by Daniel Cote

Created on: January 10, 2009

The city of Pittsburgh boasts some of this countries best and most comprehensive universities. They include the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Carnegie-Mellon University, and Point Park University.

Probably the most well-known out of these four universities is the University of Pittsburgh. The University of Pittsburgh was founded in 1787 as Pittsburgh Academy making it one of the oldest continuously chartered universities in the United States. Pitt, as it is commonly referred as, has grown to accommodate approximately 27,000 students and is highly regarded in the field of medicine for having developed the first Polio vaccine. Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning is the university's landmark building and one of the most prominent buildings in the city of Pittsburgh. In addition to having a very prominent academic standing, the university is also known for fielding some of the best and most competitive teams in Division I athletics. Some of their notable alumni include actor Gene Kelly, dot com billionaire Mark Cuban, Hall of Fame football players Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino, and Presidential candidate Ron Paul among many others.

Duquesne University is a private Catholic institution founded in 1878 as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost. Duquesne University has grown from a student body of only 40 to over 10,000 students today. Duquesne is a very prominent academic institution ranking 130th among national institutions, with it's most notable program being its M.B.A program which is ranked 8th in the world according to the Aspen Institute. The Duquesne Dukes compete in Division I athletics in the A-10 and Northeast conferences and appeared in two national championships games in basketball during the 1950's. Some of their most famous alumni include General Michael V. Hayden, director of the CIA, singer Bobby Vinton, Pittsburgh Steelers owners Art and Dan Rooney, as well as at least two bishops and two cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church.

Despite the outstanding academic reputations of both the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University, Carnegie-Mellon University is one of the most elite academic universities in the world. Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1900 as the Carnegie Institute of Technology, the school has gone through several name changes before merging with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research and becoming known as Carnegie-Mellon University. The university has a student body of just under 11,000 and features

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