Rice named 5th best university in the country

The University of Texas at San Antonio (San Antonio)

Texas rank: 25

Niche grade: B-

Best academics ranking: C-

Average net price: $11,828

Endowment per full-time student: $3,529

Overall student experience: 3.8/5

The University of Texas at San Antonio (San Antonio)

Texas rank: 25

Niche grade: B-

Best academics ranking: C-

Average net price: $11,828

Endowment per full-time student: $3,529

Overall student experience: 3.8/5 Photo: Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 36 Caption Close Rice named 5th best university in the country 1 / 36 Back to Gallery

The Rice owls have another reason to soar high in the sky. One of Houston's premiere institutions skyrocketed to the top of Texas, being named the best in the state and cracking the top five in the country in a new college ranking from Niche.

Niche released its 2015 college rankings including 892 schools using factors such as affordability, school environment, academics and student satisfaction. Texas landed five universities in the top 100 and 38 more on Niche's radar.

Rice's spot in the top five puts the university among the nation's prestigous schools, including Princeton, Yale and MIT.



Here are the top 10 colleges:

10. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn.)

9. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)

8. Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, Mo.)

7. Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)

6. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Penn.)

5. Rice University (Houston, Texas)

4. Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)

3. Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.)

1. Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.)

Click through the slideshow to see the top 25 schools in Texas according to Niche.