How the University of Texas fares in the 2026 U.S. News rankings

• The majority of a school's overall score is based on student outcomes like graduation rates, student debt and earnings.

Driving the news: UT ranked 30th among national universities and seventh among public schools in the 2026 Best Colleges list released yesterday.

• Southwestern in Georgetown ranked 84th among liberal arts colleges.
• St. Edward's is ranked fifth in the "Regional universities - West" category.
• Huston-Tillotson ranked 20th in the "Regional colleges - West" category.

How it works: Institutions that offer a range of undergraduate majors, plus master's and doctoral programs, and emphasize faculty research, are deemed "national universities."

• Schools that focus almost exclusively on undergraduate education and award at least 50% of their degrees in the arts and sciences are designated as "liberal arts colleges," per U.S. News.
• Schools that offer a broad scope of undergraduate and some master's degrees, but few doctoral programs, are designated as regional universities.
• Regional colleges focus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than 50% of their degrees in the liberal arts, and some also award two-year associate degrees, per U.S. News.