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University of Texas at Austin hooks No. 1 rating for these prestigious programs

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UT continues to shine with 49 graduate programs ranked among the best in the nation.

The University of Texas at Austin hooked even more major accolades this week. The prestigious U.S. News & World Report has ranked 49 UT graduate tracks among the top 10 in the nation, with five prestigious programs taking the No. 1 spot.

On March 20, U.S. News & World Reportreleased its 2019 rankings, and the UT system's flagship university has more top-ranking graduate programs than any other school in the state, including both public and private universities.

Of the 49 ranked in the top 10, five specialties ranked No. 1 in the nation for 2019, including accounting at the McCombs School of Business; petroleum engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering; geology in the Jackson School of Geosciences; and Latin American history and Sociology of Population, both in the College of Liberal Arts. (It's worth noting that U.S. News & World Report doesn't update rankings in all disciplines every single year.)

Several UT schools also ranked within the top 25 nationally including:

Steve Hicks School of Social Work — No. 5 (No. 3 among public universities)
Jackson School of Geosciences — No. 7 (No. 3 among public universities)
LBJ School of Public Affairs — No. 9 (No. 6 among public universities)
Cockrell School of Engineering — No. 10 (No. 6 among public universities)
College of Education — No. 10 (No. 4 among public universities)
Computer Science — No. 10 (No. 5 among public universities)
School of Law — No. 15 (No. 4 among public universities)
McCombs School of Business — No. 17 (No. 5 among public universities)
School of Nursing — No. 23 (No. 13 among public universities)

Other schools that were not updated in 2018, but remain ranked nationally are the School of Information at No. 5 for Library and Information Studies and the College of Pharmacy at No. 3.

"These national rankings reflect our focus on quality and our impact as a public flagship university,” said UT president Gregory Fenves in a release. Compared to UT, only two other public schools — University of California, Berkeley and University of Michigan — had more graduate programs ranked in the top 10.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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