Report card time
2 Dallas universities graduate to top of new ranking of Texas' best schools
Two esteemed Dallas universities are once again at the top of the class. Personal finance website WalletHub has added to the accolades of the University of Dallas and Southern Methodist University with a No. 6 and No. 7 ranking in Texas, respectively, among 2022’s best colleges and universities.
They're the only Dallas-Fort Worth schools to make the top 10 list in Texas, which looks like this:
- Rice University, No. 6 nationally.
- University of Texas at Austin, No. 45 nationally.
- Trinity University in San Antonio, No. 61 nationally.
- Texas A&M University in College Station, No. 127 nationally.
- Southwestern University in Georgetown, No. 144 nationally.
- University of Dallas, No. 152 nationally.
- Southern Methodist University in University Park, No. 178 nationally.
- Austin College in Sherman, No. 192 nationally.
- LeTourneau University in Longview, No. 231 nationally.
- University of Houston, No. 238 nationally.
Coming in just outside the top 10, at No. 11, is University of Texas at Dallas (ranked 252 nationally), and at No. 12 is Texas Christian University in Fort Worth (ranked 253 nationally).
To determine the top-performing schools, WalletHub compared more than 1,000 institutions in the U.S. across 30 key measures, including student-to-faculty ratio, graduation rate, and post-school median salary.
Nationally, University of Dallas ranks highest in the categories of "student selectivity" (141 nationally), "faculty resources" (275), and "career outcomes" (282).
SMU ranks highest in the categories of "student selectivity" (98 nationally), "career outcomes" (114), and "education outcomes" (115).
The newest list comes on the heels of a ranking from Niche.com that included three DFW schools in the top 10: SMU, TCU, and University of Texas at Dallas.
Once again, though, Houston's Rice University was named the best school in Texas. WalletHub deemed it No. 1 in Texas and No. 6 nationally among colleges and universities.
In Texas, Rice appears at No. 1 for admission rate, graduation rate, gender and racial diversity, and post-school median salary. Not every ranking is that stellar, though. Rice ranks 50th for on-campus crime among 55 Texas schools and 52nd for net cost.
More students soon will be able to take advantage of Rice’s top-tier education. In March, the school said it would enlarge its undergraduate enrollment by 20 percent — to 4,800 — by the fall of 2025, up from more than 4,200 in the fall of 2020.
“Expanding the student body now will also expand Rice’s future alumni base across the nation and around the world,” said Robert Ladd, chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees, in a release. “Welcoming more students to the Rice campus today will have an impact on the university for generations to come.”
