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UT Austin shines as the 2nd best college in Texas on 2025 list
The most prestigious higher education institution in Austin has done it again: The University of Texas at Austin has ranked among the top three best colleges and universities in Texas for 2025, according to personal finance website WalletHub.
The just-released list analyzed more than 800 colleges and universities in the United States using 30 metrics to determine their rankings.
UT Austin claimed the No. 2 spot in Texas and No. 11 in WalletHub's regional category of best universities in the South. The school also ranked as the No. 53 best college nationwide.
The public university performed the best in the category for best graduation rates, ranking No. 2 with a 73 percent graduation rate, according to U.S. News & World Report. UT has an acceptance rate of 29 percent, which earned the school third place in the ranking for the best admission rates. UT also ranked 3rd for its post-attendance median salary.
The school ranked 35th in the category for net cost. Tuition and fees at UT Austin cost $11,678 per year for in-state students, and $42,778 for out-of-state students.
Here's how WalletHub broke down the rest of UT Austin's ranking, where No. 1 is the best and No. 49 is the worst:
- No. 5 – Gender and racial diversity
- No. 10 – On-campus crime
- No. 32 – Student-faculty ratio
UT's recent accolades add to an ongoing winning streak of high rankings. In September, the university ranked as the No. 2 best Texas college for 2025 by U.S. News, and No. 30 nationally. Education information and review platform Niche also recently ranked UT the 9th best public university in the country and the No. 2 best in Texas for 2025. And Forbes named UT Austin No. 46 in its 2024-25 list of top U.S. colleges.
The only other Austin-area university to earn a spot in WalletHub's report was Southwestern University in Georgetown, earning No. 5 in Texas and No. 165 nationally. Southwestern also ranked No. 33 in the regional ranking of best colleges in the South.
The top five best colleges and universities in the nation are Princeton University (No. 1), Yale University (No. 2), Harvard University (No. 3), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (No. 4), and Dartmouth College (No. 5).
The top 10 colleges and universities in Texas are:
- No. 1 – Rice University
- No. 2 – The University of Texas at Austin
- No. 3 – Trinity University
- No. 4 – Texas A&M University-College Station
- No. 5 – Southwestern University
- No. 6 – Texas Christian University
- No. 7 – Austin College
- No. 8 – Texas A&M International University
- No. 9 – University of Dallas
- No. 10 – Southern Methodist University