What Starts Here ...

All of these University of Texas programs rank No. 1 in the nation

University of Texas at Austin tower aerial

UT Austin's graduate programs are No. 1.

Austin is in good standing with U.S. News & World Report right now. Not only is the Capital City the No. 1 place to live, but the University of Texas at Austin ranks as one of the best colleges — and so do its graduate programs.

In the 2018 edition of Best Graduate Schools from U.S. News & World Report, more than 40 UT Austin programs place among the top 10 in their special area of study. The report, which analyzes a different set of programs each year, is "among the most widely regarded ratings in higher education," according to UT.

Four UT graduate programs rank No. 1 in the nation: accounting in the McCombs School of Business; petroleum engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering; and sociology of population and Latin American history, both in the College of Liberal Arts.

"These rankings show, once again, that students at UT Austin learn from and collaborate with our exceptional faculty in all disciplines," says President Gregory Fenves in a release. "The university's depth, breadth, and scale of expertise makes it an engine for innovation, in which scholars work across disciplines to make new discoveries and solve challenging problems that change lives in Texas, the United States, and the world."

The scope of success goes beyond individual programs too. The School of Information ranks No. 5 and Cockrell School of Engineering is No. 9; both moved up one spot from the previous report.

The following schools remained in the top 10 — their rankings were not updated from last year: College of Pharmacy, No. 3; School of Social Work, No. 7; Jackson School of Geosciences, No. 8; and Department of Computer Science, No. 9.

reports rankings education university-texas

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.

traffic self-driving cars innovation