value and standard have barely dropped.
MIT has an undergraduate enrolment of about 5000. Students who get admitted into the institution are said to be very smart and highly intellectual. The institution’s Values Statement validates this. What’s more? MIT is highly competitive with an acceptance rate of about 5%. Its 2025 admission data shows an enrolment figure of 33,240 and admission of only 1,365, hence, prospective students are often advised to write the best essays and score above 1,500 in their SAT exams.
Some popular and successful MIT alumni include Kofi Annan (Former UN Secretary-General), Buzz Aldrin (the second man to walk on the moon), and Mike Massimino (former NASA astronaut) among others.
Summary
Here is a quick summary of the top 10 universities in the world:
- Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT)
- University of Oxford
- Stanford University
- University of Cambridge
- Havard University
- The California Institute of Technology
- Imperial College London
- ETH Zurich
- University College London
- University of Chicago