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Public · Urban campus · founded 1883 · full profile

University of Texas at Austin

Texas residents — especially top-6% students — who want a major research university, strong business or engineering programs, and a city that hires its own graduates.

CompareOfficial site
Austin, Texas42,855 undergraduatesMean consensus percentile 6Public flagshipResearch universityLarge enrollment

The short answer

UT Austin pairs a top-30 national ranking with in-state tuition of $11,688 and Texas's automatic admission law, which guarantees a place to students in the top 6% of their high school class. Accounting and petroleum engineering are ranked #1 nationally, and the Austin technology market absorbs graduates directly.

The six numbers that matter most

Acceptance rate
26.6%

Below the dataset median of 76%

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported entering class, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Average net price
$19,857

67% below the $59,736 published price

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardAverage for full-time first-time aid recipients, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Median earnings, 10 yrs
$75,121

Above the dataset median of $54,053

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMedian earnings 10 years after entry, working and not enrolled, College Scorecard June 2026 release

6-year graduation rate
88.9%

Above the dataset median of 56%

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent six-year cohort, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Median debt at graduation
$20,500

Above the dataset median of $23,250

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMedian federal loan debt of completers, College Scorecard June 2026 release

SAT middle 50%
1250–1510

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardSum of reported reading and math section percentiles for the most recent entering class, College Scorecard June 2026 release. Section percentiles added together approximate, but do not exactly equal, the composite score range.

Where UT Austin ranks, and why the answers differ

Each publisher's position, the list it belongs to, and how many institutions it was drawn from.

SourceListRank
US News2026National Universities#30of 436National universities
Forbes2026America's Top Colleges#46of 500Top colleges (Forbes)
Washington Monthly2026National Universities#39of 442National universities
WSJ2026Best Colleges in the U.S.#41of 500U.S. colleges (WSJ)
Niche2026Best Colleges (Overall)A+#30of 2,605Overall (Niche)
Money2026Best Value CollegesNot ranked by this source
Princeton Review2026Best Colleges (Overall)Not ranked by this source
QS2026World University Rankings#68of 1,504World (QS)

Methodology sensitivity: UT Austin's position moves 8 percentile points depending on which published list you read. That is a moderate spread; the ranking you look at changes the answer somewhat. How we compute this

Ranking positions are the editorial property of their publishers and are reproduced here with attribution for comparison and commentary. Follow each source link for its full list and methodology.

About UT Austin

UT Austin's admissions system is genuinely different from its peers and worth understanding before you apply. Texas law guarantees automatic admission to the university for residents graduating in the top 6% of their class, which fills the large majority of the in-state class. The consequence is that the remaining seats — and all out-of-state seats — are far more competitive than the 26.6% headline rate implies, and admission to specific colleges like McCombs and Cockrell is separate and tougher still.

Academically the standouts are business and engineering. The McCombs accounting program has held the #1 national ranking for decades, petroleum engineering is likewise first, and the Cockrell School is strong across the board. Moody College of Communication is one of the best media schools in the country, and the university's computer science program has grown into a major pipeline for the Austin tech corridor.

Austin itself is a substantial part of the offer. Apple, Tesla, Oracle, Dell, Samsung and a dense startup ecosystem all recruit on campus, and the city's music and food culture is a genuine draw. The trade-offs are scale — 42,855 undergraduates, a 18:1 student-faculty ratio, large introductory courses — and Austin's rising cost of living, which now pushes real housing expenses above the published budget for many students.

Strengths and honest considerations

Strengths

  • #1 nationally ranked accounting and petroleum engineering programs.
  • In-state tuition of $11,688 for a top-30 national university.
  • Direct pipeline into Austin's technology employers and startup ecosystem.
  • Top 6% automatic admission gives Texas residents a transparent, predictable path.

Considerations

  • 42,855 undergraduates and a 18:1 ratio mean large classes and self-navigation.
  • Out-of-state admission is far more competitive than the 26.6% overall rate suggests.
  • Austin housing costs have risen well above the published cost-of-attendance budget.

Who this school genuinely fits

Texas residents — especially top-6% students — who want a major research university, strong business or engineering programs, and a city that hires its own graduates.

What it costs

Published price, then what families actually pay after grants and scholarships.

In-state tuition & fees
$11,688

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported academic year, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Out-of-state tuition & fees
$44,908

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported academic year, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Room & board
$14,828

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported academic year, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Published cost of attendance comes to roughly $59,736 a year, but the average family pays $19,857 — a 67% difference. 25.9% of undergraduates receive Pell grants, the federal marker of low family income.

Net price varies enormously by income band, so run UT Austin's net price calculator for your own household before drawing conclusions. Why net price is the only cost number that matters.

Programs and academics

Most popular majors

  1. 1Computer Science
  2. 2Biology
  3. 3Business
  4. 4Economics
  5. 5Communications

Standout programs

  • McCombs School of Business
  • Cockrell School of Engineering
  • Petroleum Engineering
  • Accounting
  • Moody College of Communication
Student-faculty ratio
18:1

IPEDS / National Center for Education StatisticsIPEDS 2023 fall enrollment

First-year retention
96.7%

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent first-year cohort, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Undergraduate enrollment
42,855

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported year, College Scorecard June 2026 release

UT Austin: questions families ask

Texas residents who graduate in the top 6% of their high school class are automatically admitted to the university, though not necessarily to their first-choice major or college. McCombs School of Business and the Cockrell School of Engineering conduct separate, more competitive reviews, so automatic admission to UT does not guarantee admission to those programs.

Yes, much harder than the 26.6% overall rate implies. Because automatic admission fills most in-state seats and Texas caps non-resident enrolment, out-of-state applicants compete for a small share of the class. Competitive non-resident applicants typically present credentials closer to those admitted at highly selective private universities.

Similar colleges

Matched on institutional character, overlapping majors and comparable cross-source standing.

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MIPublic

Michigan is the strongest all-around public university in the country by breadth, ranking top-25 nationally while enrolling 34,177 undergraduates. In-state students pay about $18,000 in tuition for a program that competes with private universities charging three times that; out-of-state students pay roughly $60,000 and receive limited need-based aid.

Acceptance rate
15.6%
Average net price
$13,138
Median earnings (10 yr)
$83,648
6-yr graduation rate
93.2%
US News · National universities#20 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#21 of 500Washington Monthly · National universities#29 of 442+3 more on profile

34,177 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 4 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

Purdue University

West Lafayette, INPublic

Purdue has frozen tuition since 2012, holding in-state cost at $9,992 for more than a decade while ranking #46 nationally and top-10 for engineering. It graduates more astronauts than any other institution outside the service academies, and at a 49.9% acceptance rate it is meaningfully attainable — rare among schools with these engineering outcomes.

Acceptance rate
49.9%
Average net price
$14,600
Median earnings (10 yr)
$72,424
6-yr graduation rate
83.1%
US News · National universities#46 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#62 of 500Washington Monthly · National universities#44 of 442+3 more on profile

44,503 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 11 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GAPublic

Georgia Tech delivers private-university engineering outcomes at public tuition: median earnings of $102,772 ten years after entry against in-state tuition of $12,058. Its Industrial & Systems Engineering program has been ranked #1 in the country for three decades, and the co-op program places students in paid, multi-semester industry rotations.

Acceptance rate
14.1%
Average net price
$12,116
Median earnings (10 yr)
$102,772
6-yr graduation rate
94.0%
US News · National universities#32 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#32 of 500Washington Monthly · National universities#21 of 442+3 more on profile

18,785 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 5 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

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