University rankings can focus on many different factors, including attractiveness of campus, satisfaction of students and alums, extracurricular benefits (such as top athletics programs), affordability of tuition, and expected income of graduates. But if the focus is on academic prestige, scholarly excellence, and intellectual horsepower, this article provides the ranking you want. At the universities in this ranking, you’ll be rubbing shoulders with the brightest faculty and students in the world, developing your knowledge and skills so that you yourself will be in a position to join the world’s elite academics, scientists, and thinkers. Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of California at Berkeley, University of Cambridge, Princeton University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Columbia University, University of Chicago, Oxford University, Yale University, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Cornell University, University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, University of California at San Francisco, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), University College London, University of Tokyo, Imperial College London, University of Michigan, University of Toronto, University of Wisconsin, Kyoto University, New York University, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, Duke University, Washington University, Rockefeller University, University of Colorado, Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris VI), University of North Carolina, University of British Columbia, University of Manchester, University of Texas, University of Copenhagen, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Paris-Sud, University of Maryland, University of Melbourne, University of Edinburgh, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Karolinska Institute, University of California at Irvine, Heidelberg University, University of Munich,