00 square foot (1,400 m2) cleanroom for device fabrication. Founded in 1946, UT's Applied Research Laboratories at the PRC has been responsible for the development or testing of the vast majority of high-frequency sonar equipment used by the Navy, and in 2007, was granted a research contract by the Navy funded up to $928 million over ten years.[80][81] The Center for Transportation Research UT Austin is a nationally recognized research institution focusing on transportation research, educa

world's third-largest telescope, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, and three other large telescopes are part of UT's McDonald Observatory, 450 miles (720 km) west of Austin.[76][77] The university manages nearly 300 acres (1.2 km2) of biological field laboratories, including the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in Austin. The Center for Agile Technology focuses on software development challenges.[78] The J.J. Pickle Research Campus (PRC) is home to the Texas Advanced Computing Center which operates the Ranger supercomputer, one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world,[79] as well as the Microelectronics Research Center which houses micro- and nanoelectronics research and features a 15,000 square foot (1,400 m2) cleanroom for device fabrication. Founded in 1946, UT's Applied Research Laboratories at the PRC has been responsible for the development or testing of the vast majority of high-frequency sonar equipment used by the Navy, and in 2007, was granted a research contract by the Navy funded up to $928 million over ten years.[80][81] The Center for Transportation Research UT Austin is a nationally recognized research institution focusing on transportation research, education, and public service. Established in 1963 as the Center for Highway Research, its current and ongoing projects address virtually all aspects of transportation, including economics, multimodal systems, traffic congestion relief, transportation policy, materials, structures, transit, environmental impacts, driver behavior, land use, geometric design, accessibility, and pavements.[82]
In 2013, UT announced the naming of the O'Donnell Building for Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences. The O'Donnell Foundation of Dallas, headed by Peter O'Donnell and his wife, Edith Jones O'Donnell, has given more than $135 million to UT alone between 1983 and 2013. UT President William C. Powers declared the O'Donnells "among the greatest supporters of the University of Texas in its 130-year history. Their transformative generosity is based on the belief in our power to change society for the better."[83] In 2008, O'Donnell pledged $18 million to finance the hiring of UT faculty members undertaking research in the use of mathematics, computers, and multiple scientific disciplines; his pledge was matched by W. A. "Tex" Moncrief, Jr., a oilman and philanthropist from Fort Worth.[84]
Endowment[edit]


The Norman Hackerman Building
Main article: Permanent University Fund
The university has an endowment of $7.2 billion, out of the $16.11 billion (according to 2008 estimates) available to the University of Texas System. This figure reflects the fact that the school has the largest endowment of any public university in the nation.[citation needed]
Thirty percent of the university's endowment comes from Permanent University Fund (PUF), with nearly $15 billion in assets as of 2007.[85][86] Proceeds from lands appropriated in 1839 and 1876, as well as oil monies, comprise the majority of PUF. At one time, the PUF was the chief source of income for Texas' two university systems, The University of Texas System and th

university as "the number one source of new Fortune 1000 CEOs."[63] A "payback" analysis published by SmartMoney in 2011 comparing graduates' salaries to tuition costs concluded that the school was the second-best value of all colleges in the nation, behind only Georgia Tech.[64][65] A 2013 College Database study found that UT was 22nd in the nation in terms of increased lifetime earnings

 The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs remains at No. 16, the Jackson School of Geosciences remains at No. 9 for Earth Sciences, and the School of Social Work remains at No. 7.[61] The University of Texas School of Law climbed one place in the rankings, to No. 15 in the nation (fourth among publics).[61]
A 2005 Bloomberg survey ranked the school 5th among all business schools and first among public business schools for the largest number of alumni who are S&P 500 CEOs.[62] Similarly, a 2005 USA Today report ranked the university as "the number one source of new Fortune 1000 CEOs."[63] A "payback" analysis published by SmartMoney in 2011 comparing graduates' salaries to tuition costs concluded that the school was the second-best value of all colleges in the nation, behind only Georgia Tech.[64][65] A 2013 College Database study found that UT was 22nd in the nation in terms of increased lifetime earnings by graduates.[66]
Research[edit]



Harlan J. Smith Telescope
Except for MIT, UT attracts more federal research grants than any American university without a medical school.[67] For the 2009–2010 school year, the university exceeded $640 million in research funding (up from $590 million the previous year)[67] and has earned more than 300 patents since 2003.[68] UT houses the Office of Technology Commercialization, a technology transfer center which serves as the bridge between laboratory research and commercial development. In 2009, UT created nine new start-up companies to commercialize technology developed at the university and has created 46 start-ups in the past seven years. UT license agreements generated $10.9 million in revenue for the university in 2009.[68]
Research at UT is largely focused in the engineering and physical sciences,[69] and is a world-leading research institution in fields such as computer science.[70] Energy is a major research thrust of the university, with major federally funded projects on biofuels,[71] battery and solar cell technology, and geological carbon dioxide storage,[72] water purification membranes, among others. In 2009, UT founded the Energy Institute, led by former Under Secretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach, to organize and advance multi-disciplinary energy research at the university.[73] While the university does not have a medical school, it houses medical programs associated with other campuses and allied health professional programs, as well as major research programs in pharmacy, biomedical engineering, neuroscience and others.
UT opened the $100 million Dell Pediatric Research Institute in 2010 as part of an effort to increase medical research at the university and establish a medical research complex, and associated medical school, in the city of Austin.[74][75]
UT operates several major auxiliary research centers. The

ARWU[44] 27 Forbes[45] 66 U.S. News & World Report[46] 52 Washington Monthly[47] 19 Global

of Teaching.[41] For Fall 2009, 31,362 applied and 45.6% were accepted, and of those accepted, 51.0% enrolled.[42] The university's freshman retention rate in 2009 was 92.5% and the six-year graduation rate was 81.0%.[42] The Fall 2011 entering class had an average ACT composite score of 28 and an average SAT composite score of 1858.[4][43]
Rankings[edit]
University rankings
National
ARWU[44]    27
Forbes[45]    66
U.S. News & World Report[46]    52
Washington Monthly[47]    19
Global
ARWU[48]    35
QS[49]    68
Times[50]    25
UT Austin is consistently ranked as one of the top public universities in the country, with highly prestigious programs in a variety of fields. Nationally, UT Austin ranked 45th amongst all universities according to U.S. News and World Report,[51] and tied for 13th place among public universities in 2011.[52] The University of Texas School of Architecture was ranked second among national undergraduate programs in 2012.[53] Additionally, the McCombs School of Business was ranked seventh among undergraduate business programs in 2013,[54] and the Cockrell School of Engineering was ranked ninth among undergraduate engineering programs in 2009.[55] Internationally, UT Austin was ranked 67th in the "World's Best Universities" ranking presented by U.S. News and World Report,[56] and 35th in the world by Shanghai Jiao Tong University,[57] based on factors such as Nobel laureate affiliation and number of highly cited researchers. In 2009, The Economist ranked the school 49th worldwide.[58] In 2013 London-basedTimes Higher Education ranked the university 25th in the world,[59] while Human Resources & Labor Review ranked the university 42nd and QS' "World University Rankings"ranked the university 68th internationally.[60]
As of 2013, U.S. News and World Report ranked the Accounting and Latin American History programs as the top in the nation. Additionally, more than 50 other science, humanities and professional programs rank in the top 25 nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report's latest edition of “Best Graduate Schools.”[61] The University of Texas College of Education and College of Pharmacy are each the fourth best in the nation in their fields (with Education ranking first among public universities for the third year in a row and also number one in research expeditures). And the School of Information (iSchool) is sixth best in Library and Information Sciences.[61] Among other overall school rankings, the Cockrell School of Engineering is 11th best (sixth among publics). The McCombs School of Business is 17th best (fifth among publics).