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The Best Universities for Education in the USA (2024)

Written by Vincent Hedman

Why Study Education in the USA

There are many reasons why someone might want to study Education at a university in the USA. Here are just a few:

  • The USA is home to many globally recognised universities and colleges known for their excellence in education programmes. These institutions offer cutting-edge curriculum designs, innovative teaching methodologies, and extensive resource libraries that cater comprehensively to future educators.
  • Students can choose from a wide range of specialisations within the field of education, including educational technology, special education, curriculum development, educational leadership,and policy analysis. Such diversity allows students to tailor their studies according to personal interests and career goals.
  • American universities often have strong connections with local schools, districts, and educational organisations providing students with practical training and internship opportunities.
  • American universities provide extensive resources for student professional development – from resume building workshops and career fairs,to mentoring programmes and e-portfolio platforms.These resources are designed to help students successfully transition from study to careers.

The Best Universities in the USA for Education

The following tables gives the 10 top universities in the USA for Education, according to global and local university rankings. It can show you which American universities are amongst the best in the world - and help you compare institutions on an international level.

This information is based on the latest rankings tables, researched and published by Times Higher Education, QS and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Each ranking system uses its own methodology, with different factors having more or less influence on a university's result.

If you're wondering how these rankings affect your decision, our guide has more information on how to use international rankings as a postgraduate.


Top 10 Universities in the USA for Education (Times Higher Education)
University USA Rank Global Rank
University of California, Berkeley 1 1
Stanford University 2 2
Harvard University 3 5
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 4 8
University of California, Los Angeles 5 10
Michigan State University 6 13
University of Wisconsin-Madison 7 17
University of Pennsylvania 8 18
New York University 9 22
University of Texas at Austin 10 24
This information is based on the latest rankings tables, researched and published by Times Higher Education. Visit their website for more information.

What should I know about the Times Higher Education rankings?

The Times Higher Education rankings are strong in academic focus and diverse teaching metrics, but do not include employer-specific metrics. Additionally, the rankings may not include all specialist institutions.


Top 10 Universities in the USA for Education (QS)
University USA Rank Global Rank
Harvard University 1 2
Stanford University 2 3
University of California, Berkeley 3 6
University of California, Los Angeles 4 9
Columbia University 5 11
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 6 14
University of Wisconsin-Madison 7 15
Michigan State University 8 =17
Vanderbilt University 9 =23
Johns Hopkins University 10 =28
This information is based on the latest rankings tables, researched and published by QS World University Rankings. Visit their website for more information.

What should I know about the QS rankings?

The QS World University Rankings are designed to meet the needs of prospective students, with more weight given to student-centric metrics such as staff/student ratio, international recruitment and employer opinion. The rankings are balanced between qualitative and quantitative data, but give less weight to research than some other rankings.


Top 10 Universities in the USA for Education (ARWU)
University USA Rank Global Rank
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 1 1
Vanderbilt University 2 2
Harvard University 3 3
Michigan State University 4 4
Stanford University 5 5
University of Texas at Austin 6 6
Pennsylvania State University - University Park 7 7
University of Pennsylvania 8 10
University of Southern California 9 11
University of Pittsburgh 10 12
This information is based on the latest rankings tables, researched and published by Academic Ranking of World Universities. Visit their website for more information.

What should I know about the ARWU rankings?

The ARWU rankings reflect the presence of elite academics and the future academic success of graduates. However, they do not directly assess the quality of education at a university or take into account other aspects of university performance.


Last updated: 11 October 2024