FLASH BRIEFING

U.S. News & World Report: Rice University tops UT Austin for best Texas college, again

Maribel Molina

mmolina@statesman.com

Stuart Lutzker and his sons, Aaron, left, and Michael, in the distance, take in the sights around Rice University's quadrangle on a holiday visit to Houston from New Jersey on Dec. 31, 2001. (Karl Stolleis/Houston Chronicle)

Another year, another top place finish for Rice University.

The Houston university is once again the top-ranked college in the Lone Star State, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual Best National Universities ranking. Rice University ranked No. 17 nationally, down one spot from last year's list, and tied with Cornell University in New York.

Rankings are calculated by combining factors such as graduation rates, class size, expert opinion and more.

The University of Texas at Austin maintained a position within the top 50 schools nationally, improving one spot from last year to No. 48. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign also tied for No. 48.

Southern Methodist University in Dallas tied with five schools for No. 64. Texas A&M University landed at No. 70 along with three other universities. Rounding out the top five Texas colleges, Baylor University tied four other schools and ranked No. 79.

Overall, 28 schools from Texas made the national ranking. The top three U.S. schools according to the list are Princeton University, Harvard University and Columbia University, respectively.