Kyoto University is a Japanese national university that was founded in 1897. Originally known as Kyoto Imperial University, the institution received its current name in 1947. In a recent year, around 23,000 students attended the university. Kyoto University has three campuses – the main Yoshida campus and the Uji and Katsura campuses – as well as facilities located in other areas of Japan, such as field stations for research. Tuition costs are the same for international and domestic students, and some university student housing is available.<br><br>In all, 10 academic divisions at the university offer undergraduate degrees: integrated human studies, letters, education, law, economics, science, medicine, pharmaceutical sciences, engineering and agriculture. Undergrads take courses in the liberal arts and sciences, as well as in more specialized areas. Kyoto University also has 18 graduate schools, including a school of Asian and African area studies as well as a school of management. The graduate schools offer master's, doctoral and professional degree programs.<br><br>The university’s academic calendar is semester-based, and the primary language of instruction is Japanese. However, some English-taught programs are available, mostly at the graduate level, including a program in international environmental management and an MBA program. The university’s Education Center for Japanese Language and Culture offers 15-week supplementary Japanese language classes for international students and researchers. Some of the research institutes at the university are the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, the Disaster Prevention Research Institute and the Primate Research Institute.

Seoul National University was founded in 1946. The South Korean national university’s main location is the Gwanak campus in the city of Seoul. It also has a medical campus and a campus for agricultural education and research. Tuition costs are the same for domestic and international students and vary by subject area. Many of the university’s international students receive support from various types of scholarships that cover some or all of their tuition costs. International students can also participate in a work-study program in which they work on campus for 40-60 hours a month. University housing is available for both undergraduate and graduate students.<br><br>The university has 16 colleges for undergraduates, a graduate school that offers numerous master’s and doctoral programs and 10 professional schools. The professional schools offer studies in business, environmental studies, convergence science and technology, dentistry, international agriculture technology, international studies, law, medicine, public administration and public health. The primary language of instruction at Seoul National University is Korean, though somewhere between 10 to 20 percent of university courses are English-taught. The colleges of engineering and business have the highest proportion of courses taught in English. Nearly all of the school's faculty members – around 95 percent – have doctoral degrees. The university’s academic calendar is semester-based with the school year beginning in March. The university’s research organizations include the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies and the Big Data Institute.

Monash University is a public institution that was established in 1958. It is located in the state of Victoria in southeastern Australia and is named after Sir John Monash, an Australian military leader and engineer. The Clayton campus, the largest of the university’s five Australian sites, is situated around 12 miles southeast of Victoria's capital city, Melbourne. Monash University also has a branch campus in Malaysia, a graduate school in China jointly run with <a class="" href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/southeast-university-505648" title="Link: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/southeast-university-505648">Southeast University</a> and several other affiliated international sites. Students at Monash hail from more than 100 countries. International students pay higher tuition at Monash, though some scholarships are available. Three of the university's Australian campuses offer on-campus student housing.<br><br>The university has many academic divisions: art, design and architecture; arts; business and economics; education; engineering; information technology; law; medicine, nursing and health sciences; pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences; and science. The language of instruction at Monash is English, and the university follows a semester-based academic calendar. Undergraduates can enroll in honors programs that offer a fourth year of study, heavily focused on research. In Australia, a bachelor honors degree is a higher-level credential than a bachelor's degree. Monash University has student-exchange agreements with upward of 100 partner universities in more than 25 countries. Some of the university's research centers and institutes are the Monash Injury Research Institute, the Monash Centre for Atomically Thin Materials and the Monash Sustainable Development Institute.

The Australian National University was founded in 1946. The public institution’s main Acton Campus is located in Australia’s capital city, Canberra. Other university sites include the Mount Stromlo Observatory and the Siding Spring Observatory, both associated with the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Tuition costs vary by subject and are generally higher for international students. University housing is available for both undergraduate and graduate students; in a recent year, more than 20 percent of the university's student body lived on campus.<a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/about/quick-statistics" title="Link: http://www.anu.edu.au/about/quick-statistics"></a> A year of housing is guaranteed for first-year undergraduate students from outside the Canberra region. <br><br>The university has seven colleges: arts and social sciences; Asia and the Pacific; business and economics; engineering and computer science; law; medicine, biology and environment; and physical and mathematical sciences. The language of instruction is English, and the university’s academic calendar is semester-based. The university has student exchange partnerships with upward of 150 universities in more than 30 countries, including the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/university-of-montreal-506159">University of Montreal</a> in Canada and the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/technical-university-of-munich-503109">Technical University of Munich</a> in Germany. As is true at other Australian universities, undergraduate students can enroll in degree programs that place them on a path to earn an honors degree – a more advanced credential than a bachelor's degree. Honors degree programs focus heavily on research. Some of the Australian National University's many research facilities are the John Curtin School of Medical Research, the Climate Change Institute and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health.

The exact date of the University of Oxford’s founding is unknown, but the school traces its roots back to at least 1096. Oxford is located around 60 miles northwest of London, and around 45 percent of its student body is made up of graduate students. More than half of Oxford’s graduate students conduct research as part of their studies. Research at Oxford takes place in all four of its academic divisions: humanities; mathematical, physical and life sciences; medical sciences; and social sciences. Oxford’s academic calendar is divided into three terms – Michaelmas (fall), Hilary (spring) and Trinity (summer) – each eight weeks long. The language of instruction at the university is English.<br><br> The University of Oxford is made up of a central university; 38 colleges; and six Permanent Private Halls, which tend to be smaller than colleges and offer fewer subjects. The colleges at Oxford are each equipped with a dining hall, common room and library. Undergraduates are guaranteed college housing for their freshman year and can often continue to live there during the later years of their studies. Graduate students are not guaranteed housing but some colleges may have space for them during their first year, especially for international students. Tuition costs are higher for non-European Union students. The university and its academic departments and colleges, as well as dozens of external organizations, have made more than 900 scholarships available for graduate students.<br>

Imperial College London is a public institution that was founded in 1907. The university was previously a college of the University of London and became an independent institution in 2007. The science-focused university is made up of multiple campuses located in and around London. The main campus is situated in South Kensington, an area in Central London that is home to other cultural and educational institutions, such as the Natural History Museum. Upward of 15,000 students attend Imperial, and tuition costs are higher for non-European Union students. Housing is guaranteed for first-year undergraduates, and a limited number of rooms are available for returning undergrads. On-campus graduate student housing is available for those studying at the Silwood Park campus, located around 25 miles west of Central London.<br><br>The university comprises four academic divisions focused on engineering, medicine, natural sciences and business. Imperial's academic calendar contains three terms – autumn, spring and summer – and the primary language of instruction is English. Among the university’s research centers and groups are the Data Science Institute, the Institute of Global Health Innovation and the Centre for Hedge Fund Research. The university’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme each year provides around 400 students with hands-on research opportunities. The university's International Research Opportunities Programme sends Imperial undergraduates to partner universities in different countries – such as the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/massachusetts-institute-of-technology-166683">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> in the U.S. and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/seoul-national-university-503456">Seoul National University</a> in South Korea – to conduct research for a minimum of eight weeks during the summer break. Imperial also has a history of research pioneers, including Alexander Fleming, who in 1945 discovered penicillin, an antibiotic that is now commonly used to treat bacterial infections.