Thanks to a recent report from Times Higher Education (THE)—a UK-based publication focused on universities the world over—we may have an answer to that question, in an analysis based on performance in the categories of Citations (research influence), Industry Income (knowledge transfer), International Outlook (staff, students and research), Research (volume, income and reputation), and Teaching (the learning environment).
This year THE reduced the required size of staff working at each school's program in order to be eligible for the list, and some new programs have been added to the roster because of it.
Stanford and Cambridge, for example, enter the ranking this year in a big way, and last year's number one, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, fell to fourth place in this latest report.
1. Stanford University
Citations: 100.0
Industry Income: 83.2
International Outlook: 68.3
Research: 98.6
Teaching: 89.1
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Citations: 99.5
Industry Income: 91.8
International Outlook: 72.7
Research: 95.6
Teaching: 86.8
3. Oxford University
Citations: 99.4
Industry Income: 41.2
International Outlook: 95.1
Research: 91.1
Teaching: 93.4
4. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Citations: 98.5
Industry Income: 57.0
International Outlook: 93.9
Research: 96.9
Teaching: 84.8
5. University of Cambridge
Citations: 96.4
Industry Income: 59.7
International Outlook: 87.5
Research: 94.7
Teaching: 89.7
6. California Institute of Technology (tied)
Citations: 98.7
Industry Income: 97.1
International Outlook: 53.9
Research: 86.6
Teaching: 91.9
6. Carnegie Mellon University (tied)
Citations: 99.8
Industry Income: 69.1
International Outlook: 73.1
Research: 92.9
Teaching: 84.5
8. Georgia Institute of Technology
Citations: 93.3
Industry Income: 79.6
International Outlook: 62.7
Research: 99.0
Teaching: 84.1
9. Imperial College London
Citations: 92.3
Industry Income: 51.9
International Outlook: 95.4
Research: 87.1
Teaching: 89.1
10. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Citations: 93.1
Industry Income: 41.5
International Outlook: 97.4
Research: 91.7
Teaching: 84.3
11. Harvard University
Citations: 98.1
Industry Income: 40.6
International Outlook: 72.6
Research: 91.5
Teaching: 86.0
12. Princeton University
Citations: 100.0
Industry Income: 42.1
International Outlook: 65.5
Research: 89.3
Teaching: 83.4