Universities Weblog

(Source: Harvard University)Finally we've reached the mountaintop, the summit, the apex, the pinnacle of American higher education—numero uno on my list of best universities. Some of my choices may seem questionable, though I believe I've justified each decision. This choice, however, warrants no justification. It's number one on most lists, and certainly tops mine by a wide margin. Stumped? Didn't think so.

Let's get to it. The best university in America is…drum roll, please…

#1: HarvardMassive disclaimer part two: I'm a Harvard graduate—twice, actually. I earned my master's degree and doctorate in higher education there. So am I biased? Maybe. But who's going to argue with this ranking?

The oldest. The wealthiest. The most prestigious and best-known. It's a mythical, magical place whose name connotes power and privilege and academic excellence. For many Americans, Harvard remains the Holy Grail of higher education, the ultimate bastion of aristocracy and meritocracy.

Why? Let's count the ways. For starters, Harvard College skims off the best and brightest students from across the country and around the world. Sure, it's earned a reputation for treating undergrads with disinterest and even contempt, but that doesn't stop eager geniuses from applying. At the graduate level, it gets even better. The medical complex—including the schools and teaching hospitals—is unrivaled. The law school, while second on most lists to Yale, has shaped the American legal system more than any other school. Harvard Business School is an enterprise unto itself and still offers, I'd argue, the most valuable M.B.A. on the planet. The Graduate School of Education ranks first in its field, and the Kennedy School of Government sets the pace for policy studies.

Earn a Harvard Ph.D. and your academic career is off to a fast start. The departments of economics, English, government, chemistry and chemical biology, physics, and mathematics are especially strong.

But there's so much more to Harvard than academic excellence. The name itself carries tremendous weight in just about every industry. Alums always have that imprimatur emblazoned on their foreheads, and benefit from an amazing alumni network. More fundamentally, succeeding at Harvard—even getting in—empowers an individual with a sense of self-worth and self-confidence and makes any goal seem reachable. At Harvard you compete with the best from around the globe, so it becomes the New York City of higher education: If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

Harvard has always been and always will be the best university in America. It's not the best in every discipline, and it does have its warts. Sometimes its perch generates a certain complacency and arrogance that students and staff resent. Harvard assumes you should feel fortunate to be there, and in so many ways, it's right.

Other universities may offer a better undergraduate education, be better in science and engineering, feature a wider array of programs, employ faculty more dedicated to teaching and rely less heavily on graduate assistants. But none do as much as well as Harvard, and none can offer the same lifelong benefits of attending.

That's why it ranks first.

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