Austin, TX 78712, Top 100 Universities in USA 2014 – Rank – 5, The University of Texas at Austin in Texas 

The University of Texas at Austin (informally UT Austin, UT, University of Texas,^[8] or simply Texas^[9] ) is a state research university and the flagship institution of The University of Texas System.^[10] Founded in 1883 as “The University of Texas”, its campus is located in Austin—approximately 1 mile (1,600 m) from the Texas State Capitol. The institution has the fifth-largest single-campus enrollment in the nation, with over 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students and over 24,000 faculty and staff.^[11] The university has been labeled one of the “Public Ivies,” a publicly funded university considered as providing a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League.^[12][13]

UT Austin was inducted into the American Association of Universities in 1929, and it is a major center for academic research, with research expenditures exceeding $640 million for the 2009–2010 school year.^{[citation needed]} The university houses seven museums and seventeen libraries, including the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum and the Blanton Museum of Art, and operates various auxiliary research facilities, such as the J. J. Pickle Research Campus and the McDonald Observatory. Among university faculty are recipients of the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, the Wolf Prize, and the National Medal of Science, as well as many other awards.

UT Austin student athletes compete as the Texas Longhorns and are members of the Big 12 Conference. The university has won fourNCAA Division I National Football Championships, and has claimed more titles in men’s and women’s sports than any other school in the Big 12 since the league was founded in 1996. Current and former UT Austin athletes have won 130 Olympic medals, including 14 in Beijing in 2008 and 13 in London in 2012. The university was recognized by Sports Illustrated as “America’s Best Sports College” in 2002.

Recent history

The first presidential library on a university campus was dedicated on May 22, 1971 with former President Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson and then-President Richard Nixon in attendance. Constructed on the eastern side of the main campus, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is one of 13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.

The University of Texas at Austin has experienced a wave of new construction recently with several significant buildings. On April 30, 2006, the school opened the Blanton Museum of Art.^[19] In August 2008, the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center opened, with the hotel and conference center forming part of a new gateway to the university. Also in 2008, Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was expanded to a seating capacity of 100,119, making it the largest stadium (by capacity) in the state of Texas at the time, now surpassed by Cowboy Stadium.^[20]

On the morning of September 28, 2010, 19-year-old Colton Tooley opened fire on campus with an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle, resulting in a lockdown of the university campus. He then walked into the Perry–Castañeda Library and committed suicide.^[21]

On January 19, 2011, the university announced the creation of a 24-hour television network in partnership with ESPN, dubbed the Longhorn Network. ESPN will pay a $300 million guaranteed rights fee over 20 years to the university and to IMG College, UT Austin’s multimedia rights partner. The network covers the university’s intercollegiate athletics, music, cultural arts and academics programs. The channel first aired in September 2011.

Rankings

UT Austin is consistently ranked as one of the top public universities in the country, with highly prestigious programs in a variety of fields. Nationally, UT Austin ranked 45th amongst all universities according to U.S. News and World Report,^[54] and tied for 13th place among public universities in 2011.^[55] The University of Texas School of Architecture was ranked second among national undergraduate programs in 2012.^[56] Additionally, the McCombs School of Business was ranked seventh among undergraduate business programs in 2013,^[57] and the Cockrell School of Engineering was ranked ninth among undergraduate engineering programs in 2009.^[58] Internationally, UT Austin was ranked 67th in the “World’s Best Universities” ranking presented by U.S. News and World Report,^[59] and 35th in the world by Shanghai Jiao Tong University,^[60] based on factors such as Nobel laureate affiliation and number of highly cited researchers. In 2009, The Economist ranked the school 49th worldwide.^[61] In 2013 London-based Times Higher Education ranked the university 25th in the world,^[62] while Human Resources & Labor Review ranked the university 42nd and QS’ “World University Rankings”ranked the university 68th internationally.^[63]

UT Austin is considered to be a “Public Ivy” – a public university that provides an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price, having been ranked in virtually every list of “Public Ivies” since Richard Moll coined the term in his 1985 book Public Ivies: A Guide to America’s best public undergraduate colleges and universities. The seven other “Public Ivy” universities, according to Moll, were The University of William & Mary, Miami University, The University of California, The University of Michigan, The University of North Carolina, The University of Vermont, and The University of Virginia.^[64]

As of 2013, U.S. News and World Report ranked the Accounting and Latin American History programs as the top in the nation. Additionally, more than 50 other science, humanities and professional programs rank in the top 25 nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report’s latest edition of “Best Graduate Schools.”^[65] The University of Texas College of Education and College of Pharmacy are each the fourth best in the nation in their fields (with Education ranking first among public universities for the third year in a row and also number one in research expeditures). And the School of Information (iSchool) is sixth best in Library and Information Sciences.^[65] Among other overall school rankings, the Cockrell School of Engineering is 11th best (sixth among publics). The McCombs School of Business is 17th best (fifth among publics). The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs remains at No. 16, the Jackson School of Geosciences remains at No. 9 for Earth Sciences, and the School of Social Work remains at No. 7.^[65] The University of Texas School of Law climbed one place in the rankings, to No. 15 in the nation (fourth among publics).^[65]

A 2005 Bloomberg survey ranked the school 5th among all business schools and first among public business schools for the largest number of alumni who are S&P 500 CEOs.^[66]Similarly, a 2005 USA Today report ranked the university as “the number one source of new Fortune 1000 CEOs.”^[67] A “payback” analysis published by SmartMoney in 2011 comparing graduates’ salaries to tuition costs concluded that the school was the second-best value of all colleges in the nation, behind only Georgia Tech.^[68][69] A 2013 College Database study found that UT was 22nd in the nation in terms of increased lifetime earnings by graduates.