Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor.

The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, founded in 1856.

New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, or colloquially the University of Illinois or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois.

The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or, colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, established in 1960.

The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta.