I’m guessing grad rates and retention rates have us lower on the list since the methodology puts a lot of stock into those areas. They also don’t seem to take into account Cost of Living while including after college salaries which may be why Texas schools seem to be lower than normal. Also seems to be heavily weighted towards private schools.
Methodology: Top Colleges 2017: The Methodology
Texas Schools:
22 - Rice
90 - Trinity
91 - Texas
98 - SMU
115 - Texas A&M
188 - TCU
211 - Baylor
225 - U of Dallas
250 - Austin College
286 - Southwestern
295 - UT Dallas
314 - Texas Tech
369 - UH
375 - St Edwards
495 - Abilene Christian
500 - North Texas
506 - Texas State
558 - UT Arlington
561 - St Mary’s
581 - Sam Houston State
586 - Texas Women’s University
598 - UT-RGV
608 - UTEP
639 - UTSA
644 - A&M Kingsville
Other peers:
114 - BYU
123 - Tulane
124 - Connecticut
175 - Tulsa
192 - Utah
201 - Oklahoma
216 - San Diego State
218 - LSU
223 - Missouri
231 - Arizona
234 - Kansas
258 - Iowa State
260 - Arizona State
283 - Arkansas
308 - UCF
318 - Oklahoma State
324 - USF
359 - Ole Miss
360 - Temple
370 - Cincinnati
386 - Kansas State
425 - Mississippi State
434 - West Virginia
476 - East Carolina
526 - UNLV
563 - New Mexico
628 - Boise State
635 - Memphis