Graduate at podium Handshake with checkmark above US Capitol Building

UTSA and the 88th Legislature

Priorities and Appropriations Request

Education is an essential service in its own right, and UTSA's resolve to be a driver of economic prosperity and social mobility is stronger than ever. We are creating bold futures for our students and for Texas.

- Taylor Eighmy, President


  Universal Higher Education Priorities

Formula Funding

UTSA’s head count increased significantly in the last decade, but its average per student appropriation decreased – and is well below the statewide average. An adjusted higher education funding formula that recognizes institutional growth and inflation rates is critical to UTSA’s trajectory as a nationally recognized research university and model for student success.
 

Hazlewood Act

The Hazlewood Act provides qualified veterans, spouses, and dependent children with a generous tuition exemption at any public college or university in Texas. UTSA is committed to serving student veterans and their families and is consistently ranked among the top Military Friendly Schools in the nation. UTSA requests the Texas legislature to continue to provide funding relief to public universities for Hazlewood exemptions.
  

Core Research Support Fund

The Core Research Support Fund (CRSF) was the catalyst that allowed UTSA to expand research and attain the Carnegie R1 classification as it also pursues National Research University Fund (NRUF) eligibility. This investment will further develop UTSA’s research capacity, leading to the successful recruitment of premier research faculty and top students, which in turn will further enhance UTSA’s competitive research ecosystem in support of Texas and the nation.

Texas Research Incentive Program (TRIP)

TRIP makes available state matching funds for private gifts intended to enhance research productivity and faculty recruitment at Texas’ eight emerging research universities. TRIP funds have a direct impact on UTSA’s ability to recruit world-class faculty who elevate the student academic experience and the state’s reputation as a research powerhouse.
 

Toward Excellence, Access and Success (TEXAS) Grants

The TEXAS Grants are awarded to undergraduate Texas students who demonstrate financial need and meet academic eligibility requirements. Continued support of this program is especially important for UTSA’s first-generation, low-income students, a population that often has difficulties accessing and affording a college education.
 

Historically Underutilized Business Program (HUB)

The UTSA HUB program provides invaluable support to local small businesses, many of which are minority or women-owned. This innovative program helps local small businesses become part of the university’s procurement process, which aids Texas’ economic recovery.
 

National Research University Fund (NRUF)

In 2009, the Texas State Legislature had the great foresight to establish the National Research University Fund (NRUF), providing a direct incentive and tangible investment in our state’s emerging public research universities. This initiative successfully provided financial support that incentivized public institutions to make a deliberate, long-term commitment to advancing research activity that results in a positive economic impact for the state.


  Non-Formula Funding & Special Requests

Bold Research Initiative

UTSA has developed an unparalleled knowledge enterprise that is driven by world-class investigators who are committed to collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship. The Bold Research Initiative (BRI) fosters competitive grant proposals with the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD).

San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) 

SALSI leverages the collective power of UTSA and UT Health San Antonio through formalized collaborations and curriculum alignments. Students in the life sciences have the unique opportunity to work with scholars across South Texas on groundbreaking research and innovations in patient care. SALSI facilitates joint doctoral degree programs that have led to many joint publications, patents and copyright filings.
 

Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC)

Located in Hemisfair Park in the heart of downtown San Antonio, the ITC is a Texas treasure. The ITC showcases the vibrant cultures that have contributed to the past, present, and future of our state’s social fabric. In order to meet the demands of tomorrow, state resources can support the ITC’s efforts to offer exhibits, programs and teacher training that benefit the state’s multicultural education and tourism.
 

Texas Demographic Center

Home to the Texas state demographer, the TDC provides access to reliable, impartial data used to inform policy decisions, strategies and solutions. Texas legislators, legislative committees, state agencies, counties, municipalities, and the private sector are beneficiaries of the TDC’s data and analyses. The TDC’s role is magnified during the 2020 Census and its effect on redistricting. Special item funding is vital to the Center’s ability to produce population estimates, biennial projections and trend analysis impacting the state of Texas.
 

Cybersecure Advanced Manufacturing

UTSA, via a partnership with the Department of Energy and industry experts, is leading the effort to secure our nation’s supply chains that face increasing challenges from pandemics, cyberattacks and foreign adversaries. State support is needed to augment federal resources, which are used to advance cybersecurity research and training that can help strengthen national security and increase competitiveness in global markets.
 

Small Business Development Center & Southwest SBDC

In cooperation with the U.S. Small Business Administration, UTSA’s SBDC promotes business and economic development across 79 counties along the southwest Texas border. Continued support is critical to the SBDC’s efforts to promote growth, innovation and sound management for nearly 30,000 small businesses. In addition, the Southwest SBDC helps promote small business economic activity and investment in areas of Texas where corporate expansions are uncommon, and state incentives—like the Enterprise Fund—are rarely accessible.
 

Institutional Enhancement

Institutional Enhancement funding enables UTSA to recruit world-class scholars to address rapid enrollment growth and to meet our state’s urgent need for an educated workforce. Continued funding is critical to attracting and retaining excellent faculty by ensuring that teaching and advising loads remain in balance, courses are readily available to students, and class sizes are optimal.
 

Bexar County Fostering Educational Success Project

For the first time, UTSA and partners across child welfare, the Children’s Court, and two- and four-year colleges in Bexar County are leading an effort to improve educational outcomes for foster youth and alumni. This project gives students with a history of foster care a better chance to reach their educational dreams through dedicated emotional, social, and professional networks.
 

Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP)

TexPREP is a program designed to motivate and prepare middle and high schoolers—many of whom are from underserved populations—for advanced studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Each year this transformational program serves over 4,000 students from more than 125 school districts across the state. Over 80% of these participants are minorities and 53% are women.
 

  Capital Construction Assistance Project

Deferred Maintenance

Deferred maintenance refers to repairs to infrastructure or other assets that are backlogged due to budget limitations or a lack of funding. UTSA keeps a deferred maintenance list of those projects where equipment is approaching the end of its lifespan, but the university does not have the capitol to make those improvements immediately. Funding for these projects will provide critical support for UTSA’s mission to be an institution of excellence by renewing the university’s oldest buildings and associated infrastructure.
 

Creative Arts Education & Engagement Building

Building a Creative Arts Education & Engagement Building (CAB) - including its planned 800-seat performance hall - will increase available teaching labs, classrooms, and faculty and staff offices. Construction of the proposed 209,000 gross square foot building will reduce the current space deficit on the UTSA Main Campus.

Student Success Center

The Student Success Center will exemplify UTSA’s commitment to providing students with a world-class facility that supports the full spectrum of the college experience, both in and out of the classroom. In addition to classroom and study spaces, the Student Success Center will enable co-location of academic support services in one building, facilitating the delivery of comprehensive, unified, concierge-style support to advance student success and enrich the campus experience in the most effective and efficient way possible.


  Joint Projects

University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio

As our state and nation emerge from the pandemic, the need to fortify Texas’s public health infrastructure has only become more critical. With their combined talent and research prowess, UTSA and UT Health San Antonio have created a powerful new school for the benefit of all Texans. Launched in 2022, the new school is located in an existing building on the campus of UT Health San Antonio and serves as one of three schools of public health in The University of Texas System.

  Other Materials

Open Education Resources

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are teaching, learning and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use. OERs include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, homework sets, software and any other tools, materials or techniques that help get educational materials into the hands of students.

Legislative Appropriations Request, Oct 2022

Presentation to the Legislative Budget Board, Sep 2022

Presentation to the Bexar County Legislative Delegation, Jan 2023


For More Information

Jason Hassay
Government Relations
The University of Texas at San Antonio
o: 210.458.5102 | m: 512.413.9598
jason.hassay@utsa.edu

  

Albert Carrisalez
Government Relations
The University of Texas at San Antonio
o: 210.458.5138 | m: 210.452.7557
albert.carrisalez@utsa.edu