UT Dallas Soars into Top 100 of Forbes’ Top U.S. College Rankings

The University of Texas at Dallas continues its rise among the best universities in the United States, according to Forbes America’s Top Colleges 2023 rankings.

UT Dallas made the Top 100 in the Forbes list for the first time, ranking 97th overall, up 24 spots from last year. UTD also moved up to 43rd among public U.S. universities, an improvement of eight places from last year.

Forbes named UTD third among Texas public universities — behind only UT Austin and Texas A&M University — and fourth among all Texas universities, up two spots from last year. The recognition comes on the heels of a similarly good showing in the recently released 2024 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.

“The tremendous growth and realization of potential demonstrated by our dynamic university is gaining more and more attention,” said UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson, the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership. “This recognition from Forbes, along with our stellar performance in U.S. News and World Report’s most recent rankings, shows our strength as our top-tier research and academic programs continue to propel us forward.”

Forbes also ranks UT Dallas 73rd among the nation’s research universities, a distinction that Provost Inga Musselman said reflects the strong commitment to the innovative work being conducted at UTD.

“Our dedicated faculty, staff and students should be proud of this achievement, which validates our focus on trailblazing research and technological innovation,” said Musselman, who is also vice president for academic affairs and the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Chair of Academic Leadership. “Understanding and solving problems for the benefit of society and from a variety of perspectives are hallmarks of great universities, and UT Dallas takes that challenge seriously.”

Forbes evaluated thousands of U.S. colleges and universities, using data from several sources, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and College Scorecard. Schools with fewer than 300 undergraduates were excluded from consideration, along with the nation’s five federal military academies.

For the top 500 schools that emerged from that formula, Forbes used seven metrics — alumni salaries, leadership and entrepreneurial success of graduates, return on investment, retention rate, student debt, graduation rate and academic success — to determine the final rankings.

Other High Marks

1. 115th overall nationally
2. 58th overall among U.S. public universities and third in Texas
3. 76th overall in best colleges for veterans and third among public schools in Texas
4. 47th overall in undergraduate business programs and third among public schools in Texas
5. 74th overall in undergraduate engineering and tied for third among public schools in Texas
6. 82nd overall in undergraduate computer science and third among public schools in Texas