The 15 best universities in North America - and their tuition costs

It's never too soon for pupils and parents to start thinking about what comes after school, and the US and Canada are hugely popular choices for international students looking for a life-changing experience at some of the world's top universities. Costs are high and competition is fierce, but graduates from US colleges often praise the academic rigour and variety of their four-year courses, which typically allow undergraduates to try many subjects before choosing a major, unlike in the UK, where a student must typically pick a primary study area before beginning university for three years. Alumni and scholar networks stand out, particularly for anyone interested in pursuing an international career. According to various rankings, the US is home to seven of the world's best 10 universities. Here is a look at 15 of the greatest universities across North America. All costs are in US dollars. Tuition: $64,380 Housing, food and other costs: $17,300 Total estimated cost for one year: $81,680 Columbia University, located in Morningside Heights in New York City, is a member of the Ivy League, a group of eight private universities known for their academic excellence, historical significance and selective admissions. The university has more than 17,000 international students from all over the world in its undergraduate and graduate programmes. One of the university’s most famous alumni is former US president Barack Obama . Tuition: $64,700 Housing, food and other costs: $22,880 Total estimated cost for one year: $87,580 Founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard is America’s oldest higher learning institution and one of its most prestigious. Getting a spot is tough. Last year, Harvard admitted fewer than 2,000 of about 60,000 applicants for undergrad programmes. Approximately 15 per cent of the student body is from overseas. Harvard has previously sought to increase Arab student enrolments. Notable alumni include Mark Zuckerberg and Benazir Bhutto. Cambridge is home to several prestigious museums including the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Tuition: $61,731 Housing, food and other costs: $26,102 Total estimated cost for one year: $87,833 Yale is in New Haven, Connecticut, a coastal city of about 135,000 people. The private Ivy League school is home to more than 3,000 international students and scholars representing more than 115 countries. Currently ranked No 3 in US News & World Report 's list of best US universities, Yale has several US presidents among its alumni, including George HW Bush, George W Bush and Bill Clinton. Tuition: $59,710 Housing, food and other costs: $19,380 Total estimated cost for one year: $79,090 Founded in 1746, Princeton is one of the oldest universities in the US and is regarded as one of the world’s most illustrious higher education institutions. The university encourages close interaction between students and professors, achieved through small class sizes and research opportunities. Princeton's social scene is vibrant, offering a plethora of clubs, organisations, and events catering to diverse interests. Notable alumni include Michelle Obama and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. International students comprise approximately 23 per cent of students. Tuition: $61,731 Housing, food and other costs: $19,922 Total estimated cost for one year: $81,653 Set on one of the largest campuses in the US, Stanford University has cultivated numerous prominent business figures including Google's Sergey Brin and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The university's proximity to Silicon Valley – the global tech hub – makes Stanford an attractive choice for those pursuing careers in the sector. The Ivy League college actively fosters qualities essential to successful entrepreneurs, including leadership, professional development, innovation and creativity. Tuition: $29,546 Housing, food and other costs: $14,065 Total estimated cost for one year: $43,611 Founded in 1821 and nestled in the heart of downtown Montreal, McGill University has long been considered Canada’s pre-eminent educational institution and is often referred to as the Harvard of Canada. The school is large, with more than 12,000 international students from 150 countries comprising 30 per cent of the student body. Famous alumni include Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Hollywood luminaries such as William Shatner and renowned singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Tuition: $34,048 Housing, food and other costs: $14,885 Total estimated cost for one year: $48,933 The University of British Columbia has two beautiful campuses, with its main branch on the western edge of Vancouver and the other campus in the Okanagan Valley. The university is consistently ranked among the best in Canada and ranks among the top 50 in the world. It is home to almost 20,000 international students from 160 countries. The bulk of international students come from China, the US, India and Iran. Famous alumni include Canada's first and only female prime minister Kim Campbell, Iranian-Canadian human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam and actress Evangeline Lily from the hit TV show Lost . Tuition: $47,513 Housing, food and other costs: $15,691 Total estimated cost for one year: $63,204 Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is located at the centre of Canada’s largest city and has established itself as one of the country’s premier learning institutions. It is currently ranked in the top 20 universities worldwide by US News and World Report , making it Canada’s leading university. With more than 77,000 students it is also the country’s largest university. More than 22,00 international students from 160 countries help to make up its student body. Famous graduates include Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin's medical use, celebrated author Margaret Atwood and writer Malcolm Gladwell. In-state tuition and fees: $9,992 Out-of-state tuition and fees: $28,794 Total estimated cost for one year: $23,062 for instate students and $41,864 for out-of-state students. Purdue University’s main campus in West Lafayette, Indiana is a public institution that was founded in 1869. Its esteemed School of Aeronautics and Astronautics has acquired the nickname Cradle of Astronauts. It’s fitting, then, that one of its most notable alumni is the first man to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong. It's ranked in the US top 50 schools with the most international students, making up 11 per cent of the student population. About 20 per cent of students are affiliated with fraternities and sororities, and Purdue’s athletic teams are well known for their dominant men’s and women’s basketball teams. Tuition and fees: $57,948 Room and board: $17,016 Food/Other: Unlisted Total estimated cost for one year: $75,594 Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, is a private institution that was founded in 1836. It is ranked in the top 10 US universities with the highest international students, making up 17 per cent of the population. The university was ranked No 22 in the best universities in America. Located near downtown Atlanta, Emory’s graduate programmes include the highly ranked Goizueta Business School, School of Law and School of Medicine. Its nursing school is ranked No 2 nationally. Tuition and fees: $54,960 Room and board: $15,000 Food/Other: Unlisted Estimated total cost for one year: $72,045 Rice University is a private institution founded in 1912. About 12 per cent of student body comes from overseas and it ranked No 15 in the 2022-2023 edition of Best Colleges/ National Universities. The university is in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, and promotes a dynamic student life in the nation’s fourth-largest city. Its graduate schools include the highly ranked Jesse Jones Graduate School of Business and George R Brown School of Engineering. Rice also has a well-regarded School of Architecture and the Shepherd School of Music. Tuition: $63,684 Housing, food and other costs: $21,064 Total estimated cost for one year: $84,748 Founded in 1769, the Ivy League college attracts more than 4,000 students to its liberal studies and intensive research work on campus in the New England state of New Hampshire. Dartmouth says its most recent undergraduate class included people from 57 countries, making it the “most geographically diverse class ever” to enrol there. Tuition: $64,887 Housing, food and other costs: $21,444 Total estimated cost for one year: $86,331 The research university located in Chicago, the third largest city in the US, was ranked in the top 10 national universities by US News & World Report in 2023. Its schools for business, education, law, chemistry and economics are also ranked in the top 10 of each educational category. International students make up about 20 per cent of the university’s student population. The university also has a campus in Doha, Qatar, and research collaborations with schools in India, Israel, Nigeria, South Africa and elsewhere. Tuition: $57,986 Housing, food and other costs: $18,150 Total estimated cost for one year: $76,136 Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is widely recognised as one of the world's leading institutions for science, engineering and technology in the US. MIT has a remarkable roster of alumni and faculty members who have made significant contributions in the sciences. Out of 11,858 students, 3,513 are international with representation from more than 100 countries. Notable alumni include Kofi Annan and Buzz Aldrin. Tuition: $58,168 Housing, food and other costs: $16,200 Total estimated cost for one year: $74,368 Located in the vibrant Greenwich Village in New York City, NYU is the largest private university in the US by enrolment. In addition to its main campus in New York City, it has campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. NYU is also known for having one of the largest international student populations among US universities. The urban setting provides students with access to a rich cultural and artistic scene and plenty of options for networking and internships. The list of famous artists who graduated from NYU is long, and includes Aziz Ansari, Spike Lee, Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin and Martin Scorsese.

The 15 best universities in North America - and their tuition costs

The US is home to seven of the world's top 10 universities and students are given broader study opportunities than in the UK