Trinity University has leapfrogged UT Austin and Texas A&M in a new statewide ranking of colleges and universities, landing at No. 2 in Texas behind only Rice University. The San Antonio liberal arts school placed No. 49 nationally and No. 12 among universities in the South, according to WalletHub's 2027 college and university rankings.
The finding comes from CultureMap San Antonio, which reported that WalletHub evaluated 738 colleges and universities across the country using 30 metrics grouped into seven categories: student selectivity, cost and financing, faculty resources, campus safety, campus experience, educational outcomes, and career outcomes. Rice University topped the Texas list at No. 1 and ranked No. 11 nationwide, per the same report. Trinity's standing varied widely by category, scoring strong marks in faculty resources at No. 40 but trailing badly in cost and financing at No. 512 and campus safety at No. 567.
A Tight Race Among Texas' Top Schools
Trinity's overall No. 2 finish in Texas puts it just ahead of UT Austin, Texas A&M, and Southwestern University, which rounded out WalletHub's top five Texas institutions alongside Rice and Trinity, as San Antonio Current reported. The rankings put Texas' public and private institutions in a statewide comparison.
Southwestern University, a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, placed No. 5 in Texas, No. 33 in the South, and No. 165 nationally in its 2025 WalletHub rankings, according to Southwestern University, which noted the school has placed inside top Southwest lists for seven consecutive years. WalletHub's broader top-10 list of Texas colleges for 2027 also included the University of Texas at Austin, Southwestern, University of Dallas, Austin College, Texas Christian University, LeTourneau University, and the University of Texas, per CultureMap San Antonio. Two other San Antonio-area schools, St. Mary's University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, ranked No. 192 and No. 195 respectively among universities in the South in the same study.
National Rankings Tell a Different Story
WalletHub's methodology isn't the only lens on Texas higher education this fall, and other rankings have painted a murkier picture for the state's flagship public universities. In the broader national WalletHub evaluation covering nearly 740 institutions, Princeton University ranked No. 1 overall among universities while Wellesley College topped the list of national colleges, according to Deltaplex News.
Meanwhile, U.S. News & World Report's 2027 college rankings offered a separate national comparison of colleges and universities. Trinity ranked No. 38 overall among National Liberal Arts Colleges and No. 15 for Most Innovative Schools in U.S. News's 2027 Best Colleges list; it debuted at No. 55 in 2022.
Trinity's Resources and Investments
Trinity maintains a total enrollment of roughly 2,588 students, including 2,423 undergraduates, with an 8-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, according to Wikipedia. The university is based in San Antonio.
Trinity has also been pouring resources into its academic programs. The school launched a $300 million fundraising campaign called Our Time: The Campaign for Trinity University and secured a $25 million donor gift from the Carlos Alvarez family in late 2025 to name its School of Arts and Humanities, the San Antonio Report reported, noting the campaign had reached 80 percent of its target by late 2025.
Costs and Access Remain Sticking Points
Trinity's low cost-and-financing score in WalletHub's rankings echoes earlier reporting on the financial pressures facing the university's community. A Rice University Baker Institute study found that total annual PPO/POS employee health insurance costs across Texas universities peaked at $15,742 at Trinity for the 2025-26 plan year, with plan totals across sampled Texas campuses ranging from $8,095 to $15,742, Hoodline reported in June.
Access to Trinity and other top-ranked Texas schools is also shifting through new admissions pathways. Houston ISD's board outlined a proposal in May to negotiate direct admissions pipeline agreements with four Texas universities, including UT Austin, Trinity, and UTSA, with the proposed agreement window running through August 2029. Trinity also placed among the top five Texas universities in Niche's 2027 list, according to CultureMap San Antonio, adding another data point to a ranking season that has reshuffled how the state's public and private schools stack up against each other.
