Degrees of excellence

UT Austin makes the grade in new ranking of country’s best graduate schools

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UT's grad schools earn top marks.

When it comes to the country's top graduate school programs, the University of Texas at Austin is at the head of the class.

A new ranking, released March 17 by U.S. News & World Report, shows UT Austin tied for third place among public universities for the most graduate schools and specialties (48) ranked in the top 10. Only the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Michigan have more.

UT's top five graduate schools for 2021, according to U.S. News: School of Information (No. 5), Jackson School of Geosciences (No. 7), LBJ School of Public Affairs (No. 8), Steve Hicks School of Social Work (No. 8), and Cockrell School of Engineering (No. 10).

U.S. News bases its annual rankings of graduate schools on two types of data: expert opinions about program excellence, and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research, and students.

Also making the grade is UT's prestigious law school, tied for 16th in the nation, and School of Nursing, which placed No. 24.

Meanwhile, UT's McCombs School of Business' full-time MBA program claimed the No. 17 spot, up one spot from last year. The school's part-time MBA program landed at No. 7, up from No. 8 in 2019, and the executive MBA program jumped from two spots to No. 12 this year.

For all three types of MBA programs, UT Austin leads the rankings for Texas schools.

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top of the line

UT Austin tops U.S. News' 2025 list of best grad schools

Photo by Chirag Tripathi on Unsplash

UT Austin remains on top as the best graduate school in Texas.

Two Austin universities have climbed through the ranks in U.S. News & World Report’s recently released report of the best graduate schools nationwide for 2025. Several graduate programs also appeared among the top 10 in a Texas-wide comparison.

U.S. News published its annual national "Best Graduate Schools" rankings on April 8. They look at several programs including business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, and many others.

For the 2025 report, the publication added new Ph.D. social sciences and humanities program rankings in English, history, political science, and sociology for the first time since 2021. U.S. News also ranked graduate economics and psychology programs in the social sciences and the humanities for the first time since 2022.

The acclaimed University of Texas at Austin has held on to its shining reputation as the best graduate school in Texas. It swept all first place rankings in U.S. News' statewide categories for the Best Engineering Schools, Best Education Schools, Best Law Schools, Best Business Schools, and Best Nursing Schools.

Here’s how UT Austin compares in U.S. News’ overall rankings across the country:

No. 6 – Best Education Schools, up from No. 8 in 2024
No. 7 – Best Engineering Schools, unchanged from 2023
No. 12 – Best Nursing Schools: Master’s, up from No. 14 in 2024
No. 14 – Best Law Schools, up from No. 16 in 2024
No. 16 – Best Business Schools, unchanged from 2024
No. 36 – Best Nursing Schools: Doctor of Nursing Practice, down from No. 26 in 2024

The No. 1-ranking UT Austin graduate programs in 2025 are the McCombs School of Business' accounting program and the petroleum engineering program at the Cockerell School of Engineering.

Notably, Texas State University'sRound Rock campus earned acclaim as the No. 4 best nursing school in Texas, and ranked 92nd in the national comparison.

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