President Eighmy addresses UTSA’s admissions policies
Editor’s note: This message was shared with the campus community on June 29th, 2023 by UTSA President Taylor Eighmy.
Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the use of race-based affirmative action criteria for college admissions provides me an opportunity to share some perspective with our Roadrunner community and clarify any possible effect on admissions policies at UTSA.
We do not anticipate any impact from this decision at this time. We have not and do not use race in our admissions process. Beyond our guaranteed admissions requirements, the holistic review process we use considers a variety of information to best understand each applicant’s potential to achieve success at UTSA. Test scores, high school grade point average (GPA), prior college coursework, letters of recommendation and personal experience all contribute to a complete view of each applicant.
At UTSA, our student body is as diverse as the communities we serve. It’s notable that 71% of our student body is comprised of underrepresented groups; 45% are Pell-eligible; and 45% are first-generation college students. We graduate 7,000 students annually and are dramatically increasing our student retention and graduation rates. Also, our average time to graduation for our first time in college students has declined to its current 4.3 years from 5.4 years just 10 years ago. Equally important, the average total impact per student with debt has been reduced over $5,000 to a total of $23,000, and our continued collaboration with community colleges creates a robust, affordable pipeline for seamlessly achieving a two-year, then four-year degree.
Earning a degree from UTSA yields a powerful return on investment—our graduates rank very high on social mobility indices. We are educating students to develop the essential skills our city, state and nation need to address society’s grandest challenges. We welcome applications from everyone and look forward to continuing our partnership with San Antonio, South Texas and the State of Texas to admit and graduate students who are well-prepared to go out into the workforce and achieve success.
To learn more about our admissions process, visit UTSA Admissions or contact admissions@utsa.edu.
With appreciation,
Taylor Eighmy
President
