Big 12 schools ranked academically by U.S. News for 2025
Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado and Utah are not scholastic powerhouses, but on the field showed that they belonged in the conference. The Sun Devils came from projected to finish last in the Big 12 to winning the title and making a run in the College Football Playoff. Aside from football, the four new programs won multiple conference titles, including Arizona women's golf, Utah women's gymnastics, Arizona State men's and women's swimming and diving and Arizona State volleyball.
In the classroom, the 16-member conference is not top tier in that regard, but it holds its own as proven by several schools with strong Academic Progress Rate performance.
Another major indicator is U.S. News & World Report's latest 2025 academic rankings. The Big 12 does not have a school ranked higher than No. 91 unlike its power conference counterparts, the ACC and Big Ten.
City: Morgantown, West Virginia
National Ranking: No. 220 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 88%
West Virginia has never really been known for their academics and that continues in 2025 with the lowest ranking in the conference.
City: Lubbock, Texas
National Ranking: No. 214 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 71%
Texas Tech is seventh in Academic Progress Rate but falls behind when it comes to the U.S. News ranking. The Red Raiders join West Virginia as the only Big 12 schools ranked over No. 200.
City: Stillwater, Oklahoma
National Ranking: No. 196 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 71%
OSU is tied with Georgia State, Hofstra, Indiana University (Indianapolis), UNC Greensboro, University of La Verne and Missouri University of Science and Technology at No. 196 overall.
City: Manhattan, Kansas
National Ranking: No. 165 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 80%
Kansas State maintains a large gap between them and the bottom three schools in the conference, but it is still a ways off from being considered a top-tier academic institution.
City: Lawrence, Kansas
National Ranking: No. 152 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 88%
Kansas is tied with 11 other schools as the No. 152 ranked university, including one other Big 12 school.
City: Cincinnati, Ohio
National Ranking: No. 152 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 88%
Surprisingly, Cincinnati was the top school when it came to Academic Progress Rate performance, but do not live up to the same standard when it comes to overall academics.
City: Houston, Texas
National Ranking: No. 144 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 70%
Houston is the first Big 12 school in the top 150 and is tied with three other schools for the No. 144 spot, including Oregon State.
City: Salt Lake City, Utah
National Ranking: No. 136 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 87%
One of the newcomers to the Big 12 along with Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State, the Utes come in as the lowest-ranked former Pac-12 school.
City: Orlando, Florida
National Ranking: No. 121 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 43%
UCF is tied with one other Big 12 school with the lowest acceptance rate in the conference. The Knights are also tied with three other Big 12 schools at No. 121.
City: Tempe, Arizona
National Ranking: No. 121 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 90%
ASU is tied with UCF and Iowa State for the eighth-best academic school in the conference. Nationally, the Sun Devils are ranked with South Carolina and Elon among several others. With just over 65,000 undergraduates Arizona State is the largest school in the Big 12.
City: Ames, Iowa
National Ranking: No. 121 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 89%
Iowa State is a medium-sized school that dominates the town of Ames. As one of the three Big 12 schools ranked at No. 121, the Cyclones are still on the outside looking in at being a top 100 institution.
City: Tucson, Arizona
National Ranking: No. 109 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 86%
One of two schools in the state of Arizona after the recent Big 12 expansion and according to U.S. News, the Wildcats are more prestigious. Coming in at No. 109, the Wildcats are also tied nationally with Tennessee, Oregon, Missouri, SDSU and one other Big 12 program.
City: Provo, Utah
National Ranking: No. 109 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 69%
BYU is a relatively new member of the Big 12 and is one of three private schools in the conference along with Baylor and TCU. Its 28% 4-year graduation rate is the lowest in the conference due to the fact most of its student body is required to complete a religious mission before graduation.
City: Fort Worth, Texas
National Ranking: No. 105 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 43%
TCU is the largest religious university associated with the Christian Church but is the smallest school in the Big 12 with only 10,915 undergraduates. The Horned Frogs are tied with Auburn, Illinois Institute of Technology and Saint Louis University at No. 105.
City: Boulder, Colorado
National Ranking: No. 98 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 81%
The University of Colorado is one of two Big 12 schools in the top 100. Coming in at No. 98, CU Boulder is tied with Iowa, Temple, Rutgers University (Camden), Gonzaga, FIU and Yeshiva University.
City: Waco, Texas
National Ranking: No. 91 (tie)
Acceptance rate: 51%
The top academic school in the Big 12 is Baylor University. Baylor is another religious university in the Big 12 along with BYU and TCU. It is one of the smaller schools in the conference with just over 15,000 undergrads. The Bears are tied with SMU, South Florida, American, Fordham, Loyola Marymount and Rochester Institute of Tech.
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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Big 12 schools listed by 2025 US News academic ranking
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