Coming soon: QS World University Rankings: USA 2021

The QS World University Rankings: USA 2021 will be published on 5 May, revealing over 350 of the best four-year colleges in the United States of America.

Now in its second year, the ranking is our largest ever attempt to identify and recognise the top universities in one of the most popular study destinations in the world.

Last year's table was topped by Harvard University, with the leader in the QS World University Rankings - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - having to settle for third place. This difference is down to the fact each of these rankings uses a different methodology, with the USA Rankings designed to evaluate universities on not only their research performance and salary uplift but also their social impact and the efforts they are making to support the 17 US Sustainable Development goals.

Other distinguishing factors include a focus on diversity & internationalisation inputs (percentage of undergraduates receiving Pell grants, gender diversity, percentage of international students) and outputs (alumni outcomes, graduation rates of Pell grant recipients and Fulbright students studying abroad). You can learn more about this in our methodology article.

To discover which university has been crowned as the best in the US, and learn more about the top universities in each state and how the best public and private universities compare against each other, check back with us on 5 May.