4 Houston-area schools excel with best online degree programs in U.S.

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Rice boasts the third best online MIS program in the nation. Rice University/Facebook

Four Houston-area universities have earned well-deserved recognition in U.S. News & World Report's just-released rankings of the Best Online Programs for 2026.

The annual rankings offer insight into the best American universities for students seeking a flexible and affordable way to attain a higher education. In the 2026 edition, U.S. News analyzed nearly 1,850 online programs for bachelor's degrees and seven master's degree disciplines: MBA, business (non-MBA), criminal justice, education, engineering, information technology, and nursing.

Many of these local schools are also high achievers in U.S. News' separate rankings of the best grad schools.

Rice University tied with Texas A&M University in College Station for the No. 3 best online master's in information technology program in the U.S., and its online MBA program ranked No. 21 nationally.

The online master's in nursing program at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston was the highest performing master's nursing degree in Texas, and it ranked No. 19 nationally.

Three different programs at The University of Houston were ranked among the top 100 nationwide:

No. 18 – Best online master's in education
No. 59 – Best online master's in business (non-MBA)
No. 89 – Best online bachelor's program

The University of Houston's Clear Lake campus ranked No. 65 nationally for its online master's in education program.

"Online education continues to be a vital path for professionals, parents, and service members seeking to advance their careers and broaden their knowledge with necessary flexibility," said U.S. News education managing editor LaMont Jones in a press release. "The 2026 Best Online Programs rankings are an essential tool for prospective students, providing rigorous, independent analysis to help them choose a high-quality program that aligns with their personal and professional goals."

A little farther outside Houston, two more universities – Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and Texas A&M University in College Station – stood out for their online degree programs.

Sam Houston State University

No. 5 – Best online master's in criminal justice
No. 30 – Best online master's in information technology
No. 36 – Best online master's in education
No. 77 – Best online bachelor's program
No. 96 – Best online master's in business (non-MBA)

Texas A&M University

No. 3 – Best online master's in information technology (tied with Rice)
No. 3 – Best online master's in business (non-MBA)
No. 8 – Best online master's in education
No. 9 – Best online master's in engineering
No. 11 – Best online bachelor's program

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston is home to 11 of the best places to work, according to U.S. News. Photo via Getty Images

Houston's 11 best places to work and more innovation news to know

11 Houston companies named best places to work by U.S. News

Best in the U.S.

Nearly a dozen public and private Houston-based companies have been hailed among the best places to work in 2025 by U.S. News and World Report.

The annual "U.S. News Best Companies to Work For" report examines thousands of publicly-traded companies around the world to determine the best employers based on six metrics including work-life balance and flexibility; quality of pay and benefits; job and company stability; career opportunities and professional development; and more. The companies were not ranked, but included based on reader surveys and publicly available data about each workplace.

New for the 2025-2026 ratings, U.S. News expanded its methodology to include privately owned companies and companies with internship opportunities for recent graduates and new, current, and prospective students. Companies were also grouped into job-specific and industry-specific lists, and the publication also added a new list highlighting "employers that are particularly friendly to employees who are also caregivers in their personal lives."

U.S. News included seven publicly-traded companies and four privately owned companies in Houston on the lists.

Chevron

It may not come as a surprise that oil and gas corporation Chevron landed at the top of the list of top public employers in the Energy Capital of the World. The energy giant currently employs more than 45,000 people, earns $193.47 billion in annual revenue, and has a market cap of $238.74 billion. The company earned high ratings by U.S. News for its job stability, "belongingness," and quality of pay.

Chevron also appeared in U.S. News' industry-specific "Best in Energy and Resources" list, the "Best Companies in the South" list, and the "Best for Internships" list.

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

In the category of privately held companies headquartered in Houston, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) landed on top as one of the best employers thanks to its employee work-life balance, job stability, and quality of pay. U.S. News estimates ABS has between 5,000 and 10,000 employees, and generated between $1 billion to $10 billion in revenue in 2024.

This engineering and construction company was founded in 1862, and describes itself as "a global leader in providing classification services for marine and offshore assets."

"Our mission is to serve the public interest as well as the needs of our members and clients by promoting the security of life and property and preserving the natural environment," the company website says.

In addition to earning a place among U.S. News' overall "Best Companies" list, ABS also appeared in the "Best in Engineering and Construction" list.

Other top companies to work for in Houston include:

Calpine – Best in Energy and Resources; Best Companies (overall)
ConocoPhillips – Best in Energy and Resources; Best Companies (overall); Best in Caregiving; Best Companies in the South
Hines – Best in Real Estate and Facilities Management; Best Companies (overall)
Insperity, Kingwood – Best in Healthcare and Research; Best Companies (overall); Best in Caregiving; Best Companies in the South
KBR – Best in Engineering and Construction; Best Companies (overall); Best Companies in the South
Men's Warehouse – Best in Consumer Products; Best Companies (overall)
Occidental – Best in Energy and Resources; Best Companies (overall); Best Companies in the South
PROS – Best in Information Technology; Best Companies (overall); Best Companies in the South
Skyward Specialty Insurance – Best in Finance and Insurance; Best Companies (overall); Best Companies in the South

"'Best' is a subjective term relative to career satisfaction, and many aspects factor into someone’s decision to apply for a job with any given company," U.S. News said. "But some universally desired factors can contribute to a good workplace, such as quality pay, good work-life balance, and opportunities for professional development and advancement.

Other top Texas employers

In all, 30 employers headquartered in the Lone Star State made it onto U.S. News' 2025-2026 "Best Places to Work For" lists. Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area tied for the most employers make the list, at 11 companies each. Diamondback Energy in Midland was the only company from West Texas to make it on the list for the second year in a row.

The best places to work for across Dallas-Fort Worth:

Aimbridge Hospitality, Plano
Ben E. Keith, Fort Worth
Coach America, Grand Prairie
Digital Realty, Dallas
Freeman, Dallas
Integrity Marketing Group, Dallas
Lincoln Property Company, Dallas
RGP, Dallas
Sammons Enterprises, Dallas
Texas Instruments, Dallas
Veritex Community Bank, Dallas

The top companies to work for in Austin:

Cirrus Logic
Dell Technologies, Round Rock
Silicon Labs
Yeti

The top companies to work for in San Antonio:

Frost Bank
H-E-B
Sachry Group

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

The home of the Rice Owls is on top once again. Photo via Rice University

Rice University named top college in U.S. News' new rankings for 2025

top of class

Houston's own "Ivy League of the South" has come out on top as one of the best universities in the nation for 2025, according to U.S. News and World Report's just-released list of the Best Colleges for 2025.

Rice University claimed No. 1 in Texas, and ranked No. 18 nationally in a one-spot slip from last year's ranking. The private institution has a 98 percent first-year retention rate, and an "actual" graduation rate of 96 percent. Rice costs $60,709 in tuition and fees for students each year, and according to the school's profile, it has an acceptance rate of eight percent.

In April, Rice's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business ranked No. 2 in U.S. News' ranking of the best graduate schools in Texas, with its entrepreneurship program tying for No. 8 nationally, and the part-time MBA program ranking No. 15 overall. Those rankings may change in the next few years once the school finishes its brand new facility for the business school.

Rice also fared similarly in Niche'slist of best colleges, in which it ranked No. 15 nationally. Forbes ranked the university No. 9 nationwide in its list of best colleges for the 2024-2025 school year, and Rice was bestowed an "Ivy League" status in Forbes' recent report on top public and private schools that churn out top graduates.

“We are delighted to see Rice University recognized as one of America’s producers of great talent. Rice has been a recruiting destination for employers for many years and that is because Rice students are adaptable, curious, bright, and are solution oriented,” Nicole Van Den Heuvel, executive director of the Center for Career Development, says in a news release from Rice.

In a glowing review of the university, one former business student said studying at Rice was a "transformative experience."

"Rice is the perfect blend of rigorous academics, strong athletics, and a nurturing and engaging social life," the reviewer wrote. "It's quite idyllic. Rice is known as a STEM school, but it has distinguished programs in humanities, social sciences, music and architecture too. Professors are top scholars in their fields and will know you by name. Students are well prepared academically, but are also collaborative and supportive."

Right behind Rice in the rankings is The University of Texas at Austin, which ranked No. 2 in Texas and No. 30 nationally. Just behind UT Austin is College Station's Texas A&M University, which placed No. 3 in the Texas rankings and No. 51 nationally.

The University of Houston maintained its No. 8 rank in the statewide comparison, but fell 11 spots down into No. 144 in the national rankings.

The University of St. Thomas ranked No. 9 in Texas, and moved up seven places to rank No. 209 in the U.S. for 2025.

U.S. News' top 10 best colleges in Texas in 2024 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.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

MD Anderson Cancer Center is still the best cancer-focused hospital in the U.S. and Texas. Photo by F. Carter Smith/courtesy of MD Anderson

Houston hospitals recognized as best in state, nation in annual report

better than all the rest

Houston’s University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has retained its U.S. News & World Report crown as the best cancer hospital in the U.S.

In the same ranking, Houston Methodist Hospital once again came out on top as the best hospital in Texas. Last year, the hospital shared the top spot. Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center ranked No. 4, followed by No. 5 Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The accolades appear in U.S. News’ 2024-25 ranking of the country’s best hospitals. Each hospital also ranked among various specialties, such as orthopedics; cardiology, heart, and vascular surgery; cancer; and neurology and neurosurgery.

Since U.S. News introduced its annual hospital survey in 1990, MD Anderson has been ranked one of the two best U.S. hospitals for cancer care. It has maintained its No. 1 ranking for 10 consecutive years.

“At MD Anderson, our mission is clear: to end cancer,” Dr. Peter WT Pisters, president of MD Anderson, says in a news release. “This ranking reflects our relentless commitment to excellence in patient care, research, prevention, and education.”

MD Anderson also ranked highly in three specialties:

No. 2 for ear, nose, and throat.
No. 9 for urology.
No. 14 for gastroenterology and GI surgery.

“The consistent top national recognitions [that] MD Anderson receives for delivering compassionate, evidence-based care is a testament to our dedication to those we serve,” Pisters says.

Elsewhere at the Texas Medical Center, Houston Methodist Hospital was named the No. 1 hospital in Texas for the 13th year in a row. Also, it was lauded as one of the country’s 20 best hospitals for the eighth time.

Along with the general ranking, Houston Methodist Hospital scored high marks in 10 specialties. These include diabetes and endocrinology (No. 6), gastroenterology and GI surgery (No. 7), and pulmonology and lung surgery (No. 8).

Meanwhile, four Houston Methodist community hospitals ranked well in Texas:

Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital (No. 8).
Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital (No. 9).
Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital (tied at No. 18).
Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital (tied at No. 23).

These Houston hospitals are the best in Texas and beyond. Photo via tmc.edu

Houston hospitals soar on annual list ranking best in Texas

top health care

Houston Methodist Hospital now shares its status as the state’s best hospital with Dallas’ UT Southwestern Medical Center.

In U.S. News & World Report’s latest ranking of Texas hospitals, Houston Methodist and UT Southwestern share the No. 1 spot. Last year, Houston Methodist was the lone holder of first-place honors in Texas.

The Houston Methodist system comprises a primary care facility within the Texas Medical Center and six community hospitals across the region. In all, Houston Methodist operates more than 2,600 patient beds and employs more than 29,700 people.

Overall, Houston hospitals fared well in this year’s Texas rankings:

Houston Methodist, No. 1
Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, No. 3
Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center, No. 4
Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital, No. 6
Houston Medical Sugar Land Hospital, No. 9
Memorial Hermann Memorial Medical Center, No. 10

Specialty institutions in Houston also garnered accolades.

For instance, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ranked first in the country for cancer care. Since the inception of the U.S. News & World Report survey in 1990, MD Anderson has been among the country’s top two institutions for cancer care.

“At MD Anderson, we remain singularly focused on eliminating cancer,” Dr. Peter WT Pisters, president of MD Anderson, says in a news release. “We are pleased to see this commitment recognized, but there is work still to be done.”

For its part, Houston Methodist nabbed national rankings in 10 specialties, including No. 4 for diabetes and endocrinology and No. 5 for gastroenterology and GI surgery.

Elsewhere in the Houston area:

Texas Children’s Hospital nailed down the No. 1 ranking among children’s hospitals in the state.
TIRR Memorial Hermann was again ranked as the Best Rehabilitation Hospital in Texas.
The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center claimed the No. 2 ranking among cardiovascular, heart, and vascular surgery facilities in the state.
The Menninger Clinic again makes the top 10 psychiatric hospitals. It ranked No. 7 in that specialty.

“A recent survey of U.S. News users revealed more than four in five (84 percent) consider a hospital’s quality metrics to be important factors when deciding where to seek treatment for a serious medical issue,” Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, says in a news release. “Consumers want useful resources to help them assess which hospital can best meet their specific care needs.”

Harder adds that his publication’s hospital rankings “offer patients and the physicians with whom they consult a data-driven source for comparing performance in outcomes, patient satisfaction, and other metrics that matter to them.”

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Houston scientists develop breakthrough AI-driven process to design, decode genetic circuits

biotech breakthrough

Researchers at Rice University have developed an innovative process that uses artificial intelligence to better understand complex genetic circuits.

A study, published in the journal Nature, shows how the new technique, known as “Combining Long- and Short-range Sequencing to Investigate Genetic Complexity,” or CLASSIC, can generate and test millions of DNA designs at the same time, which, according to Rice.

The work was led by Rice’s Caleb Bashor, deputy director for the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute and member of the Ken Kennedy Institute. Bashor has been working with Kshitij Rai and Ronan O’Connell, co-first authors on the study, on the CLASSIC for over four years, according to a news release.

“Our work is the first demonstration that you can use AI for designing these circuits,” Bashor said in the release.

Genetic circuits program cells to perform specific functions. Finding the circuit that matches a desired function or performance "can be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Bashor explained. This work looked to find a solution to this long-standing challenge in synthetic biology.

First, the team developed a library of proof-of-concept genetic circuits. It then pooled the circuits and inserted them into human cells. Next, they used long-read and short-read DNA sequencing to create "a master map" that linked each circuit to how it performed.

The data was then used to train AI and machine learning models to analyze circuits and make accurate predictions for how untested circuits might perform.

“We end up with measurements for a lot of the possible designs but not all of them, and that is where building the (machine learning) model comes in,” O’Connell explained in the release. “We use the data to train a model that can understand this landscape and predict things we were not able to generate data on.”

Ultimately, the researchers believe the circuit characterization and AI-driven understanding can speed up synthetic biology, lead to faster development of biotechnology and potentially support more cell-based therapy breakthroughs by shedding new light on how gene circuits behave, according to Rice.

“We think AI/ML-driven design is the future of synthetic biology,” Bashor added in the release. “As we collect more data using CLASSIC, we can train more complex models to make predictions for how to design even more sophisticated and useful cellular biotechnology.”

The team at Rice also worked with Pankaj Mehta’s group in the department of physics at Boston University and Todd Treangen’s group in Rice’s computer science department. Research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Office of Naval Research, the Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation, the American Heart Association, National Library of Medicine, the National Science Foundation, Rice’s Ken Kennedy Institute and the Rice Institute of Synthetic Biology.

James Collins, a biomedical engineer at MIT who helped establish synthetic biology as a field, added that CLASSIC is a new, defining milestone.

“Twenty-five years ago, those early circuits showed that we could program living cells, but they were built one at a time, each requiring months of tuning,” said Collins, who was one of the inventors of the toggle switch. “Bashor and colleagues have now delivered a transformative leap: CLASSIC brings high-throughput engineering to gene circuit design, allowing exploration of combinatorial spaces that were previously out of reach. Their platform doesn’t just accelerate the design-build-test-learn cycle; it redefines its scale, marking a new era of data-driven synthetic biology.”

Axiom Space wins NASA contract for fifth private mission, lands $350M in financing

ready for takeoff

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include information about Axiom's recent funding.

Axiom Space, a Houston-based space infrastructure company that’s developing the first commercial space station, has forged a deal with NASA to carry out the fifth civilian-staffed mission to the International Space Station.

Axiom Mission 5 is scheduled to launch in January 2027, at the earliest, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew of non-government astronauts is expected to spend up to 14 days docked at the International Space Station (ISS). Various science and research activities will take place during the mission.

The crew for the upcoming mission hasn’t been announced. Previous Axiom missions were commanded by retired NASA astronauts Michael López-Alegría, the company’s chief astronaut, and Peggy Whitson, the company’s vice president of human spaceflight.

“All four previous [Axiom] missions have expanded the global community of space explorers, diversifying scientific investigations in microgravity, and providing significant insight that is benefiting the development of our next-generation space station, Axiom Station,” Jonathan Cirtain, president and CEO of Axiom, said in a news release.

As part of Axiom’s new contract with NASA, Voyager Technologies will provide payload services for Axiom’s fifth mission. Voyager, a defense, national security, and space technology company, recently announced a four-year, $24.5 million contract with NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to provide mission management services for the ISS.

Axiom also announced today, Feb. 12, that it has secured $350 million in a financing round led by Type One Ventures and Qatar Investment Authority.

The company shared in a news release that the funding will support the continued development of its commercial space station, known as Axiom Station, and the production of its Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) under its NASA spacesuit contract.

NASA awarded Axiom a contract in January 2020 to create Axiom Station. The project is currently underway.

"Axiom Space isn’t just building hardware, it’s building the backbone of humanity’s next era in orbit," Tarek Waked, Founding General Partner at Type One Ventures, said in a news release. "Their rare combination of execution, government trust, and global partnerships positions them as the clear successor-architect for life after the ISS. This is how the United States continues to lead in space.”

Houston edtech company closes oversubscribed $3M seed round

fresh funding

Houston-based edtech company TrueLeap Inc. closed an oversubscribed seed round last month.

The $3.3 million round was led by Joe Swinbank Family Limited Partnership, a venture capital firm based in Houston. Gamper Ventures, another Houston firm, also participated with additional strategic partners.

TrueLeap reports that the funding will support the large-scale rollout of its "edge AI, integrated learning systems and last-mile broadband across underserved communities."

“The last mile is where most digital transformation efforts break down,” Sandip Bordoloi, CEO and president of TrueLeap, said in a news release. “TrueLeap was built to operate where bandwidth is limited, power is unreliable, and institutions need real systems—not pilots. This round allows us to scale infrastructure that actually works on the ground.”

True Leap works to address the digital divide in education through its AI-powered education, workforce systems and digital services that are designed for underserved and low-connectivity communities.

The company has created infrastructure in Africa, India and rural America. Just this week, it announced an agreement with the City of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo to deploy a digital twin platform for its public education system that will allow provincial leaders to manage enrollment, staffing, infrastructure and performance with live data.

“What sets TrueLeap apart is their infrastructure mindset,” Joe Swinbank, General Partner at Joe Swinbank Family Limited Partnership, added in the news release. “They are building the physical and digital rails that allow entire ecosystems to function. The convergence of edge compute, connectivity, and services makes this a compelling global infrastructure opportunity.”

TrueLeap was founded by Bordoloi and Sunny Zhang and developed out of Born Global Ventures, a Houston venture studio focused on advancing immigrant-founded technology. It closed an oversubscribed pre-seed in 2024.

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4 Houston-area schools excel with best online degree programs in U.S.

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11 Houston companies named best places to work by U.S. News

Best in the U.S.

Chevron

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Other top companies to work for in Houston include:

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Rice University named top college in U.S. News' new rankings for 2025

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Houston hospitals recognized as best in state, nation in annual report

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Houston hospitals soar on annual list ranking best in Texas

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Houston scientists develop breakthrough AI-driven process to design, decode genetic circuits

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Axiom Space wins NASA contract for fifth private mission, lands $350M in financing

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Houston edtech company closes oversubscribed $3M seed round

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