This guy, is likely pumped at hearing that UT has jumped in the U.S. News college rankings. Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
The University of Texas climbed six spots in the new U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges Rankings released today.
Details: UT is now ranked No. 32 in the overall rankings and is ranked ninth in the top public schools list.
Rice now ranks No. 17 in the overall national university rankings, down two spots from last year.
Texas A&M is tied for No. 47 nationally and No. 20in top public schools.
Texas State University jumped 51 spots to No. 280.
The latest: This year's rankings saw the most significant change in methodology in history, per U.S. News & World Report. The new list places more emphasis on social mobility and graduation outcomes.
Consideration of class size, faculty with terminal degrees, alumni giving, high school class standing and the proportion of graduates who borrow federal loans no longer factor into an institution's ranking.
Between the lines: The U.S. News report is one of the most influential college ranking reports and has shaped the hierarchy of higher education since 1983 — so UT administrators will likely amplify the news.
The other side: The rankings have been called unreliable and a number of higher education institutions — including Columbia University and Harvard Medical School — have declined to provide data for the rankings.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said earlier this year the rankings have created "an unhealthy obsession with selectivity."
