Financial analyzer Wallet Hub looked at the price of college and financing, selectivity, student-faculty ratio, graduation rates and post-attendance median salary and more to rank the top 30 universities and colleges in the United States.
University of Texas incoming freshman Maxwell Gaddy, from Midland gets help from his father Chris and sister Jenna, 16, moving into Duran Residence Hall last year. RALPH BARRERA/AMERICAN-STATESMAN 2016
How do Texas and Texas A&M rank? Not in the top 30. But Texas was ranked 59. It didn’t do well in cost and financing, faculty resources, safety and campus experience. Texas A&M ranked 118 out of 500. Cost, faculty resources and campus experience were it’s weaker elements.
The best college in Texas on this list: Rice, which came in at 18. It did well on faculty resources and career outcome.
Where are the other Texas colleges? Trinity University was 80, Southwestern was 121, Austin College was 126, LeTourneau University was 133, SMU was 139, UT-Dallas was 145, University of Houston was 194, UT-Rio Grande Valley was 196, Texas Christian was 197, Baylor was 201, Houston Baptist was 219, Dallas Baptist was 239, Texas Lutheran was 283, Texas Tech was 338, St. Mary’s was 366, Abilene Christian was 394, UT-Arlington was 482, Southwestern Assemblies of God was 485, and UT-North Texas was 487.
Texas schools also made some of the category lists: UT-El Paso had one of the lowest admission rates; Texas Wesleyan University had the highest percentage of international students; University of Houston-Downtown had one of the lowest graduation rates; UT-Permian Basin had the lowest amount of student loan debt; and Paul Quinn college had one of the highest loan default rates.
Top 30 Colleges & Universities in America
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
2 Princeton University (NJ)
3 Harvard University (MA)
4 Stanford University (CA)
5 California Institute of Technology (CA)
6 Yale University (CT)
7 Duke University (NC)
8 University of Pennsylvania (PA)
9 Columbia University (NY)
10 Rice University (TX)
11 University of California-Berkeley (CA)
12 Harvey Mudd College (CA)
13 Johns Hopkins University (MD)
14 Brown University (RI)
15 Pomona College (CA)
16 University of Notre Dame (IN)
17 Dartmouth College (NH)
18 Vanderbilt University (TN)
19 Williams College (MA)
20 University of Chicago (IL)
21 University of California-Los Angeles (CA)
22 Northwestern University (IL)
23 Amherst College (MA)
24 Swarthmore College (PA)
25 Cornell University (NY)
26 Georgetown University (DC)
27 University of Virginia (VA)
28 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (NC)
29 Washington University in St. Louis (MO)
30 Vassar College (NY)
