The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, established in 1868.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin.

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio.

Washington University in St. Louis (WashU, or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus (Danforth) mostly split between St. Louis County and Clayton, Missouri

The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York.

The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a private research university in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney,