University of Washington

University of Washington is a public institution that was founded in 1861. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 29,754, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 703 acres. It utilizes a quarter-based academic calendar. University of Washington's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 48. Its in-state tuition and fees are $12,394 (2014-15); out-of-state tuition and fees are $33,513 (2014-15).

Located in the University District neighborhood (known as the U District) just north of downtown Seattle, the University of Washington is a cutting-edge research university with a long-standing history as one of the oldest public institutions on the West Coast. Students can join one of the school’s 500-plus student organizations, including about 50 sororities and fraternities, or can start a brand new club with at least four other students. University of Washington is known as a commuter school, and freshmen are not required to live on campus. Housing is not guaranteed for any student. For those that do reside in the residence halls, the university stresses “living green” through energy conservation and recycling. On the sports fields, the school’s varsity athletes are competitive in the NCAA Division I Pac-12 Conference. The football team, in particular, is a traditional league stand-out. The teams are represented by two mascots: one, a costumed student known as Harry the Husky Dawg, and the other, Dubs, a live Alaskan husky. The university gym is free for students seeking a workout.

The University of Washington receives a hefty amount of federal funding each year to further its mission as a public research institution. True to its roots in research, the school hosts an Undergraduate Research Symposium every year for students to present their work to the community. The school has a highly ranked School of Medicine, College of Engineering and Michael G. Foster School of Business. Nearly three fourths of University of Washington graduates remain in the state. Notable alumni include Thomas Foley, former U.S. Speaker of the House; Chris DeWolfe, co-creator of MySpace; and Irv Robbins, co-founder and namesake of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain.

The University of Washington educates a diverse student body to become responsible global citizens and future leaders through a challenging learning environment informed by cutting-edge scholarship. Discovery is at the heart of our university. We discover timely solutions to the world???s most complex problems and enrich the lives of people throughout our community, the state of Washington, the nation and the world.

The University of Washington???s vision and strategic priorities reflect the core values and culture that make us great and unique.

- UW STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE: We recruit the best, most diverse and innovative faculty and staff from around the world, encouraging a vibrant intellectual community for our students. We link academic excellence to cutting-edge research through scholarly exploration and intellectual rigor. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of ethics, as a beacon for our community and the world.

- ACADEMIC COMMUNITY: We are educators and learners. We promote access to excellence and strive to inspire through education that emphasizes the power of discovery and the foundation of critical and analytic thinking. We foster creativity, challenge the boundaries of knowledge and cultivate independence of mind through unique interdisciplinary partnerships.

- WORLD LEADERS IN RESEARCH: We have grown into the most successful public research university in the nation in attracting support for our research. Ours is a proud culture of innovation, collaboration and discovery that has transformational impact.

- CELEBRATING PLACE: The natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest envelops us. This is an important element of who we are, for this awe-inspiring place not only anchors us, it reaffirms our desire to effect positive change in the world around us. We accept gratefully our role in preserving and enhancing Washington: the place, the people, our home.

- SPIRIT OF INNOVATION: As Washingtonians, we are profoundly optimistic about our future. Based on our past and present, we find inspiration for the future. Ours is a culture with a determined persistence that engenders innovation and a belief that our goals can be realized.

- WORLD CITIZENS: We are compassionate and committed to the active pursuit of global engagement and connectedness. We assume leadership roles to make the world a better place through education and research. We embrace our role to foster engaged and responsible citizenship as part of the learning experience of our students, faculty and staff.

- BEING PUBLIC: As a public university we are deeply committed to serving all our citizens. We collaborate with partners from around the world to bring knowledge and discovery home to elevate the quality of lives of Washingtonians. This measure of public trust and shared responsibility guides our decision-making as well as our aspirations and vision for the future.

University of Miami

University of Miami is a private institution that was founded in 1925. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 11,380, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 239 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. University of Miami's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 48. Its tuition and fees are $44,350 (2014-15).

Located in Southern Florida, the University of Miami has an ideal location for students who love the outdoors. With popular spots like South Beach, the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park nearby, students have plenty of opportunities for water sports, hiking and sunbathing. Downtown Miami, also near to the school, is a thriving sports and cultural center. On campus, more than 2,400 students are involved in more than 30 fraternities and sororities. Students can also choose from more than 250 clubs and organizations to join. Freshmen are not required to live on campus, but many opt to live in the school’s five residential colleges. The communities, modeled after housing at England’s Oxford and Cambridge universities, combine living and learning with group meals, poetry readings, sports and more. For students who do not live in university housing, the Commuter Assistant Program pairs freshmen with an on-campus representative to help ease the transition into college. University of Miami Division I sports teams are known as the Hurricanes and compete in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The school’s mascot is Sebastian the Ibis, a species of marsh bird that is known for weathering tropical storms.

The University of Miami is known as a research institution, and research opportunities begin at the undergraduate level. Annual campus events include the Canes Film Festival, which showcases student-produced movies, and Sportsfest, three days of competition between residence hall teams. Undergraduates are also known for upholding school spirit with traditions like the Boat Burning Ceremony held on Lake Osceola during homecoming. Notable alumni of the University of Miami include actor Sylvester Stallone and entertainer Gloria Estefan.

The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. A brilliant faculty corps draws exceptional students, and the cumulative impact of the two has made the University one of the fastest-rising research universities in the nation. Our steadfast pursuit of excellence begins at the top, with University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala. In the 2014 edition of the U.S. News & World Report annual Best Colleges issue, the University of Miami ranked number 47. For the fifth year in a row, UM has ranked in the top 50 and continues to be the highest ranked school in Florida. The University of Miami is a living, breathing example of the exponential power of great people doing ground-breaking work. What they accomplish at the University flows through global circuits to spark human progress on the grand scale. Dynamic courses are offered in more than 180 majors and programs. At UM, a student can construct learning around individual strengths, interests, curiosities, passions, and goals by offering a unique array of learning options in our nine undergraduate schools and two graduate professional schools. The Cognates Program allows a student to use those options to create an education that is both broad and deep and that displays who the student is and what the student cares about. Because of our geographical location, the University of Miami offers what most places cannot: a mosaic of cultures and traditions amid a beautiful subtropical environment. Our experiential approach nurtures curiosity and exploration of the world outside the classroom while also bringing the world to the University of Miami campus. The value of a University of Miami education is the ability to become part of this vast and renewable resource, gaining knowledge, inspiration, camaraderie, and connections that will prove invaluable for years to come.

University of Florida

University of Florida is a public institution that was founded in 1853. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 33,168, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 2,000 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. University of Florida's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 48. Its in-state tuition and fees are $6,313 (2014-15); out-of-state tuition and fees are $28,591 (2014-15).

The University of Florida is about two miles away from downtown Gainesville, a college town bolstered by the school’s nearly 50,000 students. The Florida Gators sports teams compete in the NCAA Division I Southeastern Conference, and are supported by mascots Albert and Alberta the Alligators. The Gator football team, which competes in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium — commonly called the "The Swamp" — is particularly notorious. The team became the namesake of popular sports drink Gatorade in 1966, after freshmen Gators experimented with the novel beverage. The annual Gator Growl, held each Homecoming weekend, has been called the largest student-run pep rally in the world. About 15 percent of students are involved in the school’s 60-plus fraternities and sororities. Freshmen do not have to live on campus, though about 80 percent opt to do so. All students can partake in Gator Nights, held every Friday, which offer free late-night entertainment and a free “midnight breakfast.”

The school has well-regarded graduate programs through the engineering school, Hough Graduate School of Business, Levin College of Law and the College of Medicine. The university is also integrated with retirement community Oak Hammock, where students can work, complete internships in health sciences and find mentors. Famous graduates of the University of Florida include home repair television sensation Bob Vila, Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier and former U.S. Sens. Bob Graham and Connie Mack.

The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world.

Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural and societal benefit.

The University of Florida, the state's oldest university, traces its beginnings to 1853. Today, the university has more than 50,000 students and 16 colleges. UF has a 2,000-acre campus and more than 900 buildings on the main campus.

Since 1985, UF has been a member of the Association of American Universities, which includes the top 62 public and private institutions in North America. 

  

UF is consistently ranked among the nation's top universities: No. 14 in U.S. News & World Report "Top Public Universities" (2013); No. 3 in Kiplinger's "Best Values in Public Colleges" (2013).

Nearly two-thirds of UF students graduate with no student loan debt, compared with two-thirds of college students nationally, who graduate with student-loan debt.

UF has 38 Eminent Scholar chairs and over 40 faculty elections to the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, or the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

UF faculty attracts nearly $700 million in funding and averages 300 new inventions each year and more than 100 biotechnology companies have emerged as a result of UF research.

UF excels in its student-athletic program, which has been a Top-Ten program nationally for the past 30 years and whose athletic victories include 31 national team championships, 213 SEC titles, and more than 250 individual national titles.

In January 2014, the university enrolled the first students in UF Online, the university's online arm for undergraduate degrees. UF currently offers nine online undergraduate degree programs, including biology, geology and sports management. The university projects 24,000 students and 35 degree programs in ten years.

UF began the renovation and expansion of its signature J. Wayne Reitz Student Union. The $75 million project, which will add 100,000 square feet of dedicated space largely for student offices, clubs and organizations, is expected to be completed by fall of 2015.

UF continued its preservation and restoration efforts of more than three dozen state-owned properties in historic St. Augustine, renovating the iconic Government House and opening the First Colony Exhibit there. The exhibit tells the story of native Floridians and Spanish Colonial Florida as St. Augustine prepares for its 450th anniversary celebration in 2015.

The university began construction of Cypress Hall, one of the first residence halls in the country to feature rooms specifically designed for students with significant physical disabilities. Up to 30 rooms in the new residence hall will be equipped with lift systems and other technology to assist these students.

UF's Office of Technology Licensing continued its pioneering efforts to attract and support more female inventors and entrepreneurs through the Empowering Women in Technology program. The hands-on program, which covers everything from forming companies to writing business plans, has reached over 100 women many of whom are now actively engaged in the local innovation community.

The university's Smathers Libraries added the Judaica Suite, a suite of artfully designed reading rooms devoted to making the volumes of UF'S Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica more visible and available to patrons.

Pennsylvania State University--University Park

Pennsylvania State University--University Park is a public institution that was founded in 1855. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 40,085, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 8,556 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Pennsylvania State University--University Park's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 48. Its in-state tuition and fees are $17,502 (2014-15); out-of-state tuition and fees are $30,452 (2014-15).

There is rarely a dull moment on the Pennsylvania State University—University Park campus, also known as Happy Valley. With around 950 clubs and organizations, there are broad opportunities to get involved in campus life. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion, and teams compete in the Division I Big 10 Conference. The football team plays in Beaver Stadium, which is one of the largest arenas in North America with room for more than 107,000 fans. Penn State is home to a thriving Greek system with nearly 90 sororities and fraternities. About 15,000 students volunteer in THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. Students raise money for pediatric cancer research and awareness throughout the year and participate in a 46-hour dance marathon - no sitting or sleeping allowed. Freshmen must live in one of five housing areas on campus. Across the street from campus is State College, a bustling small town with an array of coffee shops, restaurants, shops and bars populated mostly by students. Surrounded by mountains, the school is also close to skiing, snowboarding and hiking opportunities.

The land-grant institution, which originally was offered state land in exchange for agricultural courses and research, offers highly ranked graduate programs through the College of Education and the College of Engineering. Undergraduates produce the Daily Collegian newspaper, and students get free daily copies of The New York Times, USA Today and Centre Daily Times - the local paper - through the school’s Newspaper Readership Program, the first of its kind. Notable alumni include John Cappelletti, a Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL player; and Valerie Plame Wilson, former CIA agent and author. 

Penn State is the flagship public university of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with an historic land-grant mission of teaching, research and service. The university enrolls more than 98,000 students at 24 campus locations statewide and the Penn State World Campus, including more than 46,000 at the University Park campus in State College. Penn State has a campus within practical commuting distance of virtually every Pennsylvanian. Many students start their degree programs at one of nineteen Penn State undergraduate campuses across the state and complete their requirements at University Park. The World Campus delivers more than 60 degree and professional programs online to nearly 14,000 students a year, including military personnel serving overseas. The university also holds a unique responsibility for outreach and engages in collaborative activities with industrial, educational and agricultural partners around the world to disseminate and apply knowledge. Penn State Outreach programs reach more than a million households in Pennsylvania each year. The university also offers degree programs at the College of Medicine at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and Penn State Dickinson School of Law at the University Park and Carlisle campuses. Boasting one of the nation's largest graduate schools, the university is a leader in engaging students in landmark research. More than $2 million in research activity takes place at Penn State each day. Opportunities for discovery extend beyond the graduate school, as Penn State undergraduates have unique opportunities to work with world-class faculty conducting significant research that advances and serves the nation in important ways. Penn State's research and creative initiatives, powered by more than $800 million in annual expenditures, range across all disciplines. Internationally recognized work is done is such diverse areas as alternative energy, nanomaterials, infectious diseases, and child psychology. With fundamental science as a foundation, translating innovative ideas and technologies into practices that accelerate economic development and improve the quality of life is a top priority. As evidence, the University's research expenditures supported by industry and private partners have exceeded $100 million in each of the last six years. Penn State's Alumni Association has nearly 173,000 members, making it the nation's largest dues-paying alumni organization, with more than 275 chapters, societies and interest groups worldwide.

University of Wisconsin--Madison

University of Wisconsin--Madison is a public institution that was founded in 1848. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 31,319, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 936 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. University of Wisconsin--Madison's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 47. Its in-state tuition and fees are $10,410 (2014-15); out-of-state tuition and fees are $26,660 (2014-15).

The University of Wisconsin—Madison lies along the southern shore of Lake Mendota in the city of Madison. The Wisconsin Badgers compete in more than 20 NCAA Division I sports and are part of the Big Ten Conference. Students can get involved in more than 800 organizations on campus. There is also an active Greek life and social scene on campus, evident in Wisconsin’s reputation as one of the top party schools in the country. Freshmen are not required to live on campus, but many choose to do so. Students can opt to live in one of several residential communities where they learn and live with other students and faculty.

The University of Wisconsin—Madison’s highly ranked graduate schools include the School of Education, Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, College of Engineering, School of Business, School of Medicine and Public Health and Law School. The school’s legacy of public service was founded on the "Wisconsin Idea" that education should influence and improve people’s lives beyond the classroom. Notable Wisconsin alumni include renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly and author Joyce Carol Oates. Other past students include former Vice President Dick Cheney, aviator Charles Lindbergh, naturalist John Muir and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Founded in 1848, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is among the largest and most-respected universities in the nation. Few institutions are more widely recognized as leaders in teaching, research and public service. UW-Madison offers 132 undergraduate majors, 148 master's, 107 doctoral and 12 professional degree programs, all of which expose students to world-class faculty and staff who are responsible for not only teaching, but using their skills and research to change the world. Located on the wooded shores of Lake Mendota, the 936-acre main campus is adjacent to the busy city streets of downtown Madison, a community consistently ranked among the best places to live in the nation.  

University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign is a public institution that was founded in 1867. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 32,695, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 1,783 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 42. Its in-state tuition and fees are $15,602 (2014-15); out-of-state tuition and fees are $30,228 (2014-15).

The University of Illinois is located in the twin cities of Urbana and Champaign in east-central Illinois, only a few hours from Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis. The school’s Fighting Illini participate in more than 20 NCAA Division I varsity sports and are part of the Big Ten Conference. The university boasts the largest Greek system in the world, and almost a quarter of the student body is involved. It’s not hard to find something to do on campus with more than 1,000 student organizations, including professional, political and philanthropic clubs. All freshmen are required to live on campus.

University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign comprises 17 schools and colleges. Its Graduate School of Library and Information Science, College of Engineering and Department of Psychology are among the best in the country. The school’s College of Business, College of Education and College of Law are also highly ranked. The school is classified as a university with very high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University of Illinois was the first school to provide disability access to all university services, curricula and facilities. Notable alumni include Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert and the co-founder of YouTube, Steve Chen.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the state's flagship institution: a classic land-grant university, dedicated to its traditional excellence in education, research, and public engagement, and driven to innovate in each of these missions.

More than 1,850 Urbana-Champaign faculty members lead more than 42,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students in a process of discovery and learning in 16 colleges and schools and more than 80 research centers and labs.

Undergraduates make up three-quarters of the student population. Roughly 80 percent of the undergraduate students come from the 102 counties of Illinois, with the rest traveling to Illinois from all 50 states and more than 100 nations. All are highly qualified and choose between 150 undergraduate programs of study. The middle 50 percent of freshmen at Illinois score between 26 and 30 on the ACT, and these same students ranked between the 84th and 96th percentile in their high school graduating classes. Undergraduate students often travel around the globe through one of the top ten study abroad programs among major research institutions in the United States.

Faculty members also are well connected internationally, collaborating with other top scholars from around the world and across disciplines. They are world-renowned scholars who have been recognized with such top awards as Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes, Guggenheim Fellowships, Tony Awards, MacArthur "genius" awards, and memberships in the nation's elite academies of arts and sciences. Of twelve Nobel laureates who have served on the faculty, two were honored for work undertaken at this University. Illinois became only the third American public university, and the eleventh institution in the world, ever to have two Nobel Prizes (in different fields) awarded to members of its faculty in the same year.

Urbana campus alumni are similarly recognized. Eleven University alumni have won Nobel Prizes.

Campus resources include the world's largest public university library, with millions of items circulated and hundreds of thousands of reference questions answered each year. Outstanding centers for performance and training in the arts include one of the nation's best performing arts facilities, the Krannert Center. World-class research facilities in Urbana include the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Beckman Institute, Institute for Genomic Biology and Siebel Center for Computer Science.

Of course, many people across the nation know Urbana-Champaign as the home of nine men's and 10 women's Big Ten sports teams. The campus Division of Intercollegiate Athletics is know for its integrity and its emphasis on scholarship among its athletes. Men's basketball and football are high profile sports, but Illinois also has won recent national and conference champions in such programs as gymnastics, tennis, and wrestling.

University of California--Irvine

University of California--Irvine is a public institution that was founded in 1965. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 23,530, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 1,474 acres. It utilizes a quarter-based academic calendar. University of California--Irvine's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 42. Its in-state tuition and fees are $14,757 (2014-15); out-of-state tuition and fees are $37,635 (2014-15).

On the sunny campus of the University of California—Irvine, students don't have far to go to decompress after class. The Pacific Ocean is a quick 5-mile trip away, attracting surfers, sailors and sunbathers alike. Seated in Orange County, the bustling campus is home to more than 500 student organizations, including nearly 50 fraternities and sororities. The UC—Irvine Anteaters compete at the Division I level in the Big West Conference, cheered on by non-traditional mascot Peter the Anteater and a group of student fans called Eater Nation. While UC Irvine is known as a commuter school, university officials have tried to combat that status by offering more on-campus residence options. Freshmen are not required to live on campus, but more than three-fourths of first-year students choose to do so. Getting around UC Irvine is easy with the school's ZotWheels, a fleet of blue and gold bicycles that students can pick up and ride to four campus locations. Commuters looking to be more energy efficient can carpool to campus with other students through the university's Zimride Rideshare Community.

The research institution specializes in areas such as cancer and neuroscience studies in conjunction with the highly ranked UC Irvine Medical Center. Graduate programs are highly regarded at UC Irvine, too, with speciality offerings at the Paul Merage School of Business and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering. The university has also earned accolades for its eco-friendly measures, promoting green initiatives through student groups like the Anteaters for Recycling and Conservation. Famous UC-Irvine alumni include former "Saturday Night Live" actor Jon Lovitz, Greg Louganis, four-time Olympic gold medality in diving, and author Alice Sebold, who wrote "The Lovely Bones."

UCI combines the strengths of a major research university with the highly personalized experience of a small college. Over four remarkable decades, we have become internationally recognized for efforts that are improving lives through research and discovery, fostering excellence in scholarship and teaching, and engaging and enriching the community. Times Higher Education magazine ranks UCI as the number one university in the nation and fourth in the world under 50 years of age.

Increasingly a first-choice campus for students, UCI attracted a record nearly 70,000 undergraduate applications for 2012 and admitted freshmen with highly competitive academic profiles.

Our recently launched programs in public policy, public health, and nursing science are critical to California's health and prosperity. Our law school, the state's first public law school to open in more than 40 years, graduated its first class in 2012. In July 2012 the Regents established the UC Irvine School of Education from the existing Department of Education in recognition of its national academic profile.

UCI is a center for quality education and is consistently ranked among the nation's best universities. Achievements in the sciences, arts, humanities, medicine, and management have garnered top 50 national rankings for more than 40 academic programs. Three UCI researchers have won Nobel Prizes two in chemistry and one in physics.

UCI reaches beyond the classroom and laboratory to help solve societal issues and support human development. We are a hub for stem cell research, a trailblazer in understanding global warming, and a leader in the fight against breast cancer. Our nationally ranked medical center in Orange serves as Orange County's only Level I trauma center, and our state-of-the-art UC Irvine Douglas Hospital has been ranked among the country's top 50 hospitals for more than 10 years, providing outstanding care for the region's citizens.

A major intellectual and cultural center, UCI offers numerous public activities and events. The Claire Trevor School of the Arts and the School of Humanities produce engaging and entertaining cultural programs, while UCI's Anteater athletes have won more than two dozen national championships.

UCI is benefiting the community and the world in countless ways through its scholarly, scientific, creative, and economic contributions. Orange County's second largest employer, UCI generates an annual economic impact on the county of $4.3 billion. We have implemented a strategic plan that will ensure that the campus continues to inspire excellence as it fulfills its research, teaching, and public service missions in the decades ahead.

Our actions and interactions are governed by a set of core values: respect, intellectual curiosity, commitment, integrity, empathy, appreciation, and fun. These values allow people to transcend limitations and create something greater than themselves. At UCI we live these values every day.