It's never too soon for pupils and parents to start thinking about what comes after school, and the US and Canada are hugely popular choices for international students looking for a life-changing experience at some of the world's top universities.
Costs are high and competition is fierce, but graduates from US colleges often praise the academic rigour and variety of their four-year courses, which typically allow undergraduates to try many subjects before choosing a major, unlike in the UK, where a student must typically pick a primary study area before beginning university for three years.
Alumni and scholar networks stand out, particularly for anyone interested in pursuing an international career. According to various rankings, the US is home to seven of the world's best 10 universities.
Here is a look at 15 of the greatest universities across North America. All costs are in US dollars.
Columbia University
Tuition: $64,380
Housing, food and other costs: $17,300
Total estimated cost for one year: $81,680
Columbia University, located in Morningside Heights in New York City, is a member of the Ivy League, a group of eight private universities known for their academic excellence, historical significance and selective admissions.
The university has more than 17,000 international students from all over the world in its undergraduate and graduate programmes.
One of the university’s most famous alumni is former US president Barack Obama.
Harvard University
Tuition: $64,700
Housing, food and other costs: $22,880
Total estimated cost for one year: $87,580
Founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard is America’s oldest higher learning institution and one of its most prestigious.
Getting a spot is tough. Last year, Harvard admitted fewer than 2,000 of about 60,000 applicants for undergrad programmes. Approximately 15 per cent of the student body is from overseas. Harvard has previously sought to increase Arab student enrolments.
Notable alumni include Mark Zuckerberg and Benazir Bhutto. Cambridge is home to several prestigious museums including the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Yale
Tuition: $61,731
Housing, food and other costs: $26,102
Total estimated cost for one year: $87,833
Yale is in New Haven, Connecticut, a coastal city of about 135,000 people. The private Ivy League school is home to more than 3,000 international students and scholars representing more than 115 countries.
Currently ranked No 3 in US News & World Report's list of best US universities, Yale has several US presidents among its alumni, including George HW Bush, George W Bush and Bill Clinton.
Princeton University
Tuition: $59,710
Housing, food and other costs: $19,380
Total estimated cost for one year: $79,090
Founded in 1746, Princeton is one of the oldest universities in the US and is regarded as one of the world’s most illustrious higher education institutions.
The university encourages close interaction between students and professors, achieved through small class sizes and research opportunities.
Princeton's social scene is vibrant, offering a plethora of clubs, organisations, and events catering to diverse interests. Notable alumni include Michelle Obama and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
International students comprise approximately 23 per cent of students.
Stanford University
Tuition: $61,731
Housing, food and other costs: $19,922
Total estimated cost for one year: $81,653
Set on one of the largest campuses in the US, Stanford University has cultivated numerous prominent business figures including Google's Sergey Brin and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The university's proximity to Silicon Valley – the global tech hub – makes Stanford an attractive choice for those pursuing careers in the sector.
The Ivy League college actively fosters qualities essential to successful entrepreneurs, including leadership, professional development, innovation and creativity.
McGill University
Tuition: $29,546
Housing, food and other costs: $14,065
Total estimated cost for one year: $43,611
Founded in 1821 and nestled in the heart of downtown Montreal, McGill University has long been considered Canada’s pre-eminent educational institution and is often referred to as the Harvard of Canada.
The school is large, with more than 12,000 international students from 150 countries comprising 30 per cent of the student body.
Famous alumni include Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Hollywood luminaries such as William Shatner and renowned singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen.
University of British Columbia
Tuition: $34,048
Housing, food and other costs: $14,885
Total estimated cost for one year: $48,933
The University of British Columbia has two beautiful campuses, with its main branch on the western edge of Vancouver and the other campus in the Okanagan Valley.
The university is consistently ranked among the best in Canada and ranks among the top 50 in the world.
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It is home to almost 20,000 international students from 160 countries. The bulk of international students come from China, the US, India and Iran.
Famous alumni include Canada's first and only female prime minister Kim Campbell, Iranian-Canadian human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam and actress Evangeline Lily from the hit TV show Lost.
University of Toronto
Tuition: $47,513
Housing, food and other costs: $15,691
Total estimated cost for one year: $63,204
Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is located at the centre of Canada’s largest city and has established itself as one of the country’s premier learning institutions.
It is currently ranked in the top 20 universities worldwide by US News and World Report, making it Canada’s leading university.
With more than 77,000 students it is also the country’s largest university. More than 22,00 international students from 160 countries help to make up its student body.
Famous graduates include Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin's medical use, celebrated author Margaret Atwood and writer Malcolm Gladwell.
Purdue University
In-state tuition and fees: $9,992
Out-of-state tuition and fees: $28,794
Total estimated cost for one year: $23,062 for instate students and $41,864 for out-of-state students.
Purdue University’s main campus in West Lafayette, Indiana is a public institution that was founded in 1869.
Its esteemed School of Aeronautics and Astronautics has acquired the nickname Cradle of Astronauts. It’s fitting, then, that one of its most notable alumni is the first man to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong.
It's ranked in the US top 50 schools with the most international students, making up 11 per cent of the student population.
About 20 per cent of students are affiliated with fraternities and sororities, and Purdue’s athletic teams are well known for their dominant men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Emory University
Tuition and fees: $57,948
Room and board: $17,016
Food/Other: Unlisted
Total estimated cost for one year: $75,594
Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, is a private institution that was founded in 1836. It is ranked in the top 10 US universities with the highest international students, making up 17 per cent of the population.
The university was ranked No 22 in the best universities in America. Located near downtown Atlanta, Emory’s graduate programmes include the highly ranked Goizueta Business School, School of Law and School of Medicine. Its nursing school is ranked No 2 nationally.
Rice University
Tuition and fees: $54,960
Room and board: $15,000
Food/Other: Unlisted
Estimated total cost for one year: $72,045
Rice University is a private institution founded in 1912. About 12 per cent of student body comes from overseas and it ranked No 15 in the 2022-2023 edition of Best Colleges/ National Universities.
The university is in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, and promotes a dynamic student life in the nation’s fourth-largest city.
Its graduate schools include the highly ranked Jesse Jones Graduate School of Business and George R Brown School of Engineering. Rice also has a well-regarded School of Architecture and the Shepherd School of Music.
Dartmouth College
Tuition: $63,684
Housing, food and other costs: $21,064
Total estimated cost for one year: $84,748
Founded in 1769, the Ivy League college attracts more than 4,000 students to its liberal studies and intensive research work on campus in the New England state of New Hampshire.
Dartmouth says its most recent undergraduate class included people from 57 countries, making it the “most geographically diverse class ever” to enrol there.
Northwestern University
Tuition: $64,887
Housing, food and other costs: $21,444
Total estimated cost for one year: $86,331
The research university located in Chicago, the third largest city in the US, was ranked in the top 10 national universities by US News & World Report in 2023. Its schools for business, education, law, chemistry and economics are also ranked in the top 10 of each educational category.
International students make up about 20 per cent of the university’s student population.
The university also has a campus in Doha, Qatar, and research collaborations with schools in India, Israel, Nigeria, South Africa and elsewhere.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tuition: $57,986
Housing, food and other costs: $18,150
Total estimated cost for one year: $76,136
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is widely recognised as one of the world's leading institutions for science, engineering and technology in the US.
MIT has a remarkable roster of alumni and faculty members who have made significant contributions in the sciences. Out of 11,858 students, 3,513 are international with representation from more than 100 countries.
Notable alumni include Kofi Annan and Buzz Aldrin.
New York University
Tuition: $58,168
Housing, food and other costs: $16,200
Total estimated cost for one year: $74,368
Located in the vibrant Greenwich Village in New York City, NYU is the largest private university in the US by enrolment.
In addition to its main campus in New York City, it has campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. NYU is also known for having one of the largest international student populations among US universities.
The urban setting provides students with access to a rich cultural and artistic scene and plenty of options for networking and internships.
The list of famous artists who graduated from NYU is long, and includes Aziz Ansari, Spike Lee, Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin and Martin Scorsese.
