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University Directory · North America

Top 25 universities in United States

The 25 leading universities and higher education institutions in United States, ordered by the citations their research has received. Part of the WAC University Directory.

25 institutions listed · data October 2026

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  1. 1
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    Harvard University

    Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

    • 1,070,483 research works
    • 191.3 million citations
    • h-index 3,228
    In WAC News: Harvard launches Kempner Institute for intelligence research with $500 million giftIn WAC News: 2U agrees to acquire edX from Harvard and MIT for $800 millionView full profile
  2. 2

    University of Washington (UW)

    Seattle, Washington, United States

    • 543,159 research works
    • 106.1 million citations
    • h-index 3,525
  3. 3
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    Stanford University (SU)

    Stanford, California, United States

    • 557,078 research works
    • 96.8 million citations
    • h-index 2,664
    View full profile
  4. 4
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    Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

    Baltimore, Maryland, United States

    • 522,862 research works
    • 82 million citations
    • h-index 2,308
    In WAC News: Johns Hopkins to create data science and AI institute with 110 new faculty postsView full profile
  5. 5
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    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

    Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

    • 410,909 research works
    • 80.1 million citations
    • h-index 2,540
    In WAC News: MIT reinstates SAT/ACT requirement for undergraduate applicantsIn WAC News: 2U agrees to acquire edX from Harvard and MIT for $800 millionView full profile
  6. 6
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    University of Michigan (UM)

    Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

    • 1,004,666 research works
    • 74.1 million citations
    • h-index 2,220
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  7. 7

    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

    Los Angeles, California, United States

    • 531,743 research works
    • 69.5 million citations
    • h-index 1,917
  8. 8

    University of Pennsylvania

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

    • 457,256 research works
    • 65 million citations
    • h-index 1,852
    In WAC News: BetterUp Canada launches multi-year coaching study for Ontario first responders
  9. 9

    University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

    Berkeley, California, United States

    • 489,849 research works
    • 62.7 million citations
    • h-index 2,002
    In WAC News: UC Berkeley receives anonymous $252 million gift for new data science building
  10. 10

    University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

    San Francisco, California, United States

    • 329,338 research works
    • 60 million citations
    • h-index 1,909
  11. 11

    University of California San Diego (UCSD)

    San Diego, California, United States

    • 404,833 research works
    • 57.8 million citations
    • h-index 1,848
  12. 12

    Yale University

    New Haven, Connecticut, United States

    • 436,810 research works
    • 57.6 million citations
    • h-index 1,918
  13. 13

    Columbia University (CU)

    New York, United States

    • 430,222 research works
    • 56.4 million citations
    • h-index 1,817
    In WAC News: Infosys and Columbia University launch enterprise AI research center in New York
  14. 14

    Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL)

    St Louis, Missouri, United States

    • 284,788 research works
    • 49.6 million citations
    • h-index 1,946
  15. 15

    University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW)

    Madison, Wisconsin, United States

    • 392,612 research works
    • 46.9 million citations
    • h-index 1,513
  16. 16

    Cornell University (CU)

    Ithaca, New York, United States

    • 365,048 research works
    • 44.8 million citations
    • h-index 1,647
  17. 17

    University of Minnesota

    Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

    • 424,008 research works
    • 44.7 million citations
    • h-index 1,562
  18. 18

    University of Pittsburgh

    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

    • 377,541 research works
    • 41.2 million citations
    • h-index 1,467
  19. 19

    Northwestern University (NU)

    Evanston, Illinois, United States

    • 329,963 research works
    • 40.8 million citations
    • h-index 1,594
  20. 20

    California Institute of Technology (CIT)

    Pasadena, California, United States

    • 283,095 research works
    • 40 million citations
    • h-index 1,907
  21. 21

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)

    Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

    • 350,765 research works
    • 39.8 million citations
    • h-index 1,675
  22. 22

    University of Chicago (UC)

    Chicago, Illinois, United States

    • 300,994 research works
    • 38.7 million citations
    • h-index 1,768
    In WAC News: University of Chicago launches nine-month master's degree in applied AI
  23. 23

    Duke University

    Durham, North Carolina, United States

    • 294,632 research works
    • 36.5 million citations
    • h-index 1,533
  24. 24

    The Ohio State University (OSU)

    Columbus, Ohio, United States

    • 411,421 research works
    • 34.8 million citations
    • h-index 1,375
  25. 25

    New York University (NYU)

    New York, United States

    • 323,680 research works
    • 34.3 million citations
    • h-index 1,611

Ordered by total research citations recorded in OpenAlex (October 2026). Works, citations and h-index are OpenAlex figures for the institution. How the list is made.

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About the directory

How institutions are chosen and ordered

The directory lists 1436 universities, colleges and higher education institutions in 199 countries and territories. In countries with 200 or more higher education institutions recorded in OpenAlex it lists the top 25; everywhere else, the top 5.

Institutions are ordered by the total number of citations their research has received, as recorded in OpenAlex, the open catalogue of the world’s research, with data taken in October 2026. This is a transparent, research-based order: it favours large research institutions and does not measure teaching quality, student experience or graduate outcomes. University systems are left out in favour of their campuses, and faculties or institutes are left out when their parent university is already listed. Names, cities and websites come from OpenAlex and the Research Organization Registry (ROR).

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