Nine prestigious Houston universities have climbed through the ranks in U.S. News & World Report’s recently released report of the best graduate schools nationwide for 2025. Several graduate programs also appeared among the top 10 in a Texas-wide comparison.
U.S. News published its annual national "Best Graduate Schools" rankings on April 8. They look at several programs including business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, and many others.
For the 2025 report, the publication added new Ph.D. social sciences and humanities program rankings in English, history, political science and sociology for the first time since 2021. U.S. News also ranked graduate economics and psychology programs in the social sciences and the humanities for the first time since 2022.
Among the newcomers are Houston Christian University and Texas Southern University.
Here's how the nine local schools ranked, statewide and nationally, and how they compared with last year's national ranking:
University of Houston- No. 4 best graduate engineering school in Texas; No. 72 nationally
- No. 5 best graduate education school in Texas; No. 81 nationally (down from No. 63 last year)
- No. 5 best law school in Texas; No. 63 nationally (up from No. 68)
The University of Houston Law Center has the No. 9 best health law program in the nation, and ranked No. 15 for its legal writing program. The university's part-time MBA program ranked No. 38 nationally.
- No. 12 best graduate education school in Texas; No. 166 nationally
The Clear Lake branch of the University of Houston tied for No. 166 for its part-time MBA program.
- No. 21 best graduate education school in Texas; tied for No. 234-258 nationally
- No. 1 best Doctor of Nursing Practice program in Texas; No. 33 nationally (up from No. 45)
- No. 2 best graduate nursing program in Texas; No. 41 nationally (down from No. 31)
- No. 5 best graduate nursing program in Texas; No. 104 nationally (up from No. 117)
- No. 7 best Doctor of Nursing Practice program in Texas; tied for No. 143-158 nationally
Rice University
- No. 2 best graduate business school in Texas; No. 29 nationally (unchanged)
- No. 3 best graduate engineering school in Texas; No. 26 nationally
Rice's entrepreneurship program is the 9th best in the country, and its part-time MBA program ranked 13th nationally. The George R. Brown School of Engineering earned nods for its No. 10-ranking biomedical engineering and environmental engineering programs.
- No. 5 best Doctor of Nursing Practice program in Texas; No. 76 nationally
- No. 7 best law school in Texas; No. 138 nationally
Out of the 11 law programs ranked by U.S. News, the South Texas College of Law performed the best for its trial advocacy (No. 12), dispute resolution law (No. 23), and legal writing (No. 51) programs.
- No. 10 best law school in Texas; tied for No. 178-195 nationally
More specifically, TSU has the 64th best trial advocacy law program in the nation, U.S. News said.
