Thanks to the Austin American-Statesman's Megan Menchaca for her excellent coverage of higher education policy this session.
The subtext here is our university's national rankings and our reputational status are jeopardized by anti-Diversity policy by the Texas State Legislature as per this analysis of SB 16, 17, and 18 and Rider 186.
Almost every major grant that anyone applies for these days—whether it's NSF, Department of Education, Department of Energy, National Institute of Health, etc.—requires a diversity impact statement of some kind such that these monies literally become unavailable if when applying, one can't advance to the next page in the application because Texas legislators decided that they no longer support Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policy.
Bringing DEI down, as these bills threaten to do, will deprive us of not only of much-needed research, but actual revenue to the literal tune of billions of dollars throughout the state of Texas that help us to run our universities. Ultimately, these bills will also result in a loss in accreditation status.
Consider also the legislature's deafening silent on any funding compensation for this projected significant loss of revenue. Will they increase the cost of tuition to make up for this major loss? That's certainly where we're headed.
Even if SB 16, 17, and 18 fail to pass, we must worry about Rider 186 to the Texas higher education budget that already came out of the Texas House. Our only option is that it gets pulled down in conference committee between the Texas House and Senate.
Reach out to whoever represents you regarding this reckless direction in higher education policy—that will affect not solely UT, but all of Texas higher education.
-Angela Valenzuela
UT grad schools among best in nation, U.S. News says. Here's how Texas programs ranked.
Several University of Texas graduate programs, including its engineering, computer science and public affairs curriculums, are among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2023 rankings.
U.S. News published its rankings list Tuesday, which evaluated business, education, engineering and certain other graduate programs at public and private universities in the U.S., though the publication did not update its previous rankings for graduate programs in other areas like pharmacy, social work and history.
The methodology for ranking each program varies, but the listing can consider graduates' employment, their earnings, research activity, faculty resources and a school’s reputation.
UT had 11 graduate programs and more than 10 specialties ranked in the latest list with several in the top 10 nationwide, including engineering and earth sciences both in seventh place, computer science in ninth and public affairs in 10th. According to a UT news release, the university ranked No. 7 among all universities nationwide with the most rankings in the top 10, with 37 schools, programs and specialties ranked.
UT "is the flagship university in the state and region, as well as one of the country’s preeminent institutions for graduate studies,” UT President Jay Hartzell said in the release. “Our commitment to bettering life for individuals and society is evident through our continued pursuit of excellence in graduate education.
"UT’s world-class faculty and our position within one of the world’s leading technology ecosystems in Austin help our graduate students find fulfilling career opportunities and go on to solve some of society’s most pressing challenges," Hartzell added.
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This year, U.S. News lowered how much it considers a school's reputation in the rankings and emphasized the weight of student outcomes. It also published its first rankings of five new graduate programs in biostatistics; environmental health sciences; epidemiology; health policy and management; and social and behavioral sciences, according to a news release.
“Students face tough choices when it comes to the value of their graduate education – especially as many invest a lot of time and money in their schooling,” said LaMont Jones, senior editor of education at U.S. News. “This year, our rankings prioritize output measures of academic quality – allowing students to gauge how well an institution succeeds in its mission of preparing its graduates for professional life."
The list ranked programs at several other Texas universities, including six programs and six specialties at Texas State University. The San Marcos-based school received its highest marks for its criminology graduate program, which tied for 26th place in the rankings.
However, U.S. News didn’t release its final new ranking of the best medical schools and law schools because it said it was taking time to address an “unprecedented number of inquiries” about the rankings from schools. The publication plans to release those rankings at an undetermined date this year.
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The delay comes after several top law schools and medical schools, including Yale Law School and Harvard Medical School, announced they were boycotting the U.S. News rankings by not submitting any data, arguing that the rankings were unreliable, The New York Times reported. UT has not said whether it will boycott the rankings.
Last year, U.S. News ranked UT as the No. 23 university in the U.S. and No. 43 in the world in its global rankings, which focus on a school's research and reputation. In a separate ranking exclusively for U.S. schools, UT was listed as the No. 10 public university in the nation and No. 38 overall among the nation’s top universities.
University of Texas programs among best 2023 graduate schools
- Engineering: No. 7 (tie)
- Earth Sciences: No. 7 (tie)
- Computer Science: No. 9 (tie)
- Public Affairs: No. 10 (tie)
- Mathematics: No. 13
- Physics: No. 13 (tie)
- Education: No. 16
- Chemistry: No. 16 (tie)
- Business: No. 20 (tie)
- Master’s in Nursing: No. 20 (tie)
- Doctorate of Nursing Practice: No. 23 (tie)
- Rehabilitation Counseling: No. 46 (tie)
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