The University of Texas at Austin has been listed as the nation’s “Hottest State University” in Kaplan/Newsweek’s 2005 “How to Get Into College Guide.” The publication cited the university for a number of attributes, including ambiance, academics and affordability. Kaplan/Newsweek’s list of “America’s 25 Hot Schools” was based on admission trends and extensive interviews with a broad array of educators, admissions officers, students and other observers of the admissions process.

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The University of Texas at Austin is the 15th-best university in the world, according to a global ranking produced by the Times of London in its Nov. 5, 2004, edition. The university ranked ninth among the top 10 North American public and private universities. The Times ranking was based, in part, on a survey of 1,300 academics in 88 countries.

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In the latest survey by the National Research Council, seven doctoral programs ranked in the top 10 in the nation and 22 departments ranked in the top 25. Among Texas colleges and universities, UT Austin ranked No. 1 in 30 of the 37 fields in which it was evaluated.

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The Princeton Review listed The University of Texas at Austin at No. 8 among its 10 “Best Value Colleges and Universities” in 2005. The publication said its top 10 schools are “where you get the most academic bang for your buck.” The Princeton Review ranked its best values by identifying more than 30 factors and rating colleges and universities in three categories: academics, tuition and the actual price most students pay when awarded gift aid scholarships and grants.

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The 2005 Fiske Guide to Colleges, an annual publication edited by former New York Times Education Editor Edward B. Fiske, listed The University of Texas at Austin among 20 “best buys” among public colleges and universities. The guide coupled the institutions’ academic quality with the cost of attendance.

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U.S. News & World Report magazine ranked The University of Texas at Austin 18th in its “Great Schools, Great Prices” list in August 2004. The ranking couples “a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its U.S. News ranking, to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of financial aid.”

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Kiplinger’s Personal Finance newsletter listed The University of Texas at Austin 29th among its 100 best public college values in October 2002. The ranking paired academic quality with cost of attendance.

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In fall 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named UT Austin No. 1 among the nation’s 324 Division I athletic programs. The magazine cited the university’s success in athletic competition, attendance at sporting events on campus and a participation rate of more than 80 percent in intramural and club sports.

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The Times of London, in its Nov. 5, 2004, edition, rated The University of Texas at Austin seventh in the world in the amount of cited research by faculty members.

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The University of Texas at Austin School of Law was named the No. 1 law school in the nation for Hispanics in the September 2004 edition of Hispanic Business magazine.

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U.S. News & World Report magazine ranked The University of Texas at Austin 46th in its annual ranking of the best undergraduate programs at colleges and universities in August 2004. The university ranked 14th among 162 public national universities.

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The University of Texas at Austin’s schools of Business and Law and its colleges of Engineering, Education and Pharmacy each rank among the nation’s top 20 graduate programs in this year’s U.S. News & World Report magazine survey.

Using quantitative and qualitative measures, the magazine annually ranks graduate school programs in business, education, engineering and law. Certain other Ph.D. programs and specialty programs are ranked in alternate years based on ratings of academic experts, including faculty and administrators. This year, pharmacy and social sciences and humanities programs were evaluated. Not all fields are surveyed every year by U.S. News & World Report.

The College of Engineering’s petroleum program and the College of Liberal Arts’ Latin American history program are ranked No. 1 in the nation. The College of Pharmacy is ranked No. 2. In the McCombs School of Business, the accounting and information systems programs are ranked No. 3. In the College of Engineering, the civil engineering program received a No. 3 ranking, while the environmental/environmental health program is ranked No. 5. In the social sciences and humanities category, the College of Liberal Arts’ sociology of population program is ranked No. 5.

The magazine also listed, but did not rank, top education schools for teacher preparation and top law schools for diversity. The University of Texas at Austin was included in both lists.

The University of Texas at Austin’s graduate school rankings (2005):

• Pharmacy — 2nd
• Engineering — 12th, tied with Cornell University
• Education — 15th, tied with Indiana University-Bloomington
• Law — 15th, tied with the University of California at Los Angeles
• Business — 18th, tied with Emory University and the University of Washington

Rankings of UT Austin Ph.D. programs and fields of study evaluated in 2005 (top 25 programs):

• McCombs School of Business: 
  • accounting — 3rd, information systems — 3rd, entrepreneurship — 9th, marketing — 9th, executive MBA — 12th, production/operations — 13th, international — 15th, finance — 18th, management — 19th, supply chain/logistics — 19th
• College of Education: 
  • special education — 6th, administration/supervision — 8th, educational psychology — 12th, secondary education — 12th, curriculum/instruction — 14th, elementary education — 17th, higher education administration — 20th
• College of Engineering: 
  • petroleum — 1st, civil — 3rd, environmental/environmental health — 5th, chemical — 7th, aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical — 9th, computer engineering — 9th, mechanical — 10th, electrical/electronic/communications — 12th, biomedical/bioengineering — 15th, industrial/manufacturing — 18th
• School of Law: 
  • trial advocacy — 6th, law — 9th, international law — 14th, dispute resolution — 18th, environmental law — 18th, intellectual property law — 18th
• Social sciences and humanities:
  • economics — 25th
  • labor economics — 14th
  • English — 19th
  • American literature after 1865 — 20th
  • history — 19th
  • Latin American history — 1st
  • political science — 25th
  • psychology — 12th
  • behavioral neuroscience — 12th
  • social psychology — 13th
  • sociology — 14th
  • sociology of population — 5th

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The University of Texas at Austin ranks fifth in the nation in producing undergraduate degrees for minority groups, according to Black Issues in Higher Education magazine. In addition to the overall standing, the university ranks eighth nationally among the magazine’s Top 100 producers of undergraduates for both Asian Americans and Hispanics. The report, based on 2003-04 data submitted by institutions of higher education to the U.S. Department of Education, notes that the number of minority students graduating from UT Austin grew by 12 percent since 2002-03.

Among undergraduate academic programs in the top 20 at UT Austin:

• Engineering ranked third overall, third for Hispanics and fourth for Asian Americans
• Mathematics and statistics tied for third overall, first for Hispanics and fifth for Asian Americans
• Biological and biomedical sciences ranked sixth overall and seventh for both Asian
  Americans and Hispanics
• Social sciences ranked sixth overall, second for Hispanics and ninth for Asian Americans
• Physical sciences ranked ninth overall, second for Hispanics and 13th for Asian Americans
• Area ethnic, cultural and gender studies ranked ninth overall, fifth for Hispanics and ninth for Asian Americans
• Computer and information science and support services ranked 16th overall and ninth for Asian Americans
• English language and literature/letters ranked 16th overall, 10th for Hispanics and 15th for Asian Americans
• Business, management, marketing and related support services ranked 17th overall and 12th for Asian Americans
• Psychology ranked 20th for Asian Americans
• Health professions and related clinical sciences ranked 20th for Hispanics

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Austin Partners in Education has named The University of Texas at Austin as the Partner of the Year for 2004. “Ever so quiety, a committed university community works tirelessly year after year in concert with us, striving to improve every facet of our school district,” Austin Independent School District (AISD) Superintendent Pat Forgione said in thanking UT President Larry Faulkner for the university’s commitment to AISD. Dr. Forgione said the scope and breadth of the UT partnership programs with Austin schools are impressive:

“There are many individuals to thank at UT,” Forgione said. “But none of this would take place without Dr. Larry Faulkner, who has challenged his leadership cadre to collaborate with AISD at every level and to share resources for the benefit of Austin’s young people. It is not possible to acknowledge and thank the countless key leaders at UT, who, in addition to all of their other duties, give countless hours to the Partners Program. The university’s commitment to our children is truly remarkable and we are proud to honor the University of Texas as the 2004 Partner of the Year.”

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“Discoveries made at UT Austin help stimulate our economy. Companies such as (Molecular Imprints, LabNow, Entercel and Proactive Technologies) commercialize the discoveries made on campus or when they are licensed to companies. Most of these discoveries come about as a result of the massive amount of research grants to UT Austin. The large research enterprise on the Forty Acres has pulled in nearly $400 million in research grants.” The Neal Spelce Austin Newsletter (Feb. 11, 2005)

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“UT Austin is the single most important engine driving the Austin area economy. One example: Austin would not even be a player in this high tech age if the University of Texas was located elsewhere, plain and simple. There are other examples, but take it to the bank that what helps UT Austin gain in stature and greatness benefits our economy immeasurably.” The Neal Spelce Austin Newsletter (Jan. 14, 2005)

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“UT Austin is a great economic engine for this area. It provides knowledge, research, collaboration and people. This, in turn, creates jobs and is one reason Austin was recently ranked 3rd in the nation as the best area to launch a business or a career. The listing comes courtesy of Forbes magazine as it named the nation’s top metros for new business operations. The national business publication cited our area’s diverse, educated workforce as one of the main criteria for selection. And, of course, UT Austin figures prominently in that equation.” The Neal Spelce Austin Newsletter (Nov. 5, 2004)

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In a recent column addressing speculation that President Larry R. Faulkner would soon announce a decision to step down as president, Austin American-Statesman editor Rich Oppel described Faulkner as one of the most distinguished of the university’s 27 presidents and “one of the three most impressive university presidents I have watched in 40 years of newspaper work.”

Said Oppel: “(Faulkner) has sustained and amplified UT’s high regard among the nation’s leading universities during a period of tight budgets in Texas and challenging demographic changes; he created the Commission of 125 to examine the university’s future; he raised $1.6 billion in endowment monies; he strengthened the faculty and built Latin American programs; and he connected the university to Texans like few others.” Austin American-Statesman (March 6, 2005)

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“This was one of the best years in UT history, with national team championships won in baseball and women’s outdoor track, as well as several individual national titles by athletes in various sports. Like the old saying goes, it ain’t braggin’ if you’ve done it. And this was a year in which the Longhorns did it, accounting for two of the Big 12 Conference’s record six NCAA team titles. All 19 of Texas’ men’s and women’s sports in which the NCAA hosts championships qualified for NCAA postseason play. In 2004-05, Texas was the only NCAA program that saw its football team play in a bowl, its men’s and women’s basketball team reach the NCAA tournament and its baseball and softball teams advance to the College World Series. Consequently, the Longhorns will finish second only to Stanford when the NACDA Sears Director’s Cup is released on Wednesday — their second No. 2 finish in three years.” Austin American-Statesman (June 28, 2005)