On a new ranking of universities, the University of Texas at Austin placed second in the nation while Texas A&M University came in fourth.
City Journal published new national college rankings of 100 institutions, considering 68 factors that are contained in four broad categories: Outcomes, Student Experience, Leadership Quality, and Educational Experience. The University of Texas at Austin scored well on Leadership Quality, while Texas A&M performed well on Student Experience and Outcomes.
UT-Austin earned high marks for resisting politicization, quality of education, and commitment to meritocracy. Texas A&M earned a high score for resisting politicization as well, but to a lesser degree. It also earned high marks for value added to education, and student political tolerance.
The report, which combined open source information from other organizations, found UT-Austin “largely unburdened” by a DEI regime, following the 2023 statewide DEI ban. “There are no DEI employees per 1,000 students; there is no Chief Diversity Officer; and no job listings require a diversity statement.”
City Journal found Texas A&M’s DEI regime “much diminished” with “fewer than one employee for every 1,000 students,” and no job listings have a diversity statement. “The process has not been all smooth sailing,” the report stated. “In 2025, Texas A&M and the governor’s office became embroiled in a dispute over whether the school was doing its due diligence in eliminating all DEI programs.”
Another note was TAMU’s faculty, whom the report found lean left and its students typically scored in the moderate range. “On the other hand, almost all faculty campaign donations in the 2023–24 election cycle went to Democratic or liberal causes, and very few faculty belong to extracurricular organizations that encourage free inquiry on campus.”
Another UT-Austin high point is its School of Civic Leadership. Founded in 2023, City Journal noted this is one facet of “a broader educational reform effort in Texas … intended to ‘provide students with foundational knowledge and critical thinking skills steeped in the Western tradition and American constitutional history.’” The university’s overall curriculum was also praised as it is another facet of how the university is “moving towards [a] more rigorous education model.”
The report found “room for improvement” in Texas A&M’s curriculum, pointing to the C grade TAMU earned from The American Council of Trustees and Alumni. This grade is based on the seven essential subjects mandated in the core curriculum or general education requirements. Due to Texas state-mandated curriculum standards, TAMU requires students to complete courses in history and government to graduate, but not ones that are DEI-focused or activism-influenced.
TAMU and UT-Austin earned praise for operating on a policy of “institutional neutrality,” meaning avoiding “aggressive forms of activism” that interfere with the university’s mission. Examples include TAMU staying out of the affirmative action case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, and UT-Austin refusing to join the anti-Israel Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment campaign.
Both were praised for student outcomes too. According to the report, often, early in their careers, UT-Austin graduates “find economic success,” and the median salary of TAMU graduates “tends to overperform expectations ten years after initial enrollment by over $10,000.”
Baylor University and Rice University earned 23rd and 60th place, respectively. The University of Austin, founded in 2021, wasn’t ranked but earned a notable mention because the goal of its founders “was to create a learning environment free of narrow ideological policing.” City Journal reported it “has no Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) infrastructure.”
City Journal is a publication of the Manhattan Institute. John Sailer, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and Kevin Wallsten, a California State Professor and adjunct MI fellow, wrote that these rankings provide students with “a radically different way” to consider which universities to attend.
“By empowering students with a holistic, transparent, and data-driven ranking system, we want to facilitate American higher education’s return to its fundamental mission: fostering rigorous intellectual inquiry, preparing students for engaged citizenship, and benefiting society through genuine learning,” they wrote.
Neither TAMU nor UT-Austin replied to a request for comment before publication.
The full City Journal college rankings are available here.
