UT San Antonio receives $2 million gift from USAA to support new college focused on artificial intelligence, cyber, computing and data science

NOVEMBER 19, 2024 — UT San Antonio announced today a $2 million gift from USAA to support students pursuing degrees in UT San Antonio’s new college focused on artificial intelligence, cyber, computing and data science.

A total of 5,404 students are currently enrolled in artificial intelligence, cyber, computing and data science-related degree programs at UT San Antonio, reflecting a 62% increase since 2019. The new college will position UT San Antonio to lead in the rapidly evolving landscape of advanced technologies, reshaping its academic landscape and further strengthening San Antonio’s economic and workforce impact by producing a highly trained talent pipeline.

USAA’s gift will establish a student success center and data repository in the new college. Additionally, it will support student scholarships. These three components will be integral to enabling student success and prepare them for the workforce.

To recognize USAA’s generosity, The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved the naming of the USAA Student Success Center for three years.

“UT San Antonio is a vital institution to our community, providing employers like USAA a talent pipeline that meets the needs of our workforce and acts as an essential component to our region’s economic success,” said Tom Troy, USAA chief transformation officer. “USAA continues to be the largest employer of UT San Antonio graduates and provider of internships for UT San Antonio students. We’re thrilled to provide additional ways to support students and their success with this gift that will support the Student Success Center and complement the support we have for STEM scholarships for those attending the new college and on-the-job training.”

Building upon the effective model for student success centers created across UT San Antonio’s other colleges, the USAA Student Success Center will facilitate experiential learning opportunities including internships, externships, co-ops, faculty coaching and mentorship. At UT San Antonio, these strategies have proven effective in preparing students to successfully transition to professional careers and acclimate to workplace culture.

Additionally, USAA’s gift will enable UT San Antonio to increase real-world applications through a new data repository, which will create opportunities for students and faculty to securely store, analyze and share data while fostering research collaborations. The repository will also increase the visibility of research findings and support the long-term preservation and reuse of data across academic disciplines within UT San Antonio’s new college.

“As a university community, we’re at a historic moment in time to realize great opportunities for growth, advancement and discovery, especially as it relates to increasing avenues of support for student success,” said UT San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy. "I am immensely grateful to USAA for its continued partnership and for this significant gift, which will keep UT San Antonio at the forefront of these future-looking programs while building the professional workforce pipeline for our region and our state."

UT San Antonio’s new college is expected to attract, cultivate and retain high-achieving students interested in AI, cyber, computing and data science careers from across the state. To support them, approximately one third of USAA’s gift will be allocated to scholarships for deserving students in the new college, positively impacting student retention and success.

USAA’s gift will also support UT San Antonio’s Be Bold campaign, a comprehensive capital campaign that aims to enhance student success, research excellence and innovation. To date, the campaign has raised over $428 million from more than 55,000 donors and is the largest fundraising campaign in university history.