Biden in Austin

Vice President Joe Biden is heading to Austin next week

Joe Biden is heading to Austin on October 30.

Leslie Knope would be so stoked, y'all! Vice-president Joe Biden (who, very sadly, almost 30 percent of Americans don't know is the vice-president) is coming to town! While details of his visit are scarce, CultureMap was able to confirm that he will arrive on October 30, just in time to commemorate National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and to visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which is headquartered in Austin.

The White House is expected to release more information about Biden's trip early next week. A spokesperson for the NDVH was able to confirm that the vice-president would be taking part in a media-only event at the hotline's headquarters, which provides counseling and services to hundreds of thousands of Americans every year (they recently took their three-millionth call).

The veep has supported domestic violence victims services organizations, as well as key pieces of victims services legislation, throughout his career. As a senator, Biden was credited with leading the enactment of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which strengthened penalties for convicted rapists and increased rates of prosecution and access to protective services, among other things. "He's been a big supporter of helping victims," said a spokesperson for the NDVH, which was started because of the VAWA.

Women are more likely to endure abuse from an intimate partner, with nearly one in four women in United States having been a victim of severe physical violence.

CultureMap will continue to update this story as details become available.

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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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