Company lists · Data refreshed September 2026
Top 25 Tier 1 universities based in the United States
RevenueBase identified 151 tier 1 universities headquartered in the United States as of September 2026 and tracks 505,379 professional contacts across them, including 174,507 with verified work emails. Columbia is the largest hub.
This list covers tier 1 universities headquartered in the United States, matched on what each company actually does as described in its own words. Ranked by team size, largest first. Every row shows the company's own description, its RevenueBase Smart Search rating, and when it was last checked. Data refreshed September 22, 2026.
Published by RevenueBase, a B2B data infrastructure company. This list was built with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search RevenueBase customers use to build their own targeted lists and unlock verified emails and direct dials at the companies on them. How these lists are built and judged.
The 25 largest tier 1 universities based in the United States
Ranked by team size| # | Company | Contacts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27,475 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “University of Florida is a major, public, comprehensive, land-grant, research university.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 2 | 20,764 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “UCLA offers a combination that’s rare, especially among public research universities.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 3 | 20,014 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “For more than 250 years, Columbia has been a leader in higher education in the nation and around the world.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 4 | 19,612 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The University of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest universities in America and, as a member of the Ivy League, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in all…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 5 | 18,637 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “A wellspring of innovation, the school occupies a 1,232-acre campus near downtown Berkeley.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 6 | 16,897 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “UC Davis was founded in 1908 to serve the state of California.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 7 | 14,581 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Indiana University Bloomington is the flagship residential, research-intensive campus of Indiana University.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 8 | 13,949 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 9 | 13,900 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “We are America’s first research university, founded in 1876 on the principle that by pursuing big ideas and sharing what we learn, we can make the world a better place.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 10 | 13,396 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Northwestern is one of the nation’s premier research universities, combining innovative teaching and pioneering research in a highly collaborative, multidisciplinary, and diverse…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 11 | 12,867 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Florida State University offers a unique academic environment built on our cherished values, distinctive heritage, and welcoming campus.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 12 | 12,274 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Emory University, a top research university located in Atlanta, Georgia, is an inquiry-driven, ethically engaged and diverse community whose members work collaboratively for…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 13 | 11,923 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “At UM you'll join a diverse and energized academic community.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 14 | 10,839 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “As the largest university in one of the nation’s most iconic cities, Temple educates diverse future leaders from across Philadelphia, the country and the world who share a common…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 15 | 10,591 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The University of Connecticut (UConn), a Wall Street Journal top 10 public university, is home to more than students, 1,500 faculty, proud alumni, and a handsome husky named…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 16 | 10,344 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Located in western Massachusetts, UMass Amherst is the flagship campus of the five-campus University of Massachusetts system.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 17 | 10,159 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Georgia State is an urban public research university and national model for student success in Atlanta, the cultural and economic center of the Southeast.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 18 | 10,132 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “The University of Rochester is a private research university located in Rochester, New York.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 19 | 9,956 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “The University of Alabama is a student-centered research university and an academic community committed to enhancing the quality of life for all through breakthrough research.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 20 | 9,539 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “A new era of excellence is dawning at Texas Tech University as it stands on the cusp of being one of the nation's premier research institutions.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 21 | 8,731 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Attracting top students from across the nation and more than 100 countries around the world, OU provides a major university experience in a private college atmosphere.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 22 | 8,579 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Kansas State University, often referred to as K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 23 | 8,007 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Established in 1804, Ohio University is the oldest university in the Northwest Territory.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 24 | 7,487 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Kent State University is the highest-ranked public university in northern Ohio on the Top Public Schools and Best National Universities lists by U.S.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 25 | 7,349 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Strong academics, highly personal instruction, energetic campus life, successful graduates, Miami University sets the standard for public higher education on one of America’s…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
RevenueBase Smart Search
RevenueBase Smart Search assesses information from a company’s LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website, and other publicly available sources. It uses that information to rate how closely the company relates to this list’s category: tier 1 universities. Every row carries its rating and the description the rating was read from, so each one can be checked rather than taken on trust.
- Strong evidence
- The company's own public description of its business names tier 1 universities.
- Partial evidence
- Its own public description names part of tier 1 universities, so it works in or next to the category without describing itself that way.
- Indirect evidence
- The description shown does not name tier 1 universities. The match rests on the rest of the company's public profile rather than the one sentence quoted here, so this is the rating to check first.
RevenueBase Smart Search is how these lists are built: RevenueBase's data engine and AI assemble the companies that match a category defined in a user's own words, so a list can be about what companies actually do rather than about whichever industry code they were filed under.
Showing 25 of 151 tier 1 universities based in the United States
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Tier 1 universities based in the United States at a glance
As of Sep 22, 2026Companies by employee count
Email recency for this list is measured worldwide rather than for United States, so it is reported there. Company counts and contact totals on this page are exact for United States, over 151 companies.
How this list was built
Company categories are rarely black and white. RevenueBase reads each company's own description of its business to decide whether it belongs among tier 1 universities, so some rows will be adjacent to the category rather than pure plays. The description and RevenueBase Smart Search rating on every row are there so you can check each match yourself.
- Source
- The RevenueBase company graph: 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts resolved from primary sources, queried with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search available to every RevenueBase user.
- What qualifies
- Companies headquartered in the United States whose own description of what they do matches “tier 1 universities”. Matching reads each company's description, not its industry code or its name.
- RevenueBase Smart Search
- RevenueBase Smart Search is how this list is assembled and how each row is rated. RevenueBase's data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to a category defined in a user's own words. Each row is rated strong evidence (its own description names tier 1 universities), partial evidence (it names part of the category) or indirect evidence (the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile). The description supporting each rating is quoted on the row.
- What we exclude
- Companies whose own description does not clearly place them among tier 1 universities, and records with no verified work email. Companies headquartered outside United States are excluded even when they keep an office there.
- Match quality
- In blind human judging of this matching method, 86% of matched companies were on target. Expect roughly 1 in 7 rows to be adjacent to the category rather than a pure play. Every row shows the company's own description and its RevenueBase Smart Search rating so you can judge each match yourself. Read the full methodology: how the lists are built, how the judging worked, and what the figure means.
- Ranking
- Team size, largest first: companies are ordered by the number of professionals RevenueBase tracks at each one. Employee ranges shown are reported bands, for context.
- Verification
- Every listed company carries at least one verified work email, 174,507 across the full list. Contacts re-verify on a rolling cadence, and each contact's own verification date is shown inside RevenueBase.
- Refresh
- This page's figures were pulled from the company graph on September 22, 2026. Lists refresh periodically as the graph is re-checked.
- Corrections
- Wrong category, wrong headquarters, or a company that has closed? Use “Report an issue” on any row. Reports go to the RevenueBase Data Team and feed back into the company graph.
Frequently asked
What is RevenueBase Smart Search?
RevenueBase Smart Search is how RevenueBase decides which companies belong on this list and how strongly each one fits. Its data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to the category the list is about. Each row is rated strong evidence when the company's own description names tier 1 universities, partial evidence when it names part of the category, and indirect evidence when the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile.
How many tier 1 universities are there based in the United States?
RevenueBase identified 151 tier 1 universities headquartered in the United States as of September 2026, matched on each company's own description of what it does rather than its industry code.
What is the largest company on this list?
University Of Florida, headquartered in Gainesville, tops this list with the largest team on record.
Which city has the most tier 1 universities?
Columbia leads with 4 headquartered companies, followed by Baltimore (3) and Denver (3).
How do I get contact information for these companies?
A free RevenueBase account lets you run this exact search and work the top results, verified emails and direct dials included. Upgrading unlocks all 174,507 verified decision-maker contacts tracked across these 151 companies.
How current is this list?
The list refreshes periodically as the company graph is re-checked. This page's figures were pulled on September 22, 2026.
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About this data
RevenueBase is a B2B data infrastructure company. Its company graph covers 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts, with emails verified on a rolling cadence rather than scraped once and left to decay. These company lists are generated directly from that graph with RevenueBase Smart Search, the same natural-language company search every RevenueBase user has: describe a market in plain words, get the companies that match, and add verified emails and direct dials for the people at them. It is the same data that powers RevenueBase's B2B data products, and a free account includes 500 credits to start. How these lists are built and judged.
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