Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin were the only Texas colleges to earn spots on the personal-finance website WalletHub’s top-50 ranking of the 2022 best colleges.
Rice finished sixth on the WalletHub list, while the University of Texas came in 45th overall. The website analyzed more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the nation across 30 metrics, including student-faculty ratio, graduation rates, student-loan default rates and median salaries when graduates enter professional life.
Rice came in 15th in the general category of student selectivity and 14th in education outcomes category. And the University of Texas finished 58th in student selectivity and 45th in education outcomes.
The WalletHub study graded universities on a 100-point scale. Rice University received a score of 76.48, while the University of Texas scored 70.13.
---
Top-50 U.S. Universities for 2022
Overall Rank | University / College | State | Total Score | Student Selectivity | Cost & Financing | Faculty Resources | Campus Safety | Campus Experience | Education Outcomes | Career Outcomes |
1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | 79.11 | 2 | 931 | 7 | 507 | 50 | 3 | 5 |
2 | Princeton University | NJ | 79.03 | 6 | 807 | 14 | 783 | 28 | 26 | 25 |
3 | California Institute of Technology | CA | 78.4 | 1 | 939 | 1 | 647 | 102 | 42 | 2 |
4 | Harvard University | MA | 76.65 | 5 | 954 | 19 | 121 | 27 | 65 | 13 |
5 | Yale University | CT | 76.52 | 9 | 924 | 6 | 712 | 46 | 87 | 11 |
6 | Rice University | TX | 76.48 | 15 | 901 | 9 | 855 | 45 | 14 | 41 |
7 | Northwestern University | IL | 76.26 | 14 | 947 | 4 | 113 | 97 | 7 | 44 |
8 | Duke University | NC | 75.86 | 7 | 992 | 5 | 576 | 110 | 1 | 9 |
9 | Stanford University | CA | 75.27 | 4 | 980 | 38 | 376 | 43 | 34 | 21 |
10 | Johns Hopkins University | MD | 75.22 | 12 | 941 | 11 | 100 | 134 | 19 | 71 |
11 | Vanderbilt University | TN | 75.16 | 17 | 929 | 20 | 882 | 29 | 24 | 55 |
12 | Columbia University | NY | 74.76 | 8 | 987 | 15 | 134 | 18 | 4 | 28 |
13 | Georgia Institute of Technology | GA | 74.66 | 41 | 554 | 897 | 341 | 124 | 33 | 8 |
14 | University of Pennsylvania | PA | 74.61 | 11 | 1002 | 10 | 155 | 99 | 6 | 6 |
15 | Williams College | MA | 74.5 | 23 | 899 | 17 | 807 | 59 | 11 | 91 |
16 | University of Chicago | IL | 74.14 | 3 | 1012 | 2 | 158 | 60 | 5 | 53 |
17 | University of California--Berkeley | CA | 73.61 | 25 | 812 | 855 | 929 | 206 | 12 | 61 |
18 | Dartmouth College | NH | 73.28 | 13 | 981 | 58 | 906 | 85 | 9 | 49 |
19 | Brown University | RI | 73.03 | 10 | 1010 | 13 | 620 | 62 | 17 | 39 |
20 | University of California--Los Angeles | CA | 72.98 | 32 | 574 | 763 | 841 | 249 | 16 | 93 |
21 | Carnegie Mellon University | PA | 72.94 | 21 | 995 | 18 | 246 | 37 | 28 | 7 |
22 | University of Florida | FL | 72.91 | 59 | 50 | 674 | 97 | 607 | 36 | 229 |
23 | Hamilton College | NY | 72.9 | 35 | 925 | 33 | 852 | 55 | 47 | 67 |
24 | Swarthmore College | PA | 72.72 | 18 | 927 | 28 | 1007 | 31 | 10 | 99 |
25 | University of Michigan--Ann Arbor | MI | 72.66 | 49 | 785 | 197 | 677 | 545 | 21 | 72 |
26 | Pomona College | CA | 72.54 | 16 | 933 | 30 | 1015 | 17 | 41 | 116 |
27 | University of California--Irvine | CA | 72.53 | 57 | 298 | 766 | 474 | 72 | 60 | 127 |
28 | Claremont McKenna College | CA | 72.42 | 28 | 969 | 27 | 910 | 3 | 54 | 43 |
29 | Cornell University | NY | 72.34 | 19 | 991 | 106 | 260 | 155 | 8 | 36 |
30 | Washington University in St. Louis | MO | 72.29 | 20 | 986 | 24 | 506 | 137 | 22 | 42 |
31 | Wellesley College | MA | 72.29 | 39 | 917 | 76 | 389 | 20 | 25 | 126 |
32 | Harvey Mudd College | CA | 71.92 | 22 | 974 | 82 | 847 | 86 | 37 | 18 |
33 | University of Virginia | VA | 71.88 | 42 | 872 | 544 | 237 | 366 | 15 | 59 |
34 | Amherst College | MA | 71.82 | 26 | 961 | 49 | 954 | 64 | 20 | 94 |
35 | Grinnell College | IA | 71.71 | 46 | 835 | 42 | 537 | 6 | 106 | 260 |
36 | Emory University | GA | 71.71 | 37 | 958 | 104 | 289 | 40 | 32 | 74 |
37 | Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art | NY | 71.63 | 51 | 540 | 70 | 1 | 960 | 159 | 131 |
38 | University of Notre Dame | IN | 71.48 | 30 | 979 | 475 | 206 | 121 | 2 | 32 |
39 | Georgetown University | DC | 71.46 | 27 | 1000 | 295 | 135 | 104 | 23 | 1 |
40 | University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill | NC | 71.42 | 53 | 442 | 649 | 532 | 700 | 39 | 214 |
41 | Washington and Lee University | VA | 71.41 | 45 | 967 | 25 | 785 | 240 | 18 | 30 |
42 | Carleton College | MN | 71.39 | 43 | 945 | 44 | 799 | 51 | 13 | 128 |
43 | Colby College | ME | 70.43 | 31 | 983 | 43 | 897 | 35 | 63 | 76 |
44 | Northeastern University | MA | 70.35 | 38 | 955 | 465 | 192 | 114 | 29 | 69 |
45 | University of Texas at Austin | TX | 70.13 | 58 | 510 | 890 | 336 | 749 | 45 | 113 |
46 | Case Western Reserve University | OH | 70.13 | 55 | 885 | 192 | 422 | 47 | 95 | 73 |
47 | Barnard College | NY | 69.95 | 24 | 994 | 121 | 270 | 75 | 52 | 109 |
48 | Vassar College | NY | 69.84 | 52 | 928 | 51 | 878 | 36 | 57 | 129 |
49 | Tufts University | MA | 69.66 | 34 | 1011 | 139 | 136 | 100 | 35 | 26 |
50 | University of Southern California | CA | 69.55 | 33 | 989 | 205 | 203 | 135 | 40 | 50 |