SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 — The UTSA Honors College is taking steps to strategically expand the number of high-achieving students it admits each year, thanks to a new collaborative partnership with the undergraduate recruitment and scholarships office in the Division of Strategic Enrollment.
Beginning in fall 2021, all incoming freshmen awarded a Distinguished Presidential Scholarship will be automatically admitted to the Honors College. The DPS is one of UTSA’s most competitive merit-based scholarships awarded to incoming freshmen who display exceptional scholastic achievement in high school. The scholarship is renewable with a value up to $20,000 over four years.
In a typical year, roughly 2,000 incoming students are awarded the DPS, and on average, about 16% choose to join the Honors College. With Honors College enrollment currently at 1,350, automatically admitting DPS scholars has the potential to increase the college’s enrollment by 67%.
“We are thrilled to be able to welcome the university’s incoming Distinguished Presidential Scholars into our community and guide them along a personalized honors path at UTSA to reach—and exceed—their professional and intellectual goals,” said Jill Fleuriet, acting dean of the Honors College.
Honors College students enjoy many benefits, including priority registration, eligibility for honors scholarships, access to competitive funding opportunities, participation in a residential honors experience, networking with top students and employers in the region and beyond, mentoring from special counselors and peer coaches, priority consideration for special programs like Citymester and Legislative Scholars, and participation in uniquely designed experiential courses that encourage them to gain practical skills beyond their majors.
Additionally, first-year students entering the university as Honors College students will live together with other residential honors students in Guadalupe Hall, UTSA’s newest residential hall, slated to be completed in summer 2021. With nearly 200 double-occupancy bedrooms, the hall will include study spaces and rooms designed for interaction and collaboration.
Even with a majority of classes offered online this fall, the Honors Residential Community launched as planned with its students living in a dedicated section of Chaparral Village. With honors students expected to occupy the majority of Guadalupe Hall once it opens, the Honors College will activate a vibrant living-learning community as part of becoming a fully residential college.
“The honors programming and curriculum students experience at UTSA is already on par with many of our nation’s top institutions,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “As we work toward elevating UTSA’s Honors College to new levels of national prominence, offering a vibrant residential community and competitive scholarship packages will help us better compete for top students. I applaud this collaboration to create an innovative solution that will help more students benefit from the phenomenal experiential learning opportunities the college affords.”
Questions about admission into the Honors College at UTSA? Email honorsadmissions@utsa.edu or visit the Honors College online to connect with the virtual front desk via Zoom. It’s available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Honors College is home to high-achieving, academically driven students from across all majors and disciplines, including UTSA Top Scholars and Terry Scholars. As the only 100% experiential learning honors college in Texas, its hands-on and project-based approach allows students to chart their own path and achieve their highest potential.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
The Racial Justice Book Club was established at UTSA by members of the campus community to explore social justice following acts of racial violence across the nation over the last few years. We are reading The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas by Monica Muñoz Martinez. We will meet every Wednesday in September and October at 2 pm on Zoom.
Virtual EventThe touring ensemble of five London actors will perform Shakespeare’s _Macbeth in the UTSA Recital Hall.
Recital Hall, Main CampusSession for parents to learn about how to prepare for their children's future in higher education.
Buena Vista Street. Building (BVB 1.326,) Downtown CampusCelebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at our very own street fair - Calle UTSA. We will have activities, performances, food, music, and piñatas to break open.
Student Union Paseo"La Plática" is a space for thoughtful dialogue to build a sense of connection among the Roadrunner Community by getting to know each other better and sharing what's on our minds and about ourselves to increase to increase awareness of diverse perspectives.
Virtual EventThis September 30, the Friday Series will feature Prof. Milena Ang, who will be presenting A Tren to Nowhere: Statistic Development and the Politics of Racial, a paper co-authored with Tania Islas-Weistein where they discuss Mexico's long history of state-led development projects that contribute to economic and racial inequality. The authors argue that despite professing racial justice, official discourses surrounding the Tren Maya reproduce existing symbolic and material forms of racism.
McKinney Humanities (MH 4.01.01,) Main CampusWe invite you to learn about the process of screenwriting and explore the intersection of identity and pursuing dreams from Jorge Ramirez-Martinez and Raymond Perez, screenwriters for the Selena: The Series, released on Netflix. They will discuss their careers and writing process, including how their identities as Mexican American and gay men have shaped their professional experiences.
Virtual EventThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
