Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) takes the prize for breeding ingenuity. A leading research institution, the school is typically granted more patents annually than any other university, and about 60 people associated with MIT are Nobel Prize recipients. Blending that science and engineering acumen with top business programs (including the Sloan School of Management), MIT graduates have started more than 25,000 companies. MIT has about 11,000 students, about 60% of whom attend graduate school. The faculty of the nearly three dozen academic departments includes more than 1,000 professors. The school's student teacher ratio is 7:1. Founded in 1865, MIT is privately endowed.