In today's competitive environment the university rankings keep on changing every now and then. In a recent ratings guide U.S. News & World Report included such universities as Princeton, Harvard and Stanford among the "best values" in the country. Keeping in view different ratings, here are our top 10.
Top Ten
1 - University of Cambridge
Top 10 Universities; Cambridge
Celebrating its 800th anniversary in 2009, Britain's University of Cambridge has topped the list, making it the best university in the world for science. With over 100 departments, faculties and schools, Cambridge is the largest university in the UK. Its contribution to the world has ranged from the discovery of the mechanism of blood circulation to the structure of DNA, from the great philosophers of the early 15th century to the groundbreaking work of its many Nobel Prize winners (more than 60 distinguished names feature on the list).
2 - University of Oxford
Top 10 Universities; Oxford
Probably the oldest university with no clear date of foundation, Oxford stands at second position. Teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. Except for St Hilda's -- which continues to remain an all-women college -- all of Oxford's 39 colleges now admit both men and women.
3 - Harvard University
Top 10 Universities;Harvard
With 40 Nobel laureate to its credit Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Harvard College was established in 1636 and was named after its first benefactor, John Harvard, a young minister who, on his death in 1638, left his library and half his estate to the newly established institution. Seven presidents of the United States (John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W Bush) were graduates of Harvard.
4 - University of California, Berkeley
Top 10 Universities;Berkeley
Established in 1868, University of California was the product of a merger between the College of California and the Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College. Among other things, the university is credited with the isolation of the human polio virus and the discovery of all artificial elements heavier than uranium. Eighteen Berkeley faculty members have been awarded Nobel Prizes in science, literature and economics.
5 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Top 10 Universities;MIT
With 59 Nobel Prize winners MIT is one of the most famous universities in the world. Through his efforts, William Barton Rogers, who never received a degree, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was born in 1861. Today, the Institute has more than 900 faculty and 10,000 students. It is organized into five Schools -- Architecture and Planning, Engineering, Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Management and the Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology.
6 - Stanford University
Top 10 Universities;Stanford
Stanford University opened on October 1, 1891 and was dedicated by Leland Stanford and Jane Eliza to their son, Leland Junior. Stanford followed the German model of providing graduate as well as undergraduate instruction and stressing on research along with teaching. Stanford's current community of scholars includes 17 Nobel laureates and four Pulitzer Prize winners. Famous Stanford alumni include Vinton Cerf, Steve Ballmer, Vance Coffman, Carleton Fiorina, William Hewlett, David Packard, Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page.
7 - University of Tokyo
Top 10 Universities;Tokyo
Established in 1877, the University of Tokyo is the only Asian university in the top 10 list. With 10 faculties, 15 graduate schools and 11 research institutes, it has been a guiding force in research and education. The University has a faculty of approximately 2,800 professors, associate professors and lecturers, and a total student enrollment of about 28,000.
8 - Princeton University
Formerly known as the College of New Jersey, the University was officially renamed Princeton University in 1896. The University plays a major role in the educational, cultural and economic life of the region. Some famous Princeton alumni include Woodrow Wilson and James Madison, former presidents of the United States.
9 - California Institute of Technology
Top 10 Universities;Caltech
Caltech was established by philanthropist Amos Throop in September 1891. The University started in a rented Wooster Block building by the name of Throop University. Today, 30 of the Institute's alumni are Nobel Prize recipients. Linus Pauling, the Caltech chemist, Charles Richter the inventor of Richter scale and psycho biologist Roger Sperry are some of the great names from Caltech.
10 - Imperial College of London
Top 10 Universities:Imperial College
Established in 1907, Imperial College of London is one of the world's best universities. It is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research. With over 12000 students from 123 countries, the College boasts of 14 Nobel Prize winners.