By Amanda Alaniz

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – U.S. News and World Report’s 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings has placed UTRGV first among Texas Public Universities and third among National Public Universities for Least Student Debt.

The university continues to have one of the lowest average tuitions among Texas Public Universities, and about 21 percent of UTRGV freshmen receive federal loans.  

UTRGV President Guy Bailey said the magazine’s rankings put UTRGV among the top universities in the country and in Texas.

“Our focus at UTRGV is creating opportunities for our students to be successful now and into the future, and to make it affordable along the way,” Bailey said. “We don’t want our students to struggle as they get their top-quality education. We want each Vaquero to be the next Texas success story.”  

U.S. News and World Report also named UTRGV a Top Performer on Social Mobility for National Universities, placing it third among Texas public institutions and 36th  in the United States.  

The magazine creates its Social Mobility list by measuring how well schools graduated students who received Pell Grants – typically from households earning less than $50,000 annually. Rankings were computed combining two factors – Pell graduation rates and Pell graduation performance.

Pell Grants are awarded to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor’s or professional degree, with eligibility based on a student’s FAFSA results.

The Pell Grant, which recipients do not have to repay. has helped ensure that more than 120,000 UTRGV students have had access to a college degree since the university opened in 2015, with almost $575 million awarded.

For 2021-2022 YTD, UTRGV has awarded $90,787,428 to 18,298 students.

 

MORE FUTURE TEXAS SUCCESSES 

U.S. News and World Report also recognized UTRGV for its Undergraduate Engineering Program (no doctorate), ranking third among public institutions in Texas and 70th in the country.  

The undergraduate engineering program rankings were based solely on peer assessment surveys. U.S. News surveyed deans and faculty members of undergraduate engineering programs accredited by ABET, the engineering accrediting body.  

Under the Best Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs, UTRGV ranked 22nd in Texas public institutions.  

The list was determined by the average scores received from surveys of top academic and officials at nursing schools or departments. Schools are included and ranked in this standalone peer assessment survey if they have bachelor’s-level accreditation by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.  

For the latest edition of its overall rankings, U.S. News and World Report assessed 1,500 U.S. bachelor’s degree-granting institutions on 17 measures of academic quality.  

UTRGV ranked ninth overall among Texas Public Universities and 156th among Top Public Schools nationally. 

Visit https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges to view the full list of U.S. News & World Report’s rankings.