ATX Floods

10 ways you can donate and volunteer to help local flood victims

Memorial Day floods_Wimberley_Hays County_KVUE_May 2015

There are many ways you can help victims of the Memorial Day floods.

Photo by KVUE News

KVUE — Central Texas was hit with massive flooding Memorial Day weekend that destroyed hundreds of homes, and many of our neighbors have been displaced.

Here are 10 ways you can help Central Texas flood victims, either by donating or volunteering.

The Austin Disaster Relief Network is accepting monetary donations. The fund's name is the Memorial Weekend Flood Fund. Go to the organization's website to donate.
The United Way of Hays County is accepting monetary donations. Donate through the webpage or text "FLOODS" to 41444 to make a donation.
The Saxon Pub in is collecting donations from 2-6 pm on Wednesday and Thursday. Go here for a full list of needed items.
St. Bernard Sports is holding a donation drive at its store at 401 W. Third St. to benefit the Hays County Food Bank. Anyone who brings donations on the food bank's list will get 10 percent off their purchase through Sunday.
Cabela's, Barton Middle School, Wallace Middle School, Chapa Middle School, Katherine Anne Porter School and others are accepting food donations for the Hays County Food Bank.
Austin Pets Alive! is in need of donations, foster care and help with laundry. For more information visit the Facebook page and website.
Serve San Marcos is asking for volunteers to help with cleanup. Go here for more information.
The American Red Cross is in need of volunteers. Go here to find out how you can become one.
A community Facebook page has surfaced where affected residents are seeking help restoring their homes. Check out the Austin Flood 2015 Relief page.
For other ways to help those in need, check out the Hays County "Helping Our Neighbors" page here.

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For more ways to help, see the full story on KVUE.

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Longhorn report card

UT Austin books top-10 spot among best public universities in America

UT Austin, University of Texas at Austin, top Texas schools, best public universities, best colleges

Photo by Alexander Williams on Unsplash

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The new academic year may have just gotten started, but there's already a report card for Longhorns to write home about. This time their school is being graded — and don't worry, Mom and Dad, UT makes the high honor roll. The University of Texas at Austin ranks as the No. 9 top public university in the United States for 2025 by Niche.

Among all 1,517 U.S. schools evaluated by the education review and ranking website, UT Austin shines at No. 41 nationally, and as No. 2 in Texas (more in that on a bit). It's also the 14th best "big college" in America.

Niche deems UT Austin among the top 25 schools in these specific categories:

No. 2 Best Hispanic-Serving Institutions in America
No. 6 Colleges with the Best Student Life in America
No. 11 Best Colleges for Student Athletes in America
No. 12 Best College Athletics in America
No. 14 Top Party Schools in America
No. 19 Best College Food in America
No. 24 Best College Campuses in America

It also ranks among the top 25 schools nationally for communications, kinesiology and physical therapy, accounting and finance, sports management, design, public health, physics, education, environmental science, engineering, music, and architecture.

UT's full rankings can be found here.

Bevo, University of Texas, UT Austin Bevo knows UT athletics rule. Bevo XV/Instagram

"College is what you make it, but the University of Texas at Austin was truly an unforgettable and formative experience and it was largely due to the community and staff creating excellent environment to do carry out its mission statement: What starts here changes the world," reads one five-star student review on Niche's UT rankings page.

The university actually fell a few places from its spot as No. 6 public university in Niche's 2024 rankings, and No. 8 in 2023.

Still, UT receives an overall grade of A+, earning an A+ in four of the 12 ranking categories — academics, athletics, student life, and party scene. It gets an A for diversity, professors, value, campus, location, and campus food; a B for dorms; and a B- for safety.

Of course, the university is no stranger to ranking highly on lists of the best colleges and universities in the country, including those published by WalletHub, SmartAsset, U.S. News & World Report, and more national publications. Austin itself was just ranked the seventh most educated city in the country.

Yale University tops Niche’s national list for 2025, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, Brown University, Vanderbilt University, and Johns Hopkins University.

Rice University in Houston ranks first among the best colleges in Texas (just edging out UT), and No. 15 nationally. The top 10 Texas schools for 2025 are:

No. 1 Rice University
No. 2 University of Texas at Austin
No. 3 Texas A&M University
No. 4 Trinity University
No. 5 Southern Methodist University
No. 6 University of Houston
No. 7 Texas Tech University
No. 8 Texas Christian University
No. 9 University of North Texas
No. 10 University of Texas at Arlington

Find Niche's complete 2025 college rankings here.

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