You’ve decided that graduate study is the right next step for you. Now comes the hard part: how to find the best one for your bright future. Planning for graduate school involves deciding what to study, finding the right school and applying to competitive programs.
Start here, with our list of the Top Graduate Degree Programs 2018-2019. Our list will help you explore your options for grad school, including tuition, ranking, contact information etc. Graduate study is a major investment in your personal and professional future.
The United States is a popular destination for international graduate students, whether they’re studying business, engineering, medicine, law or another subject. Find the best graduate program for you using the Best Graduate schools rankings that based on U.S. News & World Reports.
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Harvard Graduate School
Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Since it was first established in 1872 by Harvard’s Governing Boards as the Graduate Department, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) has grown into a leading institution of graduate study, offering the Ph.D. and select master’s degrees in 56 departments and programs that connect students with all parts of Harvard University. GSAS offers Ph.D., AM, SM, and ME degrees. The most popular majors at Harvard University include Social Sciences, Biology/Biological Sciences, Mathematics, History, and Physical Sciences.
Ranking: 1st
Founded In: 1872
Tuition Approximately: $46,340 to $67,580
Contact information: (617) 495-1000, 617-495-5315, F: 617-495-2928, gsas@fas.harvard.edu
Apply Now: https://www.harvard.edu/schools
Yale Graduate School
Yale offers advanced degrees through its Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and 12 professional schools. Yale’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences offers programs leading to M.A., M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in 73 departments and programs. Each year, the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences welcomes approximately 450 of the world’s most promising scholars to its doctoral programs. Doctoral candidates receive a full-tuition fellowship. Each doctoral student also receives an annual stipend ranging from $31,000 to $35,850 to meet living expenses. The Graduate School considers learning to teach to be an integral part of doctoral education and builds training and teaching opportunities into every program.
Ranking: 2nd
Founded In: August 1847
Tuition Approximately: $42,100
Contact information: 203-432-2771, graduate.admissions@yale.edu
Apply Now: https://www.yale.edu/academics/graduate-professional-study
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is an academic community devoted to undergraduate education, graduate education, and research. MIT offers a wide range of degrees and programs. All graduate students, whether or not they are participating in an interdepartmental program, must have a primary affiliation with and be registered in a single department. Most universities have defined ‘graduate schools’ or ‘graduate colleges’; however, MIT is different in that all of their schools offer graduate programs. There are five schools at MIT including Architecture and Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Management; and Science. Each of these five schools oversees several departments and programs.
Ranking: 3rd
Founded In: 1861
Tuition Approximately: $49,580
Contact information: 617-324-6730, gradadmissions@mit.edu
Apply Now: https://gradadmissions.mit.edu/programs
Stanford Graduate School
At Stanford, Graduate degrees are offered in more than 60 departments and programs. Graduate education at Stanford is a full-time commitment requiring full-time enrollment, typically at least 8 units during autumn, winter and spring quarters. In addition, graduate students must maintain a 3.0 (B) grade point average overall in courses applicable to the degree. Some departments admit students who are interested only in a master’s program; others award master’s degrees only to students enrolled in other degree programs. Most departments admit students for doctoral study directly from a bachelor’s program, although some require completion of a master’s degree before approval for doctoral work.
Ranking: 4th
Founded In: 1891
Tuition Approximately: $10,260 to $50,703
Contact information: +1-866-432-7472, Fax: 650-723-8371, gradadmissions@stanford.edu
Apply Now: https://exploredegrees.stanford.edu/graduatedegrees/
Duke Graduate School
The Duke University Graduate School offers graduate training in more than 70 departments and programs of study, including a wide range of master’s (MA/MS) and doctoral (Ph.D.) programs. They also promote interdisciplinary research through more than 30 certificate programs, as well as dual- and joint-degree programs. Graduate study at Duke is defined by maximum personal attention; smaller, more involving classes; flexible programs of study designed to meet students’ individual needs and interests; and richer, cross-disciplinary possibilities for scholarship. The Graduate School is offering up to $2,000 to help students or departments organize professional development programming.
Ranking: 5th
Founded In: 1926
Tuition Approximately: $58,288
Contact information: (919) 681-3257
Apply Now: https://gradschool.duke.edu
University of Pennsylvania
Penn offers 116 different graduate and professional programs within 12 schools on one campus. Penn’s graduate programs are among the top-ranked in the country, and all of them emphasize the integration of knowledge across disciplines and schools. Graduate programs at Penn emphasize the integration of knowledge across boundaries and disciplines. Penn’s graduate tuition and other fees vary by school. Students in Ph.D. programs generally receive multi-year financial packages to cover tuition, fees, health insurance, and a living allowance or stipend.
Ranking: 6th
Founded In: 1740
Tuition Approximately: $27,180
Contact information: (215) 898-5000
Apply Now: https://www.upenn.edu/programs/academics-degrees-and-programs
Johns Hopkins University
Enhance your skills and career potential with a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University. Their faculty and students study, teach and learn in and across more than 260 programs in the arts and music, the humanities, the social and natural sciences, engineering, international studies, education, business, and the health professions. Johns Hopkins enrolls more than 24,000 full- and part-time students throughout nine academic divisions. All nine of their academic divisions offer full-time graduate programs.
Ranking: 7th
Founded In: 1876
Tuition Approximately: $49,770 to $67,680
Contact information: 410-516-8000
Apply Now: https://www.jhu.edu/academics/graduate-studies/
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago) is at the forefront of a movement to provide academic and professional support to complement the academic rigor and excellence that are the hallmarks of UChicago graduate education. It offers more than 100 graduate programs, many interdisciplinary. At UChicagoGRAD, they equip their graduate students and postdocs to thrive in a wide variety of careers and settings. It offers a range of services and resources to enhance the ability of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to navigate their careers at UChicago and beyond. UChicagoGRAD is a national model for supporting graduate students and postdocs. The university is composed of the College, various graduate programs and interdisciplinary committees organized into five academic research divisions and seven professional schools.
Ranking: 8th
Founded In: 1890
Tuition Approximately: $48,759 to $54,825
Contact information: (773) 702-3760, Current Students: (773) 834-2093
Apply Now: https://grad.uchicago.edu/admissions/programs/
University of California—Los Angeles
Graduate programs at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) organized by school, department, division, and institute. Choosing UCLA means you’ll be joining a prestigious, diverse, impactful, and collaborative community at one of the most respected research universities in the world. UCLA offers graduate degrees in nearly 150 departments, ranging from an extensive selection of business and medical programs to degrees in 40 different languages. UCLA’s graduate programs have a reputation for producing professionals, researchers, and leaders who have a major impact on the world. With 40 programs ranked among the best in the nation, UCLA gives today’s graduate students the resources and cutting-edge instruction they need to go out and leave their own indelible mark.
Ranking: 9th
Founded In: 1919
Tuition Approximately: $16,847 for residents and $31,949 for non-residents annually
Contact information: 310-825-4321
Apply Now: https://grad.ucla.edu
University of California—Berkeley
Looking for easy ways to jump-start your professional development right now? Being a graduate student at Berkeley means being a part of an energetic, dynamic group of people who are passionate, curious and committed to their areas of study. And it shows. Berkeley has more recipients of the National Science Foundation. Berkeley Graduate Division’s mission is to sustain the world-renowned excellence of more than 100 master’s and doctoral programs and to assist our almost 11,000 graduate students on academic, financial, personal and professional matters throughout their studies. In addition to over 100 graduate programs, Berkeley offers concurrent graduate degrees, interdisciplinary doctoral and exchange programs.
Ranking: 10th
Founded In: 1868
Tuition Approximately: $14,194 – $47,048
Contact information: (510) 642-7330
Apply Now: https://grad.berkeley.edu/programs/
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees (i.e. master’s and doctoral degrees) with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate (bachelor’s) degree with a high ‘grade point average’.
You can also consider these given options to get your graduate degree in the U.S.
- California Institute of Technology
- University of California—San Francisco
- Emory University (GA)
- Northwestern University
- Columbia University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Ohio State University
- University of Wisconsin—Madison
- University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
