Universities loved by the world's #1 Hedge Fund
2026-03-29
Jane Street - The company every STEM student dreams of working at
Jane Street is the world's #1 hedge fund - and the most coveted employer among STEM graduates globally.
Let's take a look at which universities Jane Street loves the most when it comes to hiring.
For reference, Jane Street's entry-level base salary is a staggering $300,000 (excluding bonuses)
In the UK, Jane Street's average salary per employee was £800,000 (~$1.6 million), and executive-level compensation reached £14 million (~$28 million)
#25 - ETH Zurich
Famous as Albert Einstein's alma mater.
| Location | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Founded | 1855 |
| Students | ~24,500 |
| Famous Alumni | Albert Einstein (physicist), John von Neumann (mathematician), Wilhelm Röntgen (discovered X-rays), Jacques Herzog (architect) |
| Famous Majors | Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics |
| Annual Cost | ~CHF 1,460 (~$1,600) for all students — one of the most affordable top universities in the world |
#24 - University of Warwick
A prestigious UK university with strong ties to finance and quantitative fields.
| Location | Coventry, England, UK |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Students | ~29,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Akshata Murty (UK First Lady, wife of Rishi Sunak), David Davis (politician), Germaine Greer (author/feminist) |
| Famous Majors | Mathematics, Economics, Business, Computer Science |
| Annual Cost | ~£9,250 domestic / ~£29,000–£36,000 international (~$37,000–$46,000) |
#23 - University of Chicago
Renowned for economics. The influential Chicago School of Economics originated here.
| Location | Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Founded | 1890 |
| Students | ~18,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Milton Friedman (economist), Barack Obama (taught law here), James Watson (co-discoverer of DNA), Carl Sagan (astronomer) |
| Famous Majors | Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Law, Public Policy |
| Annual Cost | ~$65,000 (tuition + fees) |
#22 - National University of Singapore (NUS)
Singapore's top university — essentially the "Seoul National University" of Singapore or "Harvard" of Singapore.
| Location | Singapore |
| Founded | 1905 |
| Students | ~43,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Lee Hsien Loong (former PM of Singapore), Mahathir Mohamad (former PM of Malaysia), Goh Chok Tong (former PM of Singapore) |
| Famous Majors | Computer Science, Engineering, Business, Law, Medicine |
| Annual Cost | ~SGD 8,000–12,000 domestic (~$6,000–$9,000) / ~SGD 35,000–50,000 international (~$26,000–$37,000) |
#21 - University College London (UCL)
One of the UK's most prestigious universities, and a founding member of the University of London.
| Location | London, England, UK |
| Founded | 1826 |
| Students | ~50,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Mahatma Gandhi (independence leader), Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone), Christopher Nolan (film director), Coldplay members |
| Famous Majors | Medicine, Architecture, Law, Engineering, Neuroscience |
| Annual Cost | ~£9,250 domestic / ~£28,000–£40,000 international (~$36,000–$51,000) |
#20 - University of New South Wales (UNSW)
Australia's most famous university for finance and trading.
| Location | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Students | ~65,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Scott Morrison (former PM of Australia), Rebel Wilson (actress), David Gonski (business leader) |
| Famous Majors | Finance, Engineering, Computer Science, Actuarial Studies, Law |
| Annual Cost | ~AUD 8,000–11,000 domestic (~$5,200–$7,200) / ~AUD 40,000–55,000 international (~$26,000–$36,000) |
#19 - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
Hong Kong's equivalent of KAIST — a top science and technology institution.
| Location | Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Students | ~16,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Eric Li (political scientist), Tony F. Chan (mathematician), DJI drone co-founders |
| Famous Majors | Computer Science, Engineering, Business/Finance, Mathematics |
| Annual Cost | ~HKD 42,100 domestic (~$5,400) / ~HKD 155,000 international (~$20,000) |
#18 - London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Famous for economics and social sciences. Legendary hedge fund manager George Soros is an LSE alumnus.
| Location | London, England, UK |
| Founded | 1895 |
| Students | ~13,000 |
| Famous Alumni | George Soros (hedge fund legend), JFK (briefly attended), Mick Jagger (briefly attended), multiple heads of state worldwide |
| Famous Majors | Economics, Political Science, Finance, International Relations, Law |
| Annual Cost | ~£9,250 domestic / ~£26,000–£40,000 international (~$33,000–$51,000) |
#17 - Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
One of Hong Kong's top three universities with strong quantitative programs.
| Location | Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Students | ~20,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Charles K. Kao (Nobel Prize, "Father of Fiber Optics"), Leung Chun-ying (former Hong Kong Chief Executive) |
| Famous Majors | Finance, Economics, Computer Science, Engineering, Medicine |
| Annual Cost | ~HKD 42,100 domestic (~$5,400) / ~HKD 145,000 international (~$18,600) |
#16 - University of Hong Kong (HKU)
The "Seoul National University" or "Harvard" of Hong Kong — its most prestigious and oldest institution.
| Location | Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong |
| Founded | 1911 |
| Students | ~30,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Sun Yat-sen (founding father of modern China), Carrie Lam (former Hong Kong Chief Executive), multiple business magnates |
| Famous Majors | Law, Medicine, Architecture, Business, Engineering |
| Annual Cost | ~HKD 42,100 domestic (~$5,400) / ~HKD 182,000 international (~$23,300) |
#15 - Yale University
Part of America's "Big Three" alongside Harvard and Princeton. One of the world's most elite universities.
| Location | New Haven, Connecticut, USA |
| Founded | 1701 |
| Students | ~14,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush (all US Presidents), Hillary Clinton, Meryl Streep (actress), Paul Krugman (economist) |
| Famous Majors | Law (perennially ranked #1 in the US), Political Science, Economics, History, Drama |
| Annual Cost | ~$64,700 (tuition + fees) |
#14 - Imperial College London
Known as the "MIT of the UK" — famous for its world-class engineering programs.
| Location | South Kensington, London, England, UK |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Students | ~22,000 |
| Famous Alumni | H.G. Wells (author), Alexander Fleming (discovered penicillin), Brian May (Queen guitarist & astrophysicist), Abdus Salam (Nobel physicist) |
| Famous Majors | Engineering, Computer Science, Medicine, Physics, Mathematics |
| Annual Cost | ~£9,250 domestic / ~£37,000–£50,000 international (~$47,000–$64,000) |
#13 - Cornell University
A member of the Ivy League, renowned for engineering and computer science.
| Location | Ithaca, New York, USA |
| Founded | 1865 |
| Students | ~25,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Bill Nye (science communicator), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Supreme Court Justice), Toni Morrison (Nobel Prize, literature), Robert Atkins (Atkins diet creator) |
| Famous Majors | Engineering, Computer Science, Hotel Administration, Architecture, Agriculture |
| Annual Cost | ~$65,000 (tuition + fees for endowed colleges) |
#12 - New York University (NYU)
A world-class institution in the heart of New York City. Its Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Stern School of Business are particularly famous.
| Location | New York City, New York, USA |
| Founded | 1831 |
| Students | ~55,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Alan Greenspan (former Fed Chair), Martin Scorsese (director), Lady Gaga (singer), Angelina Jolie (actress) |
| Famous Majors | Mathematics (Courant Institute), Business (Stern), Film, Law, Performing Arts |
| Annual Cost | ~$60,000 (tuition + fees) |
#11 - University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
One of the world's best universities for mathematics, science, and computer science. The crown jewel of the US public university system.
| Location | Berkeley, California, USA |
| Founded | 1868 |
| Students | ~45,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple), Eric Schmidt (former Google CEO), J. Robert Oppenheimer (physicist), Gordon Moore (Intel co-founder, Moore's Law) |
| Famous Majors | Computer Science, Engineering (EECS), Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry |
| Annual Cost | ~$14,300 in-state / ~$44,000 out-of-state (tuition + fees) |
#10 - University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)
An Ivy League university famous for the Wharton School — the world's first and most prestigious business school. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are both UPenn alumni.
| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Founded | 1740 |
| Students | ~22,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Donald Trump (US President), Elon Musk (Tesla/SpaceX CEO), Warren Buffett (attended Wharton), Noam Chomsky (linguist) |
| Famous Majors | Business (Wharton), Finance, Engineering, Medicine, Law |
| Annual Cost | ~$63,000 (tuition + fees) |
#9 - Columbia University
An Ivy League university based in New York City. Barack Obama is a Columbia alumnus.
| Location | New York City, New York, USA |
| Founded | 1754 |
| Students | ~35,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Barack Obama (US President), Alexander Hamilton (Founding Father), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Supreme Court Justice), Warren Buffett (MBA) |
| Famous Majors | Law, Journalism, Business, Political Science, Engineering |
| Annual Cost | ~$66,000 (tuition + fees) |
#8 - University of Waterloo
Canada's #1 university for computer science and engineering. A major pipeline into top tech and quant firms, powered by its famous co-op program.
| Location | Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Students | ~42,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Mike Lazaridis (co-founder of BlackBerry), Chamath Palihapitiya (venture capitalist), many top engineers at Google, Meta, and quant firms |
| Famous Majors | Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Actuarial Science, Mechatronics |
| Annual Cost | ~CAD 9,000–18,000 domestic (~$6,600–$13,200) / ~CAD 51,000–74,000 international (~$37,400–$54,200) |
#7 - Stanford University
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford is a powerhouse for technology and innovation. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and famous Korean math instructor Hyun Woo-jin are Stanford alumni.
| Location | Stanford, California, USA |
| Founded | 1891 |
| Students | ~17,500 |
| Famous Alumni | Sergey Brin & Larry Page (Google founders), Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO), Reed Hastings (Netflix co-founder), Tiger Woods (golfer) |
| Famous Majors | Computer Science, Engineering, Business (GSB), Artificial Intelligence, Physics |
| Annual Cost | ~$62,000 (tuition + fees) |
#6 - Princeton University
Part of America's "Big Three" alongside Harvard and Yale. World-class in mathematics and science. Jeff Bezos is a Princeton alumnus.
| Location | Princeton, New Jersey, USA |
| Founded | 1746 |
| Students | ~8,500 |
| Famous Alumni | Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder), Alan Turing (briefly studied), John Nash (mathematician, "A Beautiful Mind"), Michelle Obama, F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| Famous Majors | Mathematics, Physics, Economics, Computer Science, Public Policy (Woodrow Wilson School) |
| Annual Cost | ~$62,400 (tuition + fees) — Princeton meets 100% of demonstrated financial need with no loans |
#5 - Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
Not as well-known in Korea, but CMU is the world's best in computer science. A dominant force in AI, machine learning, and quantitative research.
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Founded | 1900 (by Andrew Carnegie) |
| Students | ~16,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Andy Warhol (pop artist), James Gosling (creator of Java), Vinod Khosla (venture capitalist), Randy Pausch ("The Last Lecture") |
| Famous Majors | Computer Science (#1 globally), Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Statistics/Machine Learning, Drama |
| Annual Cost | ~$62,000 (tuition + fees) |
#4 - Harvard University
The world's most renowned university. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are Harvard alumni. Notably, Xi Jinping's daughter and Coupang CEO Bom Kim also graduated from Harvard.
| Location | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA |
| Founded | 1636 (oldest university in the US) |
| Students | ~21,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, Natalie Portman (actress), Ban Ki-moon (former UN Secretary-General) |
| Famous Majors | Law (#1 law school), Business (HBS), Medicine, Economics, Government |
| Annual Cost | ~$59,000 (tuition + fees) — Harvard meets 100% of demonstrated financial need |
#3 - University of Oxford
The world's oldest university and one of Britain's greatest institutions. J.R.R. Tolkien (author of The Lord of the Rings) and Andrew Wiles (who proved Fermat's Last Theorem) are Oxford alumni. Fun fact: Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association, is also an Oxford graduate.
| Location | Oxford, England, UK |
| Founded | ~1096 (teaching since at least 1096, formally established ~1167) |
| Students | ~26,000 |
| Famous Alumni | Stephen Hawking (attended briefly), J.R.R. Tolkien, Oscar Wilde, 28 British Prime Ministers including Tony Blair, Malala Yousafzai (Nobel Peace Prize) |
| Famous Majors | PPE (Philosophy, Politics, Economics), Law, Medicine, English Literature, Mathematics |
| Annual Cost | ~£9,250 domestic / ~£33,000–£48,000 international (~$42,000–$61,000) |
#2 - University of Cambridge
One of the world's best universities, renowned for mathematics and economics. Isaac Newton (father of physics), Alan Turing (creator of modern computing), and John Maynard Keynes (father of macroeconomics) are all Cambridge alumni. The late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung served as a visiting professor at Cambridge.
| Location | Cambridge, England, UK |
| Founded | 1209 |
| Students | ~24,500 |
| Famous Alumni | Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, 15 British Prime Ministers |
| Famous Majors | Mathematics (legendary "Mathematical Tripos"), Natural Sciences, Engineering, Economics, Computer Science |
| Annual Cost | ~£9,250 domestic / ~£25,000–£63,000 international (~$32,000–$80,000) depending on subject |
#1 - MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
The undisputed #1 in engineering worldwide, rivaling Harvard as the world's top university. Lisa Su (CEO of AMD), Morris Chang (founder of TSMC), and Alexandr Wang (founder of Scale AI) are all MIT graduates. The legendary physicist Richard Feynman is also an MIT alumnus. Fun fact: Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel) is also an MIT graduate.
| Location | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA |
| Founded | 1861 |
| Students | ~11,800 |
| Famous Alumni | Richard Feynman (physicist), Buzz Aldrin (astronaut), Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary-General), Lisa Su (AMD CEO), Morris Chang (TSMC founder), Drew Houston (Dropbox founder) |
| Famous Majors | Engineering (EECS — #1 globally), Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Economics |
| Annual Cost | ~$61,990 (tuition + fees) — MIT meets 100% of demonstrated financial need |