The University of Texas at Austin was tied for 38th best on a ranking of universities that U.S. News considers the top four-year institutions in the nation, based on 17 categories measuring academic quality.
The 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges study examined 1,466 colleges that issue bachelor’s degrees. The analysis includes the most recent data available on measures such as student-faculty ratios, graduates’ average federal student loan debt, tuition costs, student demographics and the earning potential of graduates.
UT Austin currently has an undergraduate enrollment of 40,048, U.S. News reports, and its tuition cost for in-state students is $11,448 ($40,032 for out-of-state students). The university was tied for 16th on the U.S. News Best Colleges for Veterans list and tied for 33rd on the Best Undergraduate Teaching list.
U.S. News surveyed the universities for its analysis in the spring and summer of this year. The standardized test scores reviewed by researchers in the study reflect testing that occurred from 2019 through early 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Top U.S. Universities Based on U.S. News Study
| Rank | School and Location | Tuition and Fees | Undergraduate Enrollment (Fall 2020) |
| 1 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ |
$56,010 | 4,773 |
| 2 (tie) | Columbia University New York, NY |
$63,530 | 6,170 |
| 2 (tie) | Harvard University Cambridge, MA |
$55,587 | 5,222 |
| 2 (tie) | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA |
$55,878 | 4,361 |
| 5 | Yale University New Haven, CT |
$59,950 | 4,703 |
| 6 (tie) | Stanford University Stanford, CA |
$56,169 | 6,366 |
| 6 (tie) | University of Chicago Chicago, IL |
$60,963 | 6,989 |
| 8 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA |
$61,710 | 9,872 |
| 9 (tie) | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA |
$58,680 | 901 |
| 9 (tie) | Duke University Durham, NC |
$60,489 | 6,717 |
| 9 (tie) | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD |
$58,720 | 6,331 |
| 9 (tie) | Northwestern University Evanston, IL |
$60,984 | 8,194 |
| 13 | Dartmouth College Hanover, NH |
$60,870 | 4,170 |
| 14 (tie) | Brown University Providence, RI |
$62,404 | 6,792 |
| 14 (tie) | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN |
$56,966 | 7,057 |
| 14 (tie) | Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO |
$58,866 | 7,653 |
| 17 (tie) | Cornell University Ithaca, NY |
$61,015 | 14,743 |
| 17 (tie) | Rice University Houston, TX |
$52,895 | 4,076 |
| 19 | University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN |
$58,843 | 8,874 |
| 20 | University of California–Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA |
$43,022 (out-of-state) $13,268 (in-state) | 31,636 |
| 21 | Emory University Atlanta, GA |
$55,468 | 7,010 |
| 22 | University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA |
$44,115 (out-of-state) $14,361 (in-state) | 30,980 |
| 23 (tie) | Georgetown University Washington, DC |
$59,957 | 7,357 |
| 23 (tie) | University of Michigan — Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI |
$53,232 (out-of-state) $16,178 (in-state) | 31,329 |
| 25 (tie) | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA |
$58,924 | 7,073 |
| 25 (tie) | University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA |
$53,666 (out-of-state) $19,698 (in-state) | 17,311 |
| 27 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA |
$60,275 | 19,606 |
| 28 (tie) | New York University New York, NY |
$56,500 | 27,444 |
| 28 (tie) | Tufts University Medford, MA |
$63,000 | 6,114 |
| 28 (tie) | University of California–Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA |
$44,196 (out-of-state) $14,442 (in-state) | 23,196 |
| 28 (tie) | University of Florida Gainesville, FL |
$28,658 (out-of-state) $6,380 (in-state) | 34,931 |
| 28 (tie) | University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC |
$36,776 (out-of-state) $8,992 (in-state) | 19,399 |
| 28 (tie) | Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC |
$59,770 | 5,441 |
| 34 (tie) | University of California–San Diego La Jolla, CA |
$44,487 (out-of-state) $14,733 (in-state) | 31,842 |
| 34 (tie) | University of Rochester Rochester, NY |
$59,344 | 6,521 |
| 36 (tie) | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA |
$61,706 | 9,445 |
| 36 (tie) | University of California–Irvine Irvine, CA |
$43,709 (out-of-state) $13,955 (in-state) | 29,638 |
| 38 (tie) | Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA |
$33,794 (out-of-state) $12,682 (in-state) | 16,561 |
| 38 (tie) | University of California–Davis Davis, CA |
$44,408 (out-of-state) $14,654 (in-state) | 31,162 |
| 38 (tie) | University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX |
$40,032 (out-of-state) $11,448 (in-state) | 40,048 |
| 38 (tie) | William & Mary Williamsburg, VA |
$46,467 (out-of-state) $23,812 (in-state) | 6,236 |
| 42 (tie) | Boston University Boston, MA |
$59,816 | 16,872 |
| 42 (tie) | Brandeis University Waltham, MA |
$60,391 | 3,493 |
| 42 (tie) | Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH |
$54,020 | 5,433 |
| 42 (tie) | Tulane University New Orleans, LA |
$60,814 | 7,700 |
| 42 (tie) | University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI |
$38,608 (out-of-state) $10,720 (in-state) | 33,585 |
| 47 | University of Illinois — Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL |
$34,316 (out-of-state) $16,866 (in-state) | 33,683 |
| 48 | University of Georgia Athens, GA |
$31,120 (out-of-state) $12,080 (in-state) | 29,765 |
| 49 (tie) | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA |
$57,470 | 5,203 |
| 49 (tie) | Northeastern University Boston, MA |
$57,592 | 15,156 |
| 49 (tie) | Ohio State University–Columbus Columbus, OH |
$35,019 (out-of-state) $11,936 (in-state) | 46,984 |
| 49 (tie) | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA |
$59,702 | 3,459 |
| 49 (tie) | Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN |
$28,794 (out-of-state) $9,992 (in-state) | 34,920 |
| 49 (tie) | Villanova University Villanova, PA |
$59,900 | 7,037 |
Source: U.S. News & World Report
