go frogs

Fort Worth's TCU ranked No. 6 college in Texas for 2025 by U.S. News

The home of the Horned Frogs has come out on top as one of the best universities in Texas for 2025.

Photo courtesy of TCU

Fort Worth's Texas Christian University has come out on top among the best universities in Texas for 2025, according to U.S. News and World Report's just-released list of the Best Colleges for 2025.

The home of the Horned Frogs claimed No. 6 in Texas, and ranked No. 105 nationally in a seven-spot slip from last year's ranking. The private institution has a 94 percent first-year retention rate, and an "actual" graduation rate of 86 percent. TCU costs $61,740 in tuition and fees for students each year, and according to the school's profile, it has an acceptance rate of 43 percent.

In April, TCU's graduate business school ranked No. 5 in U.S. News' ranking of the best graduate schools in Texas, and its graduate education school earned No. 7 statewide.

TCU also fared similarly in Niche'slist of best colleges, in which it ranked No. 8 in Texas and No. 81 in the ranking of top private American universities.

In a glowing review of the university, one former student said TCU has many opportunities for students as well as financial and academic support.

"The professors take the time to get to know you and then reach out with research, internship, graduate school, or job opportunities that they think you would be a perfect fit for," the reviewer wrote. "The programs are often very willing to work with you to cater your degree plan to your future goals, going as far as allowing you to create your own curriculum in some cases."

TCU's cross-Metroplex rival, Southern Methodist University, ranked No. 5 in Texas and No. 91 nationally for 2025.

Just behind TCU, Richardson's University of Texas at Dallas placed No. 7 in the Texas rankings, and moved up six spots to claim No. 109 nationally. The public university costs $14,644 in tuition and fees for in-state students, and has an acceptance rate of 65 percent. UTD has a first-year retention rate of 88 percent, and a 75 percent "actual" graduation rate.

U.S. News' top 10 best colleges in Texas in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Rice University, Houston
No. 2 – University of Texas at Austin
No. 3 – Texas A&M University, College Station
No. 4 – Baylor University, Waco
No. 5 – Southern Methodist University, Dallas
No. 6 – Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
No. 7 – The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson
No. 8 – University of Houston
No. 9 – University of St. Thomas, Houston
No. 10 – Texas Tech University, Lubbock

The full rankings can be found on usnews.com.

best colleges best universities fort worth horned frogs rankings texas christian university universities us news us news & world report

Death Penalty

Tarrant County man gets death for murder of convenience store owner

Tarrant County Sheriff's Office

Christopher Turner

A man received the death penalty for his 2020 cold-blooded execution of a convenience store owner.

According to a release from the office of Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Christopher Karon Turner, 48, to death on November 20 for executing convenience store owner Anwar Ali during a robbery. Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Charles Boulware and Allenna Bangs represented the state.

On March 27, 2020, at around 6:15 am, Turner, a convicted felon, wore a surgical mask and a glove and entered the Super Big Country Mart in an unincorporated area of Tarrant County south of Fort Worth. There, he held a gun to the back of Anwar Ali, the 62-year-old store owner, and walked him through the store.

Ali did everything Turner demanded, including opening the cash register to give him money. And yet Turner forced Ali into the bathroom and onto his knees, and shot him in the neck. Ali was discovered, dead in the bathroom, about an hour later.

Turner fled the store in Ali's Toyota minivan with the money from the register and Ali's wallet. In the van, he found more than $50,000 cash in a black bag. Over the next few days, Turner went on a shopping spree, buying cars, jewelry, drugs, clothes, and more. He and others used cash and a credit card that belonged to Ali.

Turner fled to Colorado where U.S. Marshals arrested him. On his body they found a firearm which was determined to be the murder weapon.

"This was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder," Boulware told the jury. "From the moment he was charged with this crime, he has tried to escape responsibility."

Bangs noted that before this trial began, Turner obtained the names of jurors and their telephone numbers, and gave them to an inmate charged with murder. At the trial on November 20, as Bangs addressed the jury, Turner tried to hold up a sign to the jury but was handcuffed by Sheriff's deputies who removed him from the courtroom, while he yelled out "she lied."

Ali came to the United States from Pakistan decades ago to pursue the American dream. Ali's son, Hussein, spoke in the courtroom after the death penalty was announced. "Thank you for giving us justice," Ali said. "I hope there are no more devils like this person."