AUSTIN, Texas — The latest edition of “Best Graduate Schools” from U.S. News & World Report once again ranks The University of Texas at Austin as one of the top public universities in the nation based on the depth and breadth of its graduate programs.
This year, UT Austin has five specialty programs ranked No. 1 and 48 schools and specialties ranked among the nation’s top 10.
The numbers place UT Austin among the top five public universities in the country for the number of top 10 schools and specialties.
Public Universities With Most Graduate Schools and Specialties Ranked in the Top 10
| Public University |
2021 |
| 1. University of California, Berkeley |
114 |
| 2. University of Michigan |
105 |
| 3. University of Texas at Austin |
48 |
| 4. University of California, Los Angeles |
48 |
| 5. University of Wisconsin-Madison |
47 |
| 6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
40 |
| 7. University of Washington |
40 |
| 8. University of Illinois |
35 |
| 9. Georgia Institute of Technology |
21 |
| 10. Pennsylvania State University |
17 |
The university has top 10 specialties in 13 of its colleges and schools including business, communication, geosciences, education, engineering, information, fine arts, law, natural sciences, pharmacy, public affairs, social work and liberal arts. Five of its graduate and professional schools rank in the top 10: the LBJ School of Public Affairs (No. 8), the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (No. 8), the Cockrell School of Engineering (No. 10), Jackson School of Geosciences (No. 7, ranked under Earth sciences) and the School of Information (No. 5, ranked under library and information sciences).
The five specialties ranked No. 1 in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report, are: accounting in the McCombs School of Business, petroleum engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering, geology in the Jackson School of Geosciences, and Latin American history and sociology of population, both in the College of Liberal Arts.
Other notable improvements include:
- The Cockrell School of Engineering moved up one spot to No. 10.
- The McCombs School of Business moved up one spot to No. 18.
- The Executive MBA in the McCombs School moved up 14 spots to No. 12.
- The university had top 10 rankings in two newly added specialties: business analytics (No. 4) and contracts/commercial law (No. 8).
U.S. News & World Report’s graduate rankings, which are published separately from the magazine’s yearly ranking of undergraduate programs, are considered the gold standard of graduate and professional rankings. They are based on surveys of academic leaders and, for select programs, additional quantitative measures including placement test scores, student/faculty ratios, research expenditures and job placement success.
The publication updates some of its specialty rankings each year and republishes the most recent rankings in other areas. Areas updated this year were business, education, engineering, fine arts, health specialties, law, medicine, nursing and public affairs.
The U.S. News & World Report rankings are consistent with other recent accolades for UT Austin, which has ranked No. 18 on Forbes’ list of top 25 public college educations for $30,000 or less and No. 28 on Money magazine’s list of best colleges for the cost.
UT Austin graduate schools and programs that U.S. News & World Report ranked in the top 30 are listed below.
Business – 18
- Accounting – 1
- Business Analytics – 4
- Entrepreneurship – 8
- Finance – 13
- Information Systems – 4
- International – 19
- Management – 12
- Marketing – 11
- Production/Operations – 15
- Real Estate – 13
- Supply Chain/Logistics – 18
- Executive MBA – 12
- Part-Time MBA – 7
Education – 15
- Curriculum/Instruction – 11
- Education Policy – 14
- Educational Administration/Supervision – 5
- Educational Psychology – 8
- Elementary Teacher Education – 12
- Higher Education Administration – 13
- Secondary Teacher Education – 11
- Special Education – 8
- Counseling (new) – 15
Engineering – 10
- Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical – 9
- Biomedical/Bioengineering – 19
- Chemical – 5
- Civil – 5
- Computer – 9
- Electrical/Electronic/Communications – 8
- Environmental/Environmental Health – 5
- Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems – 25
- Materials – 21
- Mechanical – 12
- Nuclear – 14
- Petroleum Engineering – 1
Health Disciplines (other than Nursing)
- Audiology – 14
- Clinical Psychology – 10
- Pharmacy (UT Austin’s College of Pharmacy) – 7
- Social Work (UT Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work) – 8*
- Speech-Language Pathology – 10
Law – 16
- Contracts/Commercial Law – 8
- Constitutional Law – 11
- Criminal Law – 17
- Business/Corporate Law – 17
- Dispute Resolution – 16
- Environmental Law – 26
- Health Care Law (new) – 19
- Intellectual Property Law – 18
- International Law – 14
- Tax Law – 15
Library and Information Studies Schools (UT Austin’s School of Information) – 5*
- Archives and Preservation – 2*
- Digital Librarianship – 5*
- Information Systems – 10*
- Law Librarianship – 2*
Nursing
- Master’s – 22
- Doctor of Nursing Practice – 24
Public Affairs – 8
- Homeland Security – 10
- International/Global Policy – 8
- Nonprofit Management – 20
- Public Management and Leadership – 16
- Public Policy Analysis – 15
- Social Policy – 18
The Sciences
Biological Sciences – 27*
- Ecology/Evolutionary Biology – 6*
Chemistry – 15*
- Analytical – 4*
- Organic – 16*
- Physical – 14*
Computer Science – 10*
- Artificial Intelligence – 8*
- Programming Language – 8*
- Systems – 8*
- Theory – 7*
Earth Sciences (UT Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences) – 7*
- Geology – 1*
- Geophysics and Seismology – 7*
Mathematics – 14*
- Analysis – 7*
- Applied Math – 9*
- Topology – 8*
Physics – 17*
- Cosmology/Relativity/Gravity – 10*
Social Sciences and Humanities*
Economics – 27*
English – 20*
History – 16*
- Latin American History – 1*
Political Science – 19*
- Psychology – 8*
Sociology – 11*
- Sociology of Population – 1*
- Sex and Gender – 8*
Fine Arts – 23
- Sculpture – 6
*Ranking not revised for 2021. Based on latest ranking available.
