AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin remains a world-class institution and one of the country’s leading public universities, according to the latest edition of “Best Graduate Schools” from U.S. News & World Report. Out of this year’s batch of U.S. News graduate school rankings, 38 of the University’s schools, programs and specialties are ranked among the top 10 in the nation. When combined with previous rankings, it brings the University to a total of 54 graduate schools and specialty programs ranked in the top 10. The magazine ranks programs in alternating years.
Overall, UT Austin has top-10 specialties in more than a dozen colleges and schools and has four specialty programs ranked No. 1: Accounting, Latin American History, Petroleum Engineering and Sociology of Population. Six of the University’s graduate colleges rank in the top 10: the School of Information (No. 5); the Cockrell School of Engineering (No. 7); the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (No. 7); Jackson School of Geosciences (No. 7), ranked under Earth Sciences; Pharmacy (No. 7); and the LBJ School of Public Affairs (No. 10). The McCombs School of Business has seven specialties ranked in the top 10, and the College of Education offers six programs ranked in the top 10.
“UT Austin is the flagship university in the state and region, as well as one of the country’s preeminent institutions for graduate studies,” said President Jay Hartzell. “Our commitment to bettering life for individuals and society is evident through our continued pursuit of excellence in graduate education. UT’s world-class faculty and our position within one of the world’s leading technology ecosystems in Austin help our graduate students find fulfilling career opportunities and go on to solve some of society’s most pressing challenges.”
Public and Private Universities With the Most Top 10 Graduate Schools, Programs and Specialties in the New 2023-24 U.S. News Rankings
| Rank | University | Number of Top 10 Rankings |
| 1 | University of Michigan–Ann Arbor | 59 |
| 1 | University of California, Berkeley | 59 |
| 3 | Stanford University | 56 |
| 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 52 |
| 5 | Harvard University | 45 |
| 6 | Columbia University | 41 |
| 7 | University of Texas at Austin | 38 |
| 8 | Princeton University | 31 |
| 9 | University of California–Los Angeles | 29 |
| 10 | University of Chicago | 28 |
| 11 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 27 |
| 12 | University of Pennsylvania | 26 |
| 13 | Duke University | 25 |
| 13 | California Institute of Technology | 25 |
| 15 | New York University | 24 |
| 15 | University of Washington | 24 |
Some of the highlights include:
- The College of Education climbed two spots overall to No. 16, saw climbs in six programs, and now has six ranked among the top 10.
- McCombs is tied for No. 5 among public universities and one of only two schools in the nation to rank in every specialty, excluding nonprofit.
- The College of Natural Sciences has 11 programs and specialties ranked among the top 10, the most of any college or school at UT Austin.
- The LBJ School of Public Affairs is ranked No. 10 for the sixth year in a row.
- Computer Science (No. 8) scored top 10 rankings in all four of the discipline’s specialties.
- The Jackson School of Geosciences (No. 7 overall) has three programs ranked among the top five: Geology (No. 2), Paleontology (No. 3) and Geophysics and Seismology (No. 5).
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, computer science, earth sciences, education, engineering, law, nursing, physics, psychology, public affairs, and sciences.
UT Austin graduate schools, programs and specialties that U.S. News & World Report ranked in the top 30 are listed below.
Business – 20
- Accounting – 1
- Business Analytics – 7
- Entrepreneurship – 9
- Finance – 12
- Information Systems – 4
- International – 16
- Management – 9
- Marketing – 12
- Production/Operations – 15
- Project Management – 4
- Real Estate – 10
- Supply Chain/Logistics – 14
- Executive MBA – 14
- Part-Time MBA – 6
Education – 16
- Counseling – 12
- Curriculum/Instruction – 7
- Education Policy – 8
- Educational Administration/Supervision – 4
- Educational Psychology – 9
- Elementary Teacher Education – 12
- Higher Education Administration – 16
- Secondary Teacher Education – 7
- Special Education – 5
Engineering – 7
- Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical – 8
- Biomedical/Bioengineering – 21
- Chemical – 7
- Civil – 4
- Computer – 8
- Electrical/Electronic/Communications – 10
- Environmental/Environmental Health – 5
- Industrial/Manufacturing/Systems – 21
- Materials – 17
- Mechanical –11
- Nuclear – 17
- 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) – 7*
- Speech-Language Pathology – 10*
Law – 16
- Business/Corporate Law – 19
- Constitutional Law – 9
- Contracts/Commercial Law – 14
- Criminal Law – 22
- Dispute Resolution – 16
- Intellectual Property Law – 18
- International Law – 25
- Tax Law – 16
Library and Information Studies Schools (UT Austin’s School of Information) – 5*
- Archives and Preservation – 4*
- Digital Librarianship – 7*
- Information Systems – 8*
Nursing
- Master’s – 20
- Doctor of Nursing Practice – 23
Public Affairs – 10
- Environmental Policy – 14
- Local Government Management – 24
- Nonprofit Management – 20
- Public Policy Analysis – 11
- Social Policy – 18
The Sciences
Biological Sciences – 25*
- Ecology/Evolutionary Biology – 8*
Chemistry – 16
- Analytical – 4
- Inorganic – 14
- Organic – 20
- Physical – 14
Computer Science – 8
- Artificial Intelligence – 8
- Programming Language – 7
- Systems – 9
- Theory – 9
Earth Sciences (UT Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences) – 7
- Geochemistry – 13
- Geology – 2
- Geophysics and Seismology – 5
- Paleontology – 3
Mathematics – 13
- Algebra – 19
- Analysis – 8
- Applied Math – 7
- Topology – 8
Physics – 13
- Cosmology/Relativity/Gravity – 10
- Condensed Matter – 22
Statistics – 27*
Social Sciences and Humanities
Economics – 22*
English – 17*
- American Literature After 1865 – 18*
History – 11*
- African American History – 10*
- Latin American History – 1*
- Modern U.S. History – 16*
Political Science – 19*
- American Politics – 20*
- Comparative Politics – 18*
Psychology – 23*
- Behavioral Neuroscience – 8*
- Social Psychology – 9*
Sociology – 11*
- Sociology of Population – 1*
- Sex and Gender – 6*
- Social Stratification – 13*
Fine Arts – 23*
- Sculpture – 6*
*Ranking not revised for 2023-24. Based on latest available ranking.
