Dallas' prestigious University of Dallas and Southern Methodist University have risen through the ranks among the top 10 best colleges and universities in Texas for 2025, and four other North Texas universities earned spots on the list.
The just-released list, from personal finance website WalletHub, analyzed more than 800 colleges and universities in the United States using 30 metrics to determine their rankings.
The University of Dallas claimed the No. 9 spot in Texas and No. 51 in WalletHub's regional category of best universities in the South. The school also ranked as the No. 262 best college nationwide.
The private university performed the best in the ranking of "Student Selectivity," which covers admission rates, ACT/SAT scores, and the share of freshmen in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class. UD ranked a respectable No. 190 nationally, with a 54 percent acceptance rate, according to U.S. News and World Report.
University of Dallas ranked No. 9 in Texas for 2025.
Photo courtesy of University of Dallas
Tuition and fees at UD cost $53,930 per year, which earned the school No. 632 in the national comparison for "Cost and Financing."
This is how UD fared in the remaining five major categories in the study:
- No. 243 – Campus experience rank
- No. 282 – Faculty resources rank
- No. 352 – Campus safety rank
- No. 368 – Education outcomes rank
- No. 369 – Career outcomes rank
SMU followed right behind UD to round out the statewide top 10 ranking, took the No. 55 spot for best university in the South, and earned No. 271 in the nationwide ranking.
Surprisingly, SMU's cross-town rival Texas Christian University outranked the Mustangs to rank No. 6 in Texas, and No. 168 nationally.
TCU performed the best in the national ranking of "Education Outcomes," which covers retention and graduation rates, and bachelor's degrees awarded per undergraduate enrollment. The school ranked No. 93 with a 74 percent graduation rate, according to U.S. News, and a 92.9 percent "first-time-in-college student" retention rate.
Like the University of Dallas, TCU fell behind in the national category for cost and financing, ranking No. 774, as tuition and fees add up to $61,740 per year.
TCU's recent accolades add to an ongoing winning streak of high rankings. In September, the university ranked as the No. 6 best Texas college for 2025 by U.S. News, and No. 105 nationally. Education information and review platform Niche also recently ranked TCU the 8th best college in Texas and 163rd best nationwide for 2025.
However, in both of those rankings, SMU outpaced TCU as the Mustangs landed at No. 5 in Texas in both the U.S. News survey and the Niche report. This time, TCU's on top. (No iron skillet involved this time.)
Elsewhere across North Texas, Southwestern Adventist University in Keene - a town about 45 miles southwest of Dallas - ranked No. 13 in Texas, followed by The University of Texas at Dallas (No. 14). The University of North Texas ranked at the bottom of the statewide list in No. 18.
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
