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USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
James Morgan

SEC schools ranked academically by U.S. News for 2023-24

The Southeastern Conference is an athletic powerhouse, but several of its universities also have a strong academic reputation.

In 2024, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas will be joining the SEC, so all students applying for the fall of 2024 and beyond would be applying to an SEC school (Oklahoma and Texas were previously in the Big 12).

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According to U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Colleges rankings, six of the SEC’s 16 schools rank within the top 100 national universities. These rankings take into account factors such as acceptance rates, graduation rates, faculty resources and student outcomes.

Using U.S. News’ rankings as a reference, we rank the SEC universities according to their academic reputation. The University of Georgia climbed up two slots from the 2022 edition of the U.S. News rankings. Let’s take a look at where every SEC school ranks academically.

16
Mississippi State University

Syndication: JacksonMS

Location: Starkville, Mississippi

U.S. News rank: 216 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 18,305

Acceptance rate: 70%

 

15
Louisiana State University

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

U.S. News rank: 185 (tie)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 30,952

Acceptance rate: 76%

14
University of Arkansas

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas

U.S. News rank: 178 (tie)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 26,269

Acceptance rate: 79%

13
University of Alabama

Gary Cosby Jr./Tuscaloosa News

Location: Tuscaloosa, Alabama

U.S. News rank: 170 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 32,548

Acceptance rate: 80%

12
Univesity of Mississippi

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Location: Oxford, Mississippi

U.S. News rank: 163 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 17,302

Acceptance rate: 97%

 

11
University of Kentucky

Syndication: Louisville

Location: Lexington, Kentucky

U.S. News rank: 159 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 22,735

Acceptance rate: 95%

10
University of South Carolina

Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Location: Columbia, South Carolina

U.S. News rank: 124 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 27,343

Acceptance rate: 64%

9
University of Oklahoma

The Oklahoman

Location: Norman, Oklahoma

U.S. News rank: 124 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 21,294

Acceptance rate: 73%

8
University of Missouri

(Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Location: Columbia, Missouri

U.S. News rank: 124 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 23,752

Acceptance rate: 79%

 

7
University of Tennessee

Syndication: Knoxville

Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

U.S. News rank: 105 (tie)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 27,039

Acceptance rate: 68%

6
Auburn University

The Montgomery Advertiser

Location: Auburn, Alabama

U.S. News rank: 93 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 25,379

Acceptance rate: 44%

5
Texas A&M University

CorpusChristi

Location: College Station, Texas

U.S. News rank: 47 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 57,512

Acceptance rate: 63%

4
University of Georgia

Joshua L. Jones/Athens Banner-Herald via USA TODAY Network

Location: Athens, Georgia

U.S. News rank: 47 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 30,714

Acceptance rate: 43%

3
University of Texas

Austin American-Statesman

Location: Austin, Texas

U.S. News rank: 32

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 41,309

Acceptance rate: 31%

2
University of Florida

Gainesville Sun

Location: Gainesville, Florida

U.S. News rank: 28 (tied)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 34,552

Acceptance rate: 23%

1
Vanderbilt University

The Tennessean

Location: Nashville, Tennessee

U.S. News rank: 18 (tie)

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: 7,151

Acceptance rate: 7%

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