Who ever said you had to choose between a football school and one with academic prestige?

The school responsible for Texas’ best college football town is also one of the state’s best higher education institutions. Hook ’em!

The University of Texas at Austin made the top 10% of a 2025 list of America’s Top Colleges. Forbes determined the 500 U.S. colleges with the best educational, financial and career outcomes for undergraduates across 14 metrics. The ranking included both public and private institutions.

Where does your college land on the list? Here’s what Forbes found.

UT Austin is No. 2 college in Texas, No. 46 in America

As with Niche’s 2025 college rankings, UT Austin earned a respectable spot among the country’s best schools. Forbes ranked it No. 46 overall, with the following financials:

Consistent with other recent analyses, UT Austin was recognized as one of Texas’ top colleges, second only to Rice University in Houston. Other Forbes rankings name it No. 60 for America’s best employers by state, No. 39 among research universities, and No. 9 college in the South.

Joining UT Austin and Rice University in the top 100 of Forbes’ list are two more Central Texas colleges: Texas A&M University at College Station and Trinity University in San Antonio.

Here are the Texas schools that made the top 500 list: