• Baylor once again among Big 12’s top 2, Texas’ top 5 in U.S. News rankings

    Students enjoying class outside under a tree

    When prospective students look to U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings over the coming year, they’ll once again find Baylor among the top universities in the state, conference and country.

    For the 11th straight year, Baylor has been named one of the top two schools in the Big 12 Conference and one of the top five in Texas. Overall, Baylor was named the No. 77 national university in the United States — one point shy of No. 72, and two points from No. 67 in a crowded race. That puts Baylor just behind Rice, Texas, Texas A&M and SMU, and ahead of such universities as TCU, Houston and Dallas Baptist.

    In the Big 12, Baylor was ranked behind only UT (No. 38). Other Big 12 institutions in the rankings: TCU (89), Kansas (121), Iowa State (127), Oklahoma (127), Kansas State (166), Oklahoma State (182), Texas Tech (219) and West Virginia (234). BU also came in ahead of future Big 12 members BYU (89), UCF (137), Cincinnati (151) and Houston (182).

    Notably, Baylor moved up in several important categories, coming at No. 10 for First-year Experience (up from No. 15), No. 16 for Best Undergraduate Teaching (up from No. 33), No. 20 for Most Innovative Schools (up from No. 34), and No. 46 for Best Colleges for Veterans (up from No. 111). Baylor also was highly ranked for its Learning Communities (No. 16) and Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects (No. 21).

    “It’s rewarding to have our peer institutions and others recognize Baylor’s high-quality undergraduate programs and how much we deeply value the undergraduate student experience,” says President Linda Livingstone. “Baylor is a Christian Research 1 university with a distinct and compelling mission, including providing our students with a transformational academic education and co-curricular experience that prepares the whole person for worldwide leadership and service.”

    Sic ’em, Bears!