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.

Boston University

Boston University is a private institution that was founded in 1839. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 18,165, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 135 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Boston University's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 42. Its tuition and fees are $46,664 (2014-15).

Boston University is one of the largest independent, nonprofit universities in the country. The BU Terriers have more than 20 NCAA Division I varsity sports. BU’s hockey team has won multiple NCAA national championships. BU also has nearly 500 student clubs, ranging from Ski Racing to the Juggling Association. BU created one of the first study abroad programs, and currently sponsors more than 90 international programs. Freshmen are required to live on campus, and about 80 percent of undergraduate students live on the main Boston campus, which lies along the Charles River.

Boston University’s highly ranked graduate schools include the School of Law, School of Management, School of Medicine, College of Engineering and School of Education. BU’s School of Medicine is the nation’s first combined cancer research and teaching laboratory. BU is also the first university to open all divisions to female students in 1872. Notable alumni include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; actresses Julianne Moore and Geena Davis; television personality Bill O’Reilly; radio host Howard Stern; and Tipper Gore, former wife of Al Gore. Another unique fact: the BU Bridge is the only spot in the U.S. where a plane can fly over a car driving over a train going over a boat, all at the same time.

Pursue knowledge and embrace possibilities at Boston University.

Whatever your interests, you'll discover many more in our 16 schools and colleges, including highly ranked professional schools of medicine, law, communication, engineering, and management. Study under a faculty that includes Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, and MacArthur Foundation ???Genius??? Award winners. Oh, did we mention our low 13:1 student/faculty ratio? Maybe you???ll participate in an area of study that makes us one of the world???s leading research institutions. In fact, BU is the first private university since 1995 invited to join the prestigious Association of American Universities. You???ll definitely enjoy the historic, vibrant city of Boston with its wealth of entertainment, cultural, and professional opportunities.

But while Boston is our name, our reach is definitely global. Our 33,000 students hail from 50 states and 143 countries. And BU participates in over 400 research, service, and education programs on every continent in the world.

At Boston University, the possibilities for success are limitless. Join our network of alumni who shape, serve, and improve the world.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a private institution that was founded in 1824. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 5,452, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 296 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 42. Its tuition and fees are $47,908 (2014-15).

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was founded on the principles of bringing science to everyday life, and that ethos is still prevalent today. About a quarter of students are involved in Greek L.I.F.E., as the fraternity and sorority scene is known at the school, which stresses Leadership, Innovation, Fortitude and Evolution. More students - about three fourths - play sports at the varsity, club or intramural level. True to the school’s mission, the varsity athletes are known as the Engineers, and compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Liberty League. There are also more than 175 student organizations. Freshmen must live on campus, usually in dormitories that only house first-year students. RPI’s campus, in Troy, N.Y., is nestled in an ideal location for nature lovers. The school overlooks the Hudson River, where waterfront activities abound, and is close to Grafton Lakes State Park, Lake George and the Adirondack Mountains. For an urban experience, Albany is 9 miles away.

In accordance with its specialty, RPI has a highly ranked engineering program. The school also uses its scientific specialties to offer unique accelerated programs such as the B.S./M.D. Physician-Scientist Program, completed in seven years, and the B.S./J.D. in Science, Technology and Society Law, which takes six years to finish. The university hosts technical events like the annual GameFest, a showcase of computer games designed by students. These kinds of technical skills have led Rensselaer graduates to successful careers as entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists and more. Notable RPI alumni include George W. G. Ferris, creator of the Ferris Wheel, Howard P. Isermann, inventor of sunscreen and Myles Brand, former president of the NCAA.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the nation's oldest technological research university. Since its founding in 1824, Rensselaer has maintained its reputation for providing a transformative education of undisputed intellectual rigor based on innovation in the laboratory, classroom, and studio. The Institute's motto is:"Why not change the world?" Rensselaer offers more than 145 programs at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels from five schools: Engineering; Science; Architecture; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; and the Lally School of Management; as well as an interdisciplinary degree in Information Technology and Web Science. Students are encouraged to work in interdisciplinary programs that allow them to combine scholarly work from several departments. The Institute provides engaging, interactive learning environments and campus-wide opportunities for leadership, collaboration, and creativity. Driven by talented and forward-thinking faculty, Rensselaer has expanded its research enterprise by focusing on five signature research areas: biotechnology and the life sciences; energy, the environment, and smart systems; computational science and engineering; nanotechnology and advanced materials; and media, arts, science, and technology. The Institute is well-known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions benefit human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic development. Rensselaer is anchored by two vibrant roots. One root, written into the school's founding documents, is "...the application of science to the common purposes of life." Rensselaer graduates constructed the canals, roads, bridges, skyscrapers, and basic infrastructure of America, which helped to form the basis for 20th century society. The second root, also built into the school's origin, is the employment of novel educational strategies. In the earliest days, after initial instruction, students taught what they knew to each other -- since teaching reinforces learning. Likewise, students performed scientific experiments instead of watching faculty conduct them, as had been the common practice. Rensselaer is led by the Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson and guided by The Rensselaer Plan, under which the Institute has made major investments in people, programs, platforms, and partnerships that have transformed Rensselaer into a top-tier technological research university with global reach and global impact. The Rensselaer Plan was recently refreshed to provide the roadmap to the Institute's 200th anniversary in 2024. The updated plan addresses three critical areas: student life, innovative pedagogy, and research to solve global challenges. In the area of Student Life, CLASS (Clustered Learning, Advocacy, and Support for Students) provides support and co-curricular opportunities for students throughout their undergraduate years. Through CLASS, students are connected to a network of faculty, staff and other students who lend support and guidance and help to build a strong community of learners as they strive to become the leaders of tomorrow. In the area of research, Rensselaer was the first university in the world to receive a Watson cognitive computing system from IBM. Watson, known for defeating the all-time champions of the game show Jeopardy!, along with AMOS, one of the world's most powerful university-based supercomputers, are based in the Rensselaer Center for Computational Innovations. Rensselaer is also home to several other unique facilities: The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, which houses over 400 researchers; the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, which provides a platform for exploration and learning at the nexus of research, technology, and the performing arts; and the East Campus Athletic Village, which offers athletic and recreation facilities to enhance the Rensselaer scholar-athlete experience.

Northeastern University

Northeastern University is a private institution that was founded in 1898. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 13,204 and the campus size is 73 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Northeastern University's ranking in the 2015 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 42. Its tuition and fees are $43,440 (2014-15).

At Northeastern University, students gain substantial work experience before receiving their diplomas. About 90 percent of Northeastern undergraduates complete at least one professional co-op during their college career, working for one of more than 2,000 employers around the world, such as GEICO and MTV. Students can choose to complete their degree in four years, with the potential for two co-ops, or five years, building in time for three co-ops. Outside of the classroom and workplace, there are more than 300 clubs and organizations for students, including about 25 fraternities and sororities. The Northeastern Huskies compete in the NCAA Division I Colonial Athletic Conference. More than 3,000 students compete at the club and intramural sport level. Freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus. Northeastern’s campus is spread out across 73 acres in the venerable college town of Boston. Northeastern has its own stop on Boston’s subway system, commonly called the T. The city, home to myriad colleges, is steeped in American history and full of activities for students.

The university receives hefty research grants each year from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, as well as the Departments of Homeland Security, Energy and Defense. Undergraduates and graduates alike can get involved in research, and many present projects in the annual Research, Innovation and Scholarship Expo. Notable alumni include talk show host Wendy Williams and astronaut Albert Sacco. Napster founder Shawn Fanning attended but did not graduate from Northeastern.

Northeastern University's century-old tradition of partnership and engagement creates a distinctive approach to education and research built on the values of experiential learning, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

As the recognized leader in cooperative education and other forms of experiential learning, the university offers students opportunities for professional work, research, service, and global study in 93 countries' programs that are fully integrated into every undergraduate major and a number of graduate programs.

In co-op alone, Northeastern's partners include more than 2,900 employers around the world, from multinational corporations and major financial institutions, to nonprofit arts organizations and high-technology start-ups.

The integration of study and experience maximizes the potential of Northeastern students, empowering them to discover their professional passion by putting their aspirations into action while they are still in school. They leave Northeastern more confident and more sophisticated about the world, better prepared for leadership and more astute in navigating their career paths.

The same spirit of real-world engagement drives a use-inspired research enterprise that is strategically aligned with three global imperatives: health, security, and sustainability. The university's advances in affective science, cybersecurity, drug discovery and delivery, energy, healthcare management and policy, health informatics, nanotechnology, network science, and urban sustainability are characterized by global collaborations with industry, government, and other academic institutions. Northeastern, which is home to more than 30 federally funded research centers, has seen external funding for research more than double since 2006.

The university offers more than 90 undergraduate programs and more than 150 graduate programs in nine colleges and schools, and select advanced degrees at graduate campuses in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Seattle.