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Cornell University leads the 1,013 Public Bachelor's universities in the United States at #13 in the QS World University Rankings 2026. University of Chicago (QS World #13) and Princeton University (QS World #15) complete the top three. Across the whole list there are 23,970 courses to choose from.
1,013 universities · ranked best first
how we rankPublic University · 72 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 44 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 2 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 2 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 60 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 2 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 15 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 24 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 64 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 18 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 25 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 26 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 3 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 69 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 3 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 6 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 48 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 54 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 48 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 29 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 76 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 27 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 11 courses in Bachelor's
Public University · 14 courses in Bachelor's
Universities at other levels
By university type
67 of these universities hold a QS World position, from #13 (Cornell University) to #593 (University of Central Florida); they are listed first, in that order. Below them, universities follow their research output: University of Washington is cited most (98,078,141 citations). 37 universities have neither a QS position nor a research record yet and appear at the end, marked "Not yet ranked".
1,013 are public and 0 private (100% public). By location, Texas (3), New York (3) and Massachusetts (3) account for the most of those we can place. The oldest is University of California, Berkeley, founded in 1868. Ohio State University-Main Campus is the largest, with 45,638 students.
The most common subjects are Social Sciences & Psychology (3,295), Business & Management (2,642), Education (1,798) and Medicine & Health Sciences (1,624). The usual length is 4 years and 2 years. 96% are full-time and 829 can be studied online. Start dates lean to Fall (100% of courses with a stated intake) and Spring (100% of courses with a stated intake). Humboldt State University offers the widest choice, with 298 of these courses.
We hold indicative fees for 31 of these universities. University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez is the least expensive at USD 5,274 a year and University of California, Berkeley the most at USD 44,000; the middle of the range is about USD 21,833. Check each university's own fee page before you budget — figures change every year.
Cornell University (QS World #13), University of Chicago (QS World #13) and Princeton University (QS World #15) lead this list. QS World positions come first; the rest are ranked by research impact.
Of those with published fees, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez is the least expensive at about USD 5,274 a year. Fees are indicative — confirm on the university's site.
1,013 public and 0 private universities are on this list.
Most listed courses run 4 years, with 2 years the next most common.
Fall is the main intake — 100% of courses with a stated start date begin then, and Spring is the second.
829 of these courses are listed as online.
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