Phase I Report - History and Growth of UTSA

"San Antonio, the Alamo City, is Texas' third largest and fifteenth in the nation. Until recent times, though long a center of private education, San Antonio was unique among metropolitan centers of comparable size in not having a state-supported senior college or university. Now a long-held dream is being realized through the creation of The University of Texas at San Antonio. The efforts of local business and civic leaders, the local Legislative delegation, and San Antonio's members of the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System have brought about a new educational future for the young people of San Antonio, Bexar County, and the South and Southwest Texas regions."
- The Birth of a New Institution…, 1971

A. B. Templeton became the first president of UTSA on July 1, 1970. He and his staff established temporary offices at the Maison Blanche on the grounds of HemisFair in downtown San Antonio. Planning efforts were initiated for a campus to be built on a 600-acre site on the northwest side of San Antonio. The unimproved site was designed to eventually serve a student enrollment of 30,000.

Today UTSA has grown to encompass three campuses and a growing student population that will soon surpass 20,000. UTSA has consistently been one of the fastest growing components of the University of Texas System, and is now one of the largest. It remains the only state-supported senior college or university in the San Antonio metropolitan area. Other institutions of higher learning in the San Antonio area include:

UTSA Academic Structure

Fifty-four bachelor's, thirty-six master's and ten doctoral degree programs are offered. UTSA’s academic structure is as follows:

• College of Business
• College of Education and Human Development
• College of Engineering
• College of Liberal and Fine Arts
• College of Sciences
• College of Public Policy
• School of Architecture

Enrollment

UTSA enrollment has grown to 24,665 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. UTSA has projected an enrollment of 43,000 students for the year 2030, nearly a 74% increase over twenty-five years, or a 3% increase each year. Currently, about 3,500 students attend classes at the Downtown Campus, with 60% of those students also attending at the 1604 Campus.

Admission Requirements

An applicant who has graduated from high school within five years of application to UTSA must have achieved a minimum rank-in-class and a score on either the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) of the College Entrance Examination Board or the American College Testing Program (ACT) as follows:

UTSA expects each applicant to be prepared for academic work at the university level. High school students who plan to apply to UTSA are strongly encouraged to prepare for university study by taking courses in language skills, quantification skills, and other subjects contributing to a broad academic background. The following nature and number of high school units (a year of study in one subject at an accredited secondary school), although not required for admission, are recommended:

Transfer Student Admission Requirements

Applicants for admission who have earned less than 30 semester credit hours from accredited colleges or universities must meet the same rank-in-class (or GED) and SAT/ACT requirements as first-time freshmen. They must also have at least a 2.0 GPA, be in good standing at the last institution attended, and be eligible to return to the last institution attended.

Applicants for admission to UTSA who have earned 30 or more semester credit hours from accredited colleges or universities must have at least a 2.0 GPA, be in good standing at the last institution attended, and be eligible to return to the last institution attended.

International Student Admission Criteria

Some of the requirements for individuals holding non-permanent visas include:

• Having qualifications equivalent to those of students entering from schools in the United States.
• Having a minimum score of 500 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) when applicable.
• Submitting an SAT/ACT test score if they graduated from a U.S. high school.
• Submitting a statement guaranteeing the student's ability to pay all expenses while at UTSA.

Student Profile

The following chart outlines the statistics of the UTSA student population for the Fall 2003 semester:

Cost

Undergraduate tuition and fees for the 2004-2005 academic year range from: