The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) has named The University of Texas at San Antonio one of five finalists for the 2025 Excellence in Student Success Award. Presented annually, the award recognizes institutions demonstrating a comprehensive, systemic commitment to advancing student success.
UT San Antonio joins the University of California-Merced, University of Illinois Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and The University of Tennessee-Knoxville as finalists for this year’s honor. The winner will be announced at the APLU Annual Meeting in November.
“Being recognized as a finalist for this prestigious national award further reinforces UT San Antonio’s strategic destination to be a model for student success,” said Tammy Wyatt, senior vice provost for student success. “Our approach is rooted in collaboration, innovation and data-driven decision making to ensure every student has the opportunity, resources and support to thrive from the moment they arrive at the university through graduation and beyond.”
Over the past decade, the institution has achieved dramatic, measurable gains in student retention rates, graduation rates, career outcomes and social mobility:
- First-year retention has increased 25%; second-year is up 33%; and third-year is up 27%
- Four-year graduation rates are up 94%, while six-year graduation rates are up 71%
- The number of degrees awarded annually is up 30%
- Average loan debt has been reduced by $6,700; on average, UT San Antonio students graduate with $5,000 less in student loan debt than the national average, and 39% graduate with no education-related debt.
- Average time to degree has been reduced by one full year from 5.2 to 4.2 years
A UT San Antonio degree offers a powerful return on investment. A Steppingblocks analysis of 128,955 alumni found the average five-year salary is $70,668 — nearly $13,000 above the city average. Earnings data from the UT System show graduates earn a median income of $45,161 one year after graduating and $74,046 after ten years, with nearly 80% employed.
These results, Wyatt notes, are rooted in the Hub-and-Spoke Student Success Framework, a coordinated support system connecting centralized academic resources with college-based student success centers. This collaborative framework unites advising, tutoring, mentoring, and career readiness around the shared goals of career-engaged learning, academic support, belonging and well-being, digital fluency, and professional development. Regular collaboration across units ensures consistent, data-informed support that empowers every student to thrive.
A few of these institution-wide collaborative efforts include:
- Roadrunner Success Hub: Formerly the Graduation Help Desk, this effort launched in 2017 to help students overcome barriers to timely graduation. To date, it has supported over 6,000 students, saving $4.9 million in tuition and fees, and led to 340+ policy and process improvements across the university.
- Classroom to Career Initiative: Launched in 2018 as a university-wide initiative, it connects academic programs to San Antonio’s key industries and embeds hands-on experiences into coursework. Since 2022, there has been an 85% increase in courses offering experiential learning. The Najim Center for Innovation and Career Advancement — the university’s student-led experiential learning hub — has engaged more than 1,000 students in the past five years, 94% of whom have either continued at the university or graduated.
- Course Transformation: The division of Academic Innovation collaborates with faculty across divisions to improve student learning in high-enrollment courses. Data-informed course redesigns have reduced drop, fail and withdrawal (DFW) rates by up to 12 percentage points, while the Student Experience Project has strengthened belonging and improved outcomes for more than 5,600 students, including a 7% DFW reduction in STEM courses.
“This recognition is the result of the incredible work and dedication of our entire Roadrunner community — faculty, staff and partners — who give their all to support our students every day,” said Heather Shipley, provost and senior executive vice president for academic affairs. “By aligning academic excellence, experiential learning and career readiness, we’re creating an environment where students can excel academically, gain real-world experience and graduate ready to achieve meaningful career success and make a lasting difference in their communities.”
APLU is a research, policy and advocacy organization representing more than 250 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems and affiliated organizations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The University of Texas at San Antonio has earned two APLU awards in the past two years, including the International Impact Award (2023) and the Innovation & Economic Prosperity (IEP) Place Award (2024) — and holds the IEP University designation (2023). Earlier this year, the university was one of only six universities nationwide to receive an APLU grant to pilot new peer mentorship models that improve student success.
