The 100 best universities in the world

Only four Indian universities make it to the Top 100 global rankings released by YouthIncMag this year.

Read on to find out more... 

With each progressing year, it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose the best university to pursue higher education.

To make the decision easier for aspiring students, one of India's leading career magazines Youth Incorporated, in partnership with Education Times and Rediff.com, releases a list of world's best universities.

The Global University Rankings 2015 ranks 100 best universities from around the world.

Nearly 1600 institutes were contacted for the survey.

The Top 10 continues to be dominated by American institutes with the only exception being University of Oxford.

Among the Asian universities, University of Tokyo is the highest at 15th place, the same position it was in 2014.

It is followed by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay at 20, which has come up from 24, and National University of Singapore, which has slipped to 25 from 23.

With just four Indian universities in the top 100 global rankings -- Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (rank 27), Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (rank 80), University of Delhi (rank 90) -- it's no wonder that several students aim to study abroad and then come back to work here.

Here, we bring you the Top 10 followed by the Top 100 from this year's rankings.

Yale University, USA

Rank: 10

Overall score: 94.3

According to the Global University Rankings 2015, Yale is ranked tenth.

Founded in 1701, Yale caters to about 12,300 students annually across its undergraduate and post graduate programmes.

It has produced five US presidents and 17 Supreme Court justices.

Photograph: Wikimedia Commons

Cornell University, USA

Rank: 9

Overall score: 95

The private Ivy League institute, established in 1865, is ranked ninth.

Among its list of firsts, it claims to have awarded the world's first degree in journalism and the country's first university degree in veterinary medicine.

Cornell is home to 41 Nobel laureates, 31 Marshall and 28 Rhodes Scholars. 

Photograph: Eustress/Wikimedia Commons

Princeton University, USA

Rank: 8

Overall score: 95.4

In eighth place is Princeton University.

Its 500-acre campus has 180 buildings and 29 academic departments that caters to 5,200 undergraduate students and 2,600 graduate students.

Started in 1746, the university has 30 Nobel laureates as part of its alumni and faculty.

Photograph: Inabluemn/Wikimedia Commons

Columbia University, USA

Rank: 7

Overall score: 96

Columbia University is ranked at number seven.

Founded in 1754, it has three undergraduate schools, 13 graduate and professional schools.

Approximately 30,000 students study at this university.

Photograph: Wally Gobetz/Creative Commons

University of Chicago, USA

Rank: 6

Overall score: 96.5

The University of Chicago comes in at number six.

Founded in 1890, it caters to 5,300 students annually across 100 undergraduate and post graduate programmes.

It has 87 Nobel laureates among its notable alumni.

Photograph: Wikimedia Commons

University of Pennsylvania, USA

Rank: 5

Overall score: 97

Rounding off the Top Five is the University of Pennsylvania.

Approximately 25,000 students -- full time and part time -- study at the institute.

Photograph: YW Shin/Wikimedia Commons 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Rank: 4

Overall score: 98

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is at number four.

Established in 1861, the MIT has 32 academic departments offering undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral programmes.

Approximately 11,300 students study at the institute.

The MIT has produced 80 Nobel laureates.

Photograph: John Phelan/Wikimedia Commons

University of Oxford, UK

Rank: 3

Overall score: 99

One of the oldest colleges of higher learning, the Oxford is ranked third in the list.

Nearly 22,000 students study at the university, which is known for its research programmes.

Twenty six British Prime Ministers, 50 Nobel Prize winners, and 120 Olympic medal winners have graduated from the university.

Photograph: Philip Allfrey/Wikimedia Commons

Stanford University, USA

Rank: 2

Overall score: 99.3

Much like last year, this year too, Stanford University emerged runner up.

It was established in 1885.

Currently 16,000 students study at this university pursuing courses across its seven schools.

Twenty one Nobel laureates are affiliated to the university.

Photograph courtesy: stanford.edu

Harvard University, USA

Rank: 1

Overall score: 100

With a perfect score of 100, the Harvard University leads the ranking this time as well.

The private research university was started in 1636 and is spread across a 210-acre campus.

Approximately 21,000 students are enrolled annually into the institute.

It has produced 47 Nobel Laureates, 32 heads of state and 48 Pulitzer Prize winners.

Photograph courtesy: harvard.edu 

Click here to take a look at the Top 100 global universities and how they've fared from last year