Back-to-school season has returned in full force, and that means it's time for college rankings. Fort Worth's home of the Horned Frogs, Texas Christian University, is being hailed top of the class for 2027.

TCU earned acclaim in The Princeton Review's new ranking of the "Best 392 Colleges" for 2027. Across town, three other DFW universities also earned high praise: Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Dallas, and the University of Dallas.

The Princeton Review's 35th annual "Best Colleges" rankings are determined by a survey of 172,000 current college students that gave "candid feedback" about their schools and their experiences. The flagship guide does not rank the schools overall, but it does rank them across 50 different categories, including best-run colleges, best quality of life, happiest students, best athletic facilities, among others.

Schools don't pay to be included in the guide, but The Princeton Review clarified that schools could pay for a "featured" designation. No Dallas-Fort Worth school paid to be featured in this year's guide. Trinity University in San Antonio and Southwestern University, a private school in the Austin suburb Georgetown, were the only two Texas schools that paid to be "featured."

In addition to being included in the overall list, TCU also appeared in the unranked lists of the Best Value Colleges, the Mental Health Honor Roll 2026, and the regional Best Southwest list that contained 41 universities across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

TCU was declared the 11th best-run college out of all 392 schools in the report. The university boasts the 4th best quality of life, and students are the 9th happiest in the nation. And The Princeton Review said TCU offers an abundance of "leadership and experiential learning opportunities" for students throughout their college careers. Dedicated faculty members are a huge part of the campus community, the profile added.

"Students appreciate that their professors have plenty of 'background experiences outside their academic career' in addition to 'extensive knowledge on the subjects they teach,' and students note that these 'unique' perspectives really 'add to the classes you are in,'" the profile said. "These willing mentors are also described as 'very dedicated to their students' and 'excited to interact with students in a positive, constructive manner.'"

The TCU campus earned separate praise as the 10th most beautiful campus with the 11th best athletic facilities, the 15th best dorms, and 15th best campus library. Fort Worth also earned bragging rights after ranking 25th in the College City Gets High Marks list.

TCU also earned the following rankings on 10 other lists:

• No. 1 – Most Politically Conservative Students
• No. 2 – Everyone Plays Intramural Sports
• No. 4 – Top Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies
• No. 6 – Lots of Greek Life
• No. 9 – Best Student Support and Counseling Services
• No. 15 – Students Love Their School Teams
• No. 17 – Top 20 Best Alumni Networks (Private Schools)
• No. 24 – Their Students Love These Colleges
• No. 25 – Most Religious Students
• No. 28 – Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies

This is how the other Dallas-Fort Worth schools shined in The Princeton Review's guide:

Southern Methodist University, Dallas

• Best Southwest
• The Best 392 Colleges

University of Dallas, Irving

• Best Value Colleges
• Best Southwest
• The Best 392 Colleges
• No. 2 – Most Religious Students
• No. 5 – LGBTQ-Unfriendly (based on "how strongly students disagree that their fellow students treat all persons equally, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression")
• No. 6 – Most Politically Conservative Students
• No. 15 – Professors Get High Marks
• No. 17 – Happiest Students
• No. 24 – Pot's Not Hot (a ranking of colleges with the "least marijuana usage based on ratings from real students about the popularity of marijuana on campus.")

University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson

• Best Value Colleges
• Best Southwest
• Green Colleges (colleges that "share superb sustainability practices, a strong foundation in sustainability education, and a healthy quality of life for students on campus.")
• The Best 392 Colleges
• No. 3 – Top 20 Best Public Schools for Internships
• No. 3 – Top Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies in the Southwest
• No. 21 – Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies
• No. 40 – Top 50 Best Value Public Colleges