Introduction
Once upon a time, there were only a handful of colleges and universities in the United States.
Today, nearly 4,000 colleges and universities offer programs across the country—and they’re unique. Some offer majors in specific fields, while others focus on general studies or liberal arts education.
Some schools are public institutions, while others are private institutions; some schools were founded decades ago, while others were founded just a few years ago.
But these schools all have in common how much they’ve contributed to American history:
They’ve shaped our culture and influenced how we think about education today. Here’s our list of 10 most influential colleges and universities over the past century:
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
What do you get when you combine an institution of higher learning with one of the world’s most prestigious Ivy League universities?
A school that has produced more presidents than any other and counts several justices on its Supreme Court.
Harvard University is not just a place where people go to learn. It’s also a breeding ground for people who become potent leaders within our society.
Harvard was founded in 1636 by Massachusetts Puritans as “New College” (later renamed after John Harvard, who left his library and half his estate). The school moved to its current Cambridge location in 1640.
It began offering bachelor’s degrees after being chartered as a college by Great Britain’s King William III & Queen Mary II in 1692 (the first college charter granted in what would become the United States).
Today Harvard remains one of America’s oldest institutions of higher education and boasts an endowment worth $37 billion and libraries housing over 18 million volumes.
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States.
Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States.
Yale traces its beginnings to “An Act for Liberty to Erect a Collegiate School,” passed by the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut on October 9, 1701, while meeting in New Haven’s Old Campus (Yale’s first building).
The Act was spurred by a gift from Elihu Yale (1649–1721), a governor of Madras and former governor of East Jersey under its proprietor Sir George Carteret;
-this bequest was later increased to $2 million by Robert Boyle before it was received as an endowment for Yale College at its foundation on October 9, 1718, at Saybrook Point under President Thomas Clap (1685–1750).
For good measure, he donated £1m more than his original promise amid rising costs due to the number of students.
Stanford University, Stanford, California
Stanford University was founded in 1885; it has made a name for itself as one of the most prestigious and influential schools in California and across the country.
Stanford’s reputation as an academic powerhouse is well-deserved—the university is known for its rigorous academics, which have helped propel many successful alums into their respective fields.
Stanford is also renowned for its athletics program, which offers students various sports from football to tennis, swimming, and water polo.
The university has produced numerous Olympians and professional athletes over time, including John Elway (Denver Broncos), Christian McCaffrey (Carolina Panthers), Taylor Rapp (Seattle Seahawks), David Shaw (Stanford Football), and Rosalind Franklin (Polio Vaccine).
While there are plenty of reasons why Stanford should be considered one of the most influential colleges and universities in history, let’s look at just three: its location within Silicon Valley, its endowment, and its commitment to diversity on campus.
Columbia University, New York City
In 1754, King George II founded Columbia University in New York City. As a result, the university is not only the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States but also one of the oldest in the world.
Columbia University was also the first college to grant a Ph.D. (in 1857) and was one of the first institutions to have a university press and medical school.
Columbia University has been instrumental in many other ways as well: It was among the first colleges to have a business school (1896), law school (1897), and School of International Affairs/Graduate School of International and Public Affairs (1923).
Massachusettes Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
MIT is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. MIT has five schools and one college, consisting of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research.
The Institute was founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States.
It began as a collaboration between Boston people in business who donated land to establish an institution of higher learning based on the European polytechnic university model;
it adopted “Massachusetts Institute of Technology” as its official name in 1865 when it moved to its current location (the city of Boston would not annex this area until 1873).
MIT enrollment grew from 75 students in 1860 to 1,755 students just ten years later; since then, its growth has been exponential.
Today’s MIT consists of four campuses: The main campus is in Cambridge but includes other locations throughout eastern Massachusetts, such as Lowell and Lexington, that branch off the main campus administration building;
these satellite campuses are known as “offices” rather than “campuses.” In addition, there is an international office located across from Harvard University’s campus, which serves out-of-state students.
The school also contains 731 student organizations—from fraternities (Alpha Delta Phi) to religious groups (Trinity Baptist Church), ethnic groups (African Students Association), and political clubs (Lobbyist Club).
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by oil magnate John D. Rockefeller and philanthropist William Rainey Harper in 1890.
It is the first American university to have a school of economics, a school of law, and one of the first universities in world history to offer a Ph.D. program.
The University also established The Chicago School of Social Sciences, which became known as ‘The School.’
In 1902 it established The University of Chicago Press, which continues today as one of America’s most prestigious scholarly publishers after more than 100 years!
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California:
- Known as Caltech and founded in 1891.
- Considered one of the most prestigious universities in the United States for its science and engineering programs.
- Consistently ranked among America’s top research universities, with $818 million in sponsored research funding during the 2015-2016 school year alone.
- The academic reputation is also highly regarded, with an acceptance rate of just 7 percent
—less than half that of Harvard or Stanford’s—and a graduation rate of 97 percent (which is higher than Ivy League schools like Brown).
It’s not just academics; alums include more than three dozen Nobel Prize winners!
- Harvard University – Cambridge/Boston, MA USA:
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey by the New Light Presbyterians, Princeton is the fourth oldest university in the United States. It was initially named after King James II’s patron saint, Saint John Witherspoon.
It was also one of the first colleges to accept only students who professed faith in Christ and were committed to living a Christian lifestyle while attending school;
-this practice continues today with its mandatory course on religion called “The Meaning of Life” that all incoming freshmen take during their first semester at Princeton.
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Duke University, founded in 1838 by Methodists and named after a wealthy tobacco farmer, was the first university in the south to accept African Americans.
It’s now ranked as the 20th best university in the nation—not bad for a school that started with a $40,000 endowment.
The college is known for its basketball team, which has won five NCAA championship titles since 1986.
When you visit Duke’s campus on any given day, expect to see tons of students studying outside under trees or sitting on benches playing Frisbee.
The campus is also full of historical buildings and monuments to past alums who have become famous people like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Thomas Edison (who both studied there).
Duke’s motto is Veritas et Virtus meaning “truth and virtue.” This school has truly lived up to its name over time.
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore Maryland
Johns Hopkins University is one of the most influential colleges in the U.S. and was founded by Johns Hopkins, a philanthropist and trustee of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University.
The university is located in Baltimore, Maryland, and has four campuses across the city:
-Homewood Campus (main campus), East Baltimore Campus (medicine), Downtown Baltimore Campus (business school), and Washington D.C Campus.
It offers undergraduate degrees through its colleges such as Krieger School of Arts & Sciences; Whiting School of Engineering;
Carey Business School; Zanvyl Krieger School for Urban Systems & Design; Bloomberg School of Public Health, to name a few, with graduate programs ranging from engineering, law, medicine, etc.
The university also has various institutes like School for Advanced International Studies, which researches foreign policy issues, among other things.
The total enrollment stands at 31000 students, with over 40000 faculty members working from various departments across its campuses throughout the United States, including Europe, where it has established branch campuses too, such as Frankfurt, Germany or Italy’s Milan Polytechnic University, which awards its degrees based on transferable credits earned elsewhere including Johns Hopkins University.
These schools have had a massive impact over the past century.
We’ve ranked the most influential colleges and universities of the past century. These schools have had a significant impact over the past century.
They have shaped our world, they have shaped how we think, and they have also shaped how we live.
Conclusion
The colleges and universities listed here have significantly impacted over the past century.
They are some of the most well-known in the world, not only because of their prestige but also because they continue to be leaders in research and innovation.
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