Every continent has world-class colleges and universities, many of which provide instruction in English. Most people in the United States are familiar with the leading American and British institutions, but potential students seeking quality education in an international environment can find excellent alternatives around the world. 

Key Points

• Every continent has world-class institutions of higher education.
• In many of them, English is the primary language of instruction.
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Africa

Africa has over 1,500 degree-granting institutions. The continent is extremely diverse, so the primary languages of instruction in most of them are English or French. The best African universities attract international students and faculty and do groundbreaking research.

University of Cape Town

• Founded: 1829
• Location: Cape Town, South Africa
• Enrollment: 28,233
• Specialties: Engineering, business, law, science, health, humanities
• Famous graduates: Nelson Mandela (former president of South Africa), Christiaan Barnard (heart surgeon who performed the world’s first human heart transplant)

Cairo University

• Founded: 1908
• Location: Giza, Egypt
• Enrollment: 231,590
• Specialties: Medicine, humanities, engineering
• Famous graduates: Boutros Boutros-Ghali (former Secretary-General of the United Nations). 

Makerere University

• Founded: 1922
• Location: Kampala, Uganda
• Enrollment: 40,000
• Specialties: Medicine, agriculture, engineering, the arts.
• Famous graduates: Yoweri Museveni (president of Uganda), Paul Kagame (president of Rwanda), John Sentamu (former Archbishop of York). 

Asia

There are approximately 6,280 colleges and universities in Asia, which is about 45% of all the institutions of higher education in the world. Cutting-edge areas where Asian colleges are global leaders include artificial intelligence, robotics, and sustainable development studies. 

Tsinghua University

• Founded: 1911
• Location: Beijing, China
• Enrollment: 59,270
• Specialties: Engineering, business, computer science, social science.
• Famous graduates: Xi Jinping (president of China), Hu Jintao (former president of China)

National University of Singapore

• Founded: 1905
• Location: Singapore
• Enrollment: 35,908
• Specialties: Business, medicine, engineering, law, social science.
• Famous graduates: Lee Kuan Yew (first Prime Minister of Singapore), Halimah Yacob (first female prime minister of Singapore)

University of Tokyo

• Founded: 1877
• Location: Tokyo, Japan
• Enrollment: 28,479
• Specialties: Science, engineering, humanities, medicine, social science. 
• Famous graduates: Nobusuke Kishi (former Prime Minister of Japan), Yasunari Kawabata (Nobel Prize-winning author) 

Australia/Oceania

Australia has 37 major universities and New Zealand has 8. Smaller Pacific island nations have several growing universities as well. 

University of Melbourne

• Founded: 1853
• Location: Melbourne, Australia
• Enrollment: 45,755
• Specialties: Business, engineering, arts, science.
• Famous graduates: Julia Gillard (first female prime minister of Australia), J.M. Coetzee (Nobel Prize-winning author). 

Australian National University

• Founded: 1946
• Location: Canberra, Australia
• Enrollment: 25,500
• Specialties: Arts, humanities, science, social science
• Famous graduates: Kevin Rudd (former Prime Minister of Australia), Bob Hawke (former Prime Minister of Australia), Malcom Fraser (former Prime Minister of Australia). 

University of Auckland

• Founded: 1883
• Location: Auckland, New Zealand
• Enrollment: 41,000
• Specialties: Business, engineering, science, arts and humanities, health science.
• Famous graduates: Sir Edmund Hillary (first climber to reach the top of Mount Everest along with Tenzing Norgay), Helen Clark (former Prime Minister of New Zealand), David Lange (former Prime Minister of New Zealand). 

Europe

Europe was the birthplace of the modern university. Many countries on the continent have institutions that are internationally respected and make substantial contributions to scientific research, economics, philosophy, and the arts. 

University of Oxford

• Founded: as early as 1096; received a royal charter in 1248
• Location: Oxford, England, UK
• Enrollment: 27,000
• Specialties: Medicine, social sciences, humanities, mathematics, science.
• Famous graduates: Albert Einstein (physicist), Stephen Hawking (physicist), J.R.R. Tolkien (author), Margaret Thatcher (first female Prime Minister of the U.K.), Bill Clinton (former president of the United States). 

University of Cambridge

• Founded: 1209
• Location: Cambridge, England, UK
• Enrollment: 36,750
• Specialties: Social sciences, humanities, science, engineering
• Famous graduates: Isaac Newton (mathematician and physicist), Charles Darwin (biologist), Alan Turing (mathematician).

ETH Zurich

• Founded: 1854
• Location: Zurich, Switzerland
• Enrollment: 29,800
• Specialties: Engineering, computer science, architecture, science, management
• Famous graduates: Carl Jung (psychiatrist), Albert Einstein (physicist), Rita Levi-Montalcini (neurologist)

North America

American Ivy League universities dominate the educational scene in North America and are respected worldwide. Canada and Mexico also have significant reputations that meet and exceed international standards. 

Harvard University

• Founded: 1636
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
• Enrollment: 21,613
• Specialties: Arts and sciences, law, business, medicine
• Famous graduates: Barack Obama (former U.S. president), John F. Kennedy (former U.S. president), Mark Zuckerberg (co-founder of Facebook), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (U.S. Supreme Court Justice). 

Stanford University

• Founded: 1885
• Location: Stanford, California, U.S.
• Enrollment: 15,000
• Specialties: Engineering, social sciences, business, humanities
• Famous graduates: Elon Musk (CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and X), Tiger Woods (professional golfer), Rishi Sunak (former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

• Founded: 1861
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
• Enrollment: 11,920
• Specialties: Engineering, science, computer science, economics
• Famous graduates: Kofi Annan (former Secretary-General of the United Nations), Richard Feynman (Nobel Prize-winning researcher in quantum physics), Noam Chomsky (linguist and philosopher).

South America

Brazil, Chile, and Argentina are academic leaders in South America. Medicine, the social sciences, and biodiversity are areas where the region’s leading universities provide leadership. 

University of São Paulo

• Founded: 1934
• Location: São Paulo, Brazil
• Enrollment: 50,000+
• Specialties: Engineering, humanities, science
• Famous graduates: Fernando Henrique Cardoso (former president of Brazil), Michel Temer (former president of Brazil)

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

• Founded: 1888
• Location: Santiago, Chile
• Enrollment: 39,000
• Specialties: Law, engineering, health sciences, business
• Famous graduates: Manuel Pellegrini (soccer player and manager), Sebastián Piñera (former president of Chile), Eduardo Frei Montalva (former president of Chile)

University of Buenos Aires

• Founded: 1821
• Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Enrollment: 50,000+
• Specialties: Medicine, law, humanities, social sciences
• Famous graduates: Che Guevera (Cuban revolutionary), Pope Francis (Current Pop of the Roman Catholic Church), Alberto Fernández (former president of Argentina)

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