Tops in Texas

How Texas schools stack up on new rankings of best U.S. colleges

Two publications recently put out roundups of top U.S. colleges, and Houston’s Rice University has a lot to brag about. According to Forbes’ America’s Top Colleges and Money’s Best Colleges for Your Money, Rice is the top ranked college in Texas.

The top five Texas schools according to Forbes are Rice, University of Texas at Austin, Southern Methodist University, Trinity University and Texas A&M University. Money’s top five Texas schools are Rice, Texas A&M, UT Austin, Texas Tech and Texas Woman’s University.

For our breakdown, we listed only the top five Texas schools from each list and included its ranking on the other. Here is a complete list of Texas schools on the Forbes roundup. Money also has a filter to sort by state if you want to see where your favorite Texas school landed.

Rice University
Forbes ranking: No. 32 nationally and first in Texas
Money ranking: No. 20 nationally and first in Texas

University of Texas at Austin
Forbes ranking: No. 76 nationally and second in Texas
Money ranking: No. 53 nationally and third in Texas

Texas A&M University
Forbes ranking: No. 137 nationally and fifth in Texas
Money ranking: No. 24 nationally and second in Texas

Southern Methodist University
Forbes ranking: No. 101 nationally and third in Texas
Money ranking: No. 257 nationally and eighth in Texas

Trinity University
Forbes ranking: No. 132 nationally and fourth in Texas
Money ranking: No. 409 nationally and 16th in Texas

Texas Woman’s University
Forbes ranking: No. 573 nationally and 19th in Texas
Money ranking: No. 169 nationally and fifth in Texas

Texas Tech University
Forbes ranking: No. 402 nationally and 13th in Texas
Money ranking: No. 154 nationally and fourth in Texas

To come up with the rankings, Forbes looked at 650 colleges and universities’ return on investment by analyzing 12 factors in five categories, including student satisfaction, academic success, amount of student debt, graduation rate and alumni career success.

For its list, Money ranked the nation’s 1,500 four-year colleges by screening those with below-average graduation rates and ranking the remaining 665 universities on 17 factors in three categories: educational quality, affordability and alumni earnings (provided by PayScale.com).

However, to show how rankings can differ wildly, the 2014 report from the Center for World University Rankings claims the University of Texas at Austin as tops in Texas — as well as the No. 22 institution in the country and No. 29 in the world.

Rounding out the top five in Texas are the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (which ranks No. 66 in the world and 43 nationally), University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (No. 104 in the world and 55 nationally), Texas A&M (No. 105 in the world and 56 nationally), and Rice University (No. 108 in the world and 58 nationally).

SMU ranks among the top five schools in Texas according to a new list of the best U.S. colleges by Forbes.

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SMU ranks among the top five schools in Texas according to a new list of the best U.S. colleges by Forbes.

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Weed News

Texas Rep. Jessica González of Dallas files bill to legalize marijuana

Redheaded Blackbelt

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Texas Rep. Jessica González of Dallas has filed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas. House Bill 1208 would legalize the cultivation, manufacturing, transportation, and sale of cannabis.

The bill would allow adults 21 and older to use, possess, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for personal use. Adults could also keep up to 10 ounces of cannabis in their residence, as long as it is stored in a secure location.

Smoking or consuming cannabis while in a public place or in a car on a public road would not be allowed.

Gonzalez filed the bill in mid-November, one in a suite of bills that also included expanding insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization for LGBTQ couples; and requiring landlords to disclose all fees before a rental lease is signed.

Her bill was filed prior to an initiative launched by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on December 4 to ban THC products in Texas entirely.

In addition to legalizing recreational use, the bill also makes provisions for its production and sale including requiring that the packaging be child-resistent and clearly labeled, so that it's not confused for candy.

Businesses looking to grow, transport, test, or sell cannabis would need to be licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. A 10 percent tax would be imposed on the sale of all cannabis and cannabis products. Some of the profits would go towards funding public schools.

If passed, the bill would take effect on September 1, 2025.

Medical cannabis is currently legal in Texas under the Texas Compassionate Use Program, which allows low-THC cannabis to be prescribed for conditions such as epilepsy, MS, autism, cancer, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some cities have also approved decriminalization for the possession of four ounces or less of marijuana, including Austin, Bastrop, Dallas, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and Lockhart.

politics marijuana