I'll admit that I was pretty excited to see so many Illinois universities land on a list of the best universities in the entire world--but I was saddened to learn that McDonald's Hamburger University (formerly in Oak Brook, now in Chicago) was ignored once again for the umpteenth time. Maybe next year.

Instead of expertise in the assembly and delivery of Quarter Pounders with cheese, this study chose instead to focus exclusively on things like institutions' overall academic research and reputations, along with publications and books, international collaboration, and more.

I couldn't find an exact number of universities in the world, but most estimates have the number at somewhere around 25,000. When you look at that number, we should feel even better that eleven Illinois universities made the list of the world's 2,500 best universities and two of them landed in the top 100 in the world.

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Let's Take A Look At Some Of The Rankings

Two Illinois universities in particular took very high honors in the US News & World Report ranking of "The Best Global Universities."

Before we see the numbers for Illinois' schools, the top ten best global universities on the list are completely dominated by schools in the United States and United Kingdom:

  1. Harvard University (U.S.)
  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (U.S.)
  3. Stanford University (U.S.)
  4. University of Oxford (U.K.)
  5. University of Cambridge (U.K.)
  6. University of California Berkeley (U.S.)
  7. University College London (U.K.)
  8. University of Washington Seattle (U.S.)
  9. Yale University (U.S.)
  10. Columbia University (U.S.)
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Now, Let's See Where Our State's Schools Landed On The List

NBCChicago.com:

Northwestern University, located in Evanston, ranked as the world's 24th-best university, according to the publication, falling in as the highest-ranked school in Illinois.

Barely beneath Northwestern was the South Side's University of Chicago, which ranked at No. 26.

Northwestern was only bested by one fellow Midwest school, their Big 10 rival University of Michigan, which was ranked at No. 21.

And here's where the other 9 Illinois universities placed:

    • No. 109: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
    • No. 261: University of Illinois, Chicago
    • No. 500: Rush University, Chicago
    • No. 785: Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
    • No. 908: Loyola University of Chicago
    • No. 1,195: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
    • No. 1,451: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
    • No. 1,845: DePaul University, Chicago
    • No. 1,945: Illinois State University, Normal

See How School Cafeteria Meals Have Changed Over the Past 100 Years

Using government and news reports, Stacker has traced the history of cafeteria meals from their inception to the present day, with data from news and government reports. Read on to see how various legal acts, food trends, and budget cuts have changed what kids are getting on their trays.

Gallery Credit: Madison Troyer

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