Straight A's

Trinity University ranked best in class among all Texas colleges

Trinity University takes the top spot among Texas schools.

Trinity University is often named among the best liberal arts universities in the nation, but a new ranking puts the San Antonio school at the top the class among all Texas universities.

On July 24, College Consensus released its annual roundup of the best universities in the state, and Trinity takes the No. 1 spot, beating out Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin, among other top-tier schools.

Since its founding in 1869, the private liberal arts school has developed a reputation for its engineering and business programs, among others. In 2018, U.S. News & World Reportranked Trinity No. 1 in both its Regional Universities West and Best Value categories. Its 125-acre campus in Monte Vista is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of only three campuses in the U.S. to garner the distinction.

Rounding out the top five universities in Texas is Rice University (2), Texas Lutheran University (3), University of Texas at Austin (4), and Texas A&M University — College Station (5). Another Alamo City school, St. Mary's University, also pops up on the list of the best schools in Texas, at No. 20.

"Texas has a lot of land, a lot of people, and a lot of need for higher education opportunities to keep the state's professionals, leaders, and workers up to date and productive," explains College Consensus managing editor Carrie Sealey-Morris in a release. The release also notes that as Texas schools continue their advancements in research, learning, and social impact, the nation is increasingly looking to the Lone Star State as a model for higher education.

In order to determine the rankings, College Consensus aggregates data and scores from respected publications such as U.S. News & World Report and Forbes and combines them with rankings from student review sites. The result, says the site, is a more accurate picture of where a university stands in respect to other educational institutions.

"This ranking of the best colleges will look different from other similar rankings, simply because it’s an aggregate ranking," says the website. "Some colleges that get overlooked in other rankings get their chance to shine; some universities that hog all the glory get their proper place in the ecosystem."

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Awards Abroad

San Antonio campus recognized as leader in Fulbright cultural exchange

University of Texas at San Antonio/Facebook

UTSA was named among other Hispanic-Serving Institutions for having a "noteworthy engagement with the Fulbright Program."

San Antonians who know a Fulbright Scholar likely know how ambitious and curious they are, but they may not know much about the program. The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a good place to learn; it was just named recognized by as a Fulbright leader among Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), part of the U.S. Department of State's, chose 50 Fulbright HSI Leaders for 2024, reflecting their "noteworthy engagement with the Fulbright Program during the 2023-2024 academic year." UTSA was one of 28 doctoral universities acknowledged.

HSI is a legal designation for an accredited, nonprofit school with at least 25 percent Hispanic or Latino undergraduate enrollment, or its equivalent. These institutions current serve two-thirds of all such students in the United States.

The Fulbright Program is a post-graduate foreign exchange program that sends American students to work on projects in other countries, where they are expected to immerse themselves in the general culture. Unlike some study abroad programs with a low barrier of entry and the school acting like a tour guide, the Fulbright Scholarship is more like a professional internship and requires that a recipient is proficient in the language of the host country.

Some recent Fulbright projects from various schools have included studying similarities of Native American and Irish peoples' resiliency under colonialism, developing remote sensoring techniques for landslides in Nepal, studying gut microbiomes of women in Kenya to find risk of pregnancy complications, and more.

It can be very challenging to receive a Fulbright scholarship. A commonly cited acceptance rate is 20 percent, and applications include a detailed project proposal including timelines and methodology, plus a review process with the host country that may include interviews.

It is important that these schools are HSIs, because these scholarships are meant to build diverse and lasting relationships between countries, and the Hispanic population is the nation's largest ethnic or racial minority, according to the 2023 census. There is further incentive from an agreement between the U.S. Department of State and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) to increase Hispanic participation in the Fulbright Program and other exchange opportunities.

Here are some recent Fulbright recipients from UTSA, plus where they went:

Eliesha Perez — Thailand
Axa Soria — Mexico
Héctor R. Castrillón-Costa — St. Lucia
Tom Varner — India
Forough Askarirad — Bulgaria
Arlae Gamez Luna — Germany
Ana-Sofia Gonzalez — Mexico

In addition to the Fulbright requirements and desired qualities across the country, UTSA also prioritizes scholars who grew up in border towns "or in multicultural communities in South Texas," according to the localized program website.

More information about the Fulbright Program via UTSA is available at utsa.edu.

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