For the second year in a row, Texas A&M University has solidified its position as the top university in Texas, according to The Wall Street Journal’s 2025 “America’s Best Colleges” rankings. The university has risen 10 spots since last year and is now ranked 28th nationally and 11th among public universities. Texas A&M is also the highest-ranked university in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Let’s take a closer look at what this means for the university and how it makes all of this decision.
The rankings focus on student outcomes, which make up 70% of the overall score. These outcomes include the impact of graduate salaries, the time it takes to repay the cost of education, and graduation rates. Unlike traditional rankings that emphasize reputation or campus size, this approach sheds light on how well graduates fare in the real world. Texas A&M is well known for the strong return on investment it offers its students, with many Aggies achieving high levels of success in their careers, including Aggies CEOs leading Fortune 500 companies.
A new component to this year’s rankings is a “character score,” which measures the extent to which a university fosters character traits such as moral courage, resilience and a sense of justice. Texas A&M University President, retired Army Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, praised the university’s efforts to develop leaders who embody these values, noting that the university’s core values remain central to the university’s mission.
Another Texas school on the list was Rice University, coming in at No. 29. The rankings were compiled by College Pulse in collaboration with Statista.
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