21. Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools, the university became the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912 and began granting four-year degrees. In 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University.

The university's 140-acre (57 ha) main campus is 3 miles (4.8 km) from Downtown Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon has seven colleges and independent schools: the College of Engineering, College of Fine Arts, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mellon College of Science, Tepper School of Business, H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy, and the School of Computer Science. The university also has campuses in Qatar and Silicon Valley, with degree-granting programs in six continents.

Carnegie Mellon is ranked 24th in the United States by U.S. News & World Report rankings. It is home to the world’s first degree-granting Robotics and Drama programs, as well as one of the first Computer Science departments. The university was ranked 89th for R&D in 2015 having spent $242 million.

Carnegie Mellon counts 13,650 students from 114 countries, over 100,000 living alumni, and over 5,000 faculty and staff. Past and present faculty and alumni include 19 Nobel Prize Laureates, 19 Members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 72 Members of the National Academies, 114 Emmy Award Winners, 43 Tony Award laureates, 7 Academy Award Winners, 12 Turing Award winners, 4 Rhodes Scholars, and one Schwarzman Scholar.