Harvard clinches six of 32 US Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford

Harvard University has won six Rhodes Scholarships out of a possible 32 available to American students.

Yale and Stanford Universities both clinched three each of the award, considered one of the world's most prestigious academic honors.

Princeton University, the University of Virginia and the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, each saw two students win the award.

American schools that saw their first ever winners this year were Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and New York University Abu Dhabi, a branch of NYU in New York City.

The scholarships fund two to three years of study at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. This year 1,750 students applied.

The students get about $50,000 per year towards their studies.

The Rhodes Scholarship was established in 1902 in the will of Cecil Rhodes.

Rhodes was a British mining tycoon and explorer who established De Beers.

Famous American winners of the Rhodes scholarship include President Bill Clinton, Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and ABC's George Stephanopoulos.

About 80 scholarships from over a dozen countries are selected annually.