(NEXSTAR) — It may be graduation season for millions of Texas students, but for others, the high school journey is just beginning.
Texas, meanwhile, is home to some of the country’s best high schools, according to a new ranking from U.S. News & World Report. One Dallas school even ranks in the outlet’s top 10 for the entire country.
U.S. News also broke down its national list into state-wide rankings, to give a more detailed look at the best schools in any given state. In Texas, schools in larger cities dominated the list — but two smaller southern cities, Edinburg and Brownsville, edge close to the state’s top 10, earning spots at 11 and 12, respectively.
Many of the very top high schools share 99-100% graduation rates, one of several factors used to calculate the list. Among other factors are college readiness of students (30%), state test scores (20%), and underserved student performance (10%).
Here’s a look at the top 20 from U.S. News’ list. A full ranking of the outlet’s Best Texas High Schools is available at the official site of U.S. News & World Report.
| State rank | School | Location | National rank |
| 1. | The School for the Talented and Gifted (TAG) | Dallas | 8 |
| 2. | Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School | Dallas | 20 |
| 3. | Science and Engineering Magnet School (SEM) | Dallas | 22 |
| 4. | Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) | Austin | 34 |
| 5. | Carnegie Vanguard High School | Houston | 40 |
| 6. | Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet | Dallas | 48 |
| 7. | DeBakey High School for Health Professions | Houston | 50 |
| 8. | BASIS San Antonio-Shavano Campus | San Antonio | 77 |
| 9. | Young Women’s Leadership Academy | San Antonio | 78 |
| 10. | Health Careers High School | San Antonio | 102 |
| 11. | IDEA Quest College Preparatory | Edinburg | 103 |
| 12. | IDEA Frontier College Preparatory | Brownsville | 106 |
| 13. | IDEA McAllen College Preparatory | McAllen | 114 |
| 14. | Trinidad Garza Early College at Mt. View | Dallas | 118 |
| 15. | Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy | Grand Prairie | 120 |
| 16. | Chaparral Star Academy | Austin | 122 |
| 17. | Early College High School | Laredo | 124 |
| 18. | Talkington School for Young Women Leaders | Lubbock | 126 |
| 19. | Westlake Academy | Westlake | 127 |
| 20. | Richards School for Young Women Leaders | Austin | 128 |
Dallas’ The School for the Talented and Gifted makes U.S. News’ national list at number 8 and is also ranked eighth on the outlet’s list of Best STEM High Schools.
Last September, Niche, a site that combines ratings from students, parents and alumni with quantitative data, ranked its own Top Texas Highs Schools for 2023. Among those listed above, TAG was also ranked first.
Nexstar’s Jeremy Tanner contributed to this report.
