Three North Texas universities made the Princeton Review’s list of the “Best 392 Colleges” for the Class of 2027. Here’s which ones made the cut.
Every year, the Princeton Review (a test prep tutoring company) ranks the best colleges across the United States for the upcoming group of graduates. For the second year in a row, schools in North Texas were listed among the “Best 392 Colleges,” cementing what residents already know about these worthwhile institutions. All three universities this year are located in the Dallas area: University of Dallas, Southern Methodist University, and The University of Texas at Dallas.
While the honor is still worth celebrating, it’s a slight reduction in the number of schools that made the Princeton Review’s list of “Best 391 Colleges” for 2026. Last year, five universities in North Texas received rankings. University of Dallas, The University of Texas at Dallas, and Southern Methodist University were mentioned again, but Austin College and Texas Christian University were also noted in last year’s list.
It’s unclear as to what directly contributed to Texas Christian University and Austin College not making the cut this time around, but CultureMap Dallas notes that roughly 172,000 current students from universities across the country provided “candid feedback” to help determine the Princeton Review’s rankings. These students were asked about their happiness, quality of life, and overall college experience, including access to amenities like athletic facilities.
CultureMap Dallas also stated that while schools are permitted to pay the Princeton Review to receive a “featured” placement on the list, the Dallas-Fort Worth institutions did not pay to be included in this year’s rankings.
The schools received other honors from the Princeton Review
Southern Methodist University, located in Dallas, also made the Princeton Review’s list “2027 Best Colleges: Region by Region” in the “Best Southwest” category. According to the profile created for the institution on the tutoring company’s website, it received this distinction because, “This mid-size private university provides ‘a wealth of academic resources — [and] a flood of opportunities for those who want them,’ allowing SMU to lead the way for the Dallas-Fort Worth area in developing innovative industries and initiatives in semiconductors, biotechnology, clean energy, precision medicine, and AI.”
The University of Dallas in Irving and the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson also received other distinctions—they were both listed under “Best Southwest” alongside SMU, and they were additionally featured on the “Best Value Colleges” rankings. For the University of Dallas, though, it did receive some tumultuous feedback regarding how unfriendly the school is toward LGBTQIA+ students.
According to the Princeton Review survey provided to students, University of Dallas was ranked No. 5 in terms of being LGTBQ-Unfriendly due to “how strongly students disagree that their fellow students treat all persons equally, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.” The University of Texas at Dallas, on the other hand, did not receive the same feedback.
That institution was praised for being a Green College, AKA one that shares “superb sustainability practices, a strong foundation in sustainability education, and a healthy quality of life for students on campus.” It gained high marks for being one of the Top 20 Best Public Schools for Internships and for being one of the Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies.
