Research Rankings

Texas A&M University pursues teaching, research, and service at the exceptionally high levels expected of America’s great universities. Having achieved international recognition as a leading research and teaching institution and as one of only 62 invited members of the Association of American Universi­ties (AAU), Texas A&M is a top tier public research university.

In the realm of research, Texas A&M is well on its way to achieving its goals. Here are some recent rankings and assessments from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Washington Monthly Magazine, the Center for Measuring University Performance, and studies that illustrate the university's growing stature among institutions of higher education nationwide.

National Science Foundation

Texas A&M reported $705,720 million in the National Science Foundation Survey of Science and Engineering Research and Development Expenditures for 2011 and was ranked #23 nationally in the recently released Info Brief. Texas A&M is included in NSF's Top 30 Performers of U.S. institutions for R&D spending. By field of science, engineering led with $263,765 million in expenditures; life sciences and environmental sciences followed with $187,666 million and $131,467 million, respectively.

U.S. News and World Report

In U.S. News and World Report's 2013 rankings, Texas A&M is ranked #23 overall among U.S. public universities. The publication also rated Texas A&M #2 among Texas colleges and among U.S. public universities in its "Great Schools, Great Prices" category. The Dwight Look College of Engineering ranks #8 among U.S. public engineering schools and Mays Business School ranks #14 among public universities in U.S. News and World Report's 2013 rankings.

Washington Monthly

Texas A&M ranks #2 in the magazine’s 2012 rankings of national universities, higher than any other institution in Texas. Washington Monthly, published in the nation’s capital, bases its ratings in large part on universities’ contributions to the public interest through endeavors such as service programs and research that drives economic growth.

The Center for Measuring University Performance

Texas A&M is ranked in the top 20 nationally (#17 overall) in the Center's The Top American Research Universities 2010 report, with three performance measures in the top 25 nationally and four measures in the top 26-50 nationally. For example, Texas A&M is ranked #12 in National Merit & Achievement Scholars, #16 in endowment assets, and #18 in advanced training in the report.

The Center collects data from over 600 institutions and determines the Top American Research Universities by their rank on nine different measures: Total Research, Federal Research, Endowment Assets, Annual Giving, National Academy Members, Faculty Awards, Doctorates Granted, Postdoctoral Appointees and SAT/ACT range.

Coyne/Summers/Williams Study

The Mays Business School's Department of Accounting Faculty was ranked #2 (taxation), tied for #1 (archival, tied with University of Chicago) and #1 (average ranking across all topical areas), in terms of publications and "intellectual capital created" by current faculty over the most recent six years, in a recent study (Coyne, J.G., S.L. Summers, and B. Williams, “Accounting Program Research Rankings by Topical Area and Methodology”). (Rankings are #1 among all public institutions and among Vision 2020 schools).

Department of Management faculty are ranked tied for #6 (tied with University of Southern California; behind Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Washington, University of Michigan, University of Washington, and University of California-Berkeley). (This is analogous to the Academies in Science and Engineering.)

Department of Management faculty are ranked #3 (behind Columbia and Stanford) in research citations and #2 (behind Harvard) in publications in top journals.

Podsakoff/Mackenzie/Podsakoff/Bachrach Study

The Mays Business School Department of Management ranked #6 world-wide (behind Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Michigan, and Illinois), in terms of impact to the literature over a 25-year period, in a recent study (Podsakoff, P.M., S.B. MacKenzie, N.P. Podsakoff, and D.G. Bachrach, “Scholarly Influence in the Field of Management: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Determinants of University and Author Impact in the Management Literature in the Past Quarter Century,” Journal of Management (Volume 34, Issue 4, 2008), pp. 641-720)).

Affordable Online Colleges

Texas A&M is one the nation’s four “most affordable colleges with high return on investment,” according to 2013 rankings by AffordableCollegesOnline.org (ACO), an online organization that focuses on affordability combined with high quality in higher education. The return on investment reflects salaries received by college graduates in relation to the cost of their college education.