Higher Ed

Another Tier One step? University of Houston joins Rice on top American researchcolleges list

The Cougar is gaining more research recognition.
Even if Rice University can still claim more rankings.
Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University
Renu Khator

What makes a university great at research? According to The Center for Measuring University Performance, it's a complicated array of factors that measure quality and long-term performance.

And Houston boasts two colleges named "Top American Research Universities," with the University of Houston joining Rice University on the list.

The Center measures research performance through assessing nine factors: total research, federal research, endowment assets in dollars, annual giving by alumni, number of faculty who are National Academy members, number of faculty awards, the amount of doctorates granted and postdoctoral appointees, and the SAT/ACT range of admitted undergraduates.

Rather than assign each parameter a subjective value to score and rank universities, CMUP assesses where schools rank among programs with over $40 million in research annually in each of all nine indicators, than orders them by how many indicators are in either the top 25 or in the 26-50 range.

Rice ranks in the middle of 53 total programs that rank in the top 25 in at least one area. Among all universities, it ranked in the top 25 in the size of its endowment and for the high range of student test scores.

When measured against only private universities, Rice had four criteria in the top 25 — endowment assets, National Academy members, faculty awards and test scores — and was among the top 50 in the other five areas, total research dollars, federal research dollars, annual giving, doctorates granted and number of postdoctoral appointees. In other words, Rice ranked at the very top of the factors that measure quality, and near the top in factors that measure size.

Not bad for a school with fewer than 6,000 students.

The University of Houston's research program didn't have any criteria ranked in the top 50 among all universities, but among public schools UH had three criteria ranked between 26 and 50: endowment assets, annual giving and National Academy members. Through the number of top indicators remained the same, UH improved in annual giving but fell significantly in number of doctoral degrees awarded since the 2009 report.

Do you think Houston is improved by having world-class -level research performed at our universities? Will the University of Houston — which is working to attain official Tier One status and the state funds that go with it — ever make a list without being overshadowed by Rice?

And if you were given a grant, what research about Houston do you think is missing? I'd like an empirical study on the most delicious viscosity of queso, but that's just research I'm conducting on my own during happy hours.

unspecified

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

undefined

Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”