Texas' top public university has done it again, but its San Antonio campus has some catching up to do. (At least it seems to be on its way in other studies.)

U.S. News and World Report has named The University of Texas at Austin among the best graduate schools in the state, with some departments landing among the top 10 and 20 in the country. The San Antonio campus' best rankings were only in the top 80.

U.S. News publishes its annual national "Best Graduate Schools" rankings, which look at several programs including business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, and many others. For the 2024 report, the publication decided to withhold its rankings for engineering and medical schools. It also changed the methodology for ranking business schools by adding a new "salary indicator" based on a graduate's profession.

U.S. News also added new rankings for doctoral and master's programs in several medical fields for the first time in four years, or even longer in some cases. New specialty program rankings include audiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, nurse midwifery, speech-language pathology, nurse anesthesia, and social work.

"Depending on the job or field, earning a graduate degree may lead to higher earnings, career advancement and specialized skill development," wrote Sarah Wood, a U.S. News Education reporter. "But with several types of degrees and hundreds of graduate schools, it can be difficult to narrow down the options."

San Antonio university rankings
Three San Antonio universities made it in the statewide rankings for Best Education Schools (as in, schools for aspiring educators), Best Law Schools, Best Nursing Schools, and a few specialty graduate programs.

The University of Texas at San Antonio ranked No. 10 in the statewide ranking for Best Education Schools, but failed to make it within the top 100 in the national ranking in the same category. The university went unranked in the category for Best Business Schools.

UTSA performed the best in the new ranking for social work programs, coming in at No. 5 in Texas and No. 77 in the U.S. The only other program to break the top 100 nationally was its graduate statistics program, earning No. 79 when it was last ranked in 2022.

Meanwhile, St. Mary's University's Law School ranked No. 8 in Texas, and No. 153 nationally. Its part-time law program ranked No. 37 in the U.S.

The University of the Incarnate Word has the No. 8 best graduate nursing school in Texas, but it tied for No. 153-169 in the national ranking. However, its doctorate pharmacy program ranked No. 6 in Texas, and No. 86 in the nation.

UT Austin's rankings
UT Austin maintained its status as the top graduate university in Texas, earning the No. 1 spot in all statewide rankings, including Best Education Schools, Best Law Schools, Best Business Schools, and Best Nursing Schools.

Because some category rankings have not been released, UT Austin’s Dell Medical School is unranked in the “Best Medical Schools: Research” and “Primary Care” categories.

Among the new category rankings in 2024, UT's pharmacy program ranked No. 6 nationally, while the social work program came in at No. 8 overall. The graduate audiology program ranked No. 12 in the nation, and the speech-language pathology program ranked No. 14.

Four graduate programs were named No. 1 in the U.S., but only one was ranked in 2024: The McCombs School of Business' Accounting program. The remaining three programs were in Petroleum Engineering (last ranked in 2023), Latin American History (last ranked in 2021), and Sociology of Population (last ranked in 2021).

“These rankings are striking and reflect our ability to continue to attract exceptional faculty and students," said President Jay Hartzell in a release. "Our excellence is evident in our set of more than 40 schools, programs and specialties ranked in the top-10 in this partial release alone, including several that are the best in the country, if not the world."

Here’s how UT Austin compares nationally in U.S. News’ overall rankings:

• No. 7 – Best Engineering Schools, last ranked in 2023
• No. 8 – Best Education Schools, up from No. 16 in 2023
• No. 16 – Best Law Schools, up from No. 17 in 2023
• No. 16 – Best Business Schools, up from No. 20 in 2023
• No. 14 – Best Nursing Schools: Master’s, up from No. 20 in 2023
• No. 26 – Best Nursing Schools: Doctor of Nursing Practice, down from No. 23 in 2023

The full list of best graduate schools can be found on usnews.com.