One year after The University of Texas at San Antonio and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio came together, UT San Antonio is harnessing its combined strengths as one institution to expand opportunity, accelerate discovery, improve health and serve a growing region while extending its impact across Texas.
On Sept. 1, 2025, two nationally recognized institutions officially became one university, bringing together their collective strengths and greater scale to advance an ambitious purpose: to make lives better through excellence in education, research and discovery, health, public service and community engagement.
One year later, that vision is taking shape. UT San Antonio is serving a record 44,000 students, making it one of the largest universities in Texas and the third-largest public research university in the state. Its research enterprise has grown to over $521 million annually, while UT Health San Antonio, the most comprehensive academic health center and health system in Texas, is transforming health across the region through nationally recognized leadership in health education, research and discovery, and patient care.
The significance of the past year, however, is larger than any single number. It has begun to demonstrate the transformative potential of bringing these institutions together, not simply to operate at greater scale, but to reimagine what a leading public research university can achieve and build a national powerhouse in education, research, discovery and health.
Expanding opportunity and excellence
Student success is essential to advancing UT San Antonio’s mission and realizing the broader promise of a great public research university by creating opportunity, advancing economic and social mobility, and preparing graduates to strengthen their families, communities and generations to come.
UT San Antonio is one of only 13 universities in the United States to hold the combined Carnegie designations for research excellence, community engagement and student social mobility. It also ranks among the top 10% of institutions nationally for driving economic mobility, demonstrating how access to higher education can have a lasting impact on students and families.
That commitment is increasingly visible across San Antonio. The opening of San Pedro II further expands the university’s growing Downtown Campus, where approximately 8,000 students now learn, innovate, and prepare their career in the economic and cultural heart of the city, creating a significant pipeline of talent that will help fuel San Antonio’s continued growth and prosperity.
UT San Antonio also launched the nation’s first College of AI, Cyber and Computing, creating a new model for preparing students and advancing research in fields that are rapidly reshaping society and the global economy. At the intersection of technology and health, the university established the nation’s first dual-degree program in medicine and artificial intelligence at its Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, preparing future physicians to lead in a world where medicine, data and technology are increasingly interconnected.
Roadrunner spirit also reached new heights during the university’s first year together, with student-athletes capturing three American Athletic Conference championships.
Discovery with the power to change lives
As one university, UT San Antonio has brought together research strengths spanning the sciences, engineering, technology, health sciences, business, the social sciences, humanities and the arts. This breadth creates distinctive opportunities for collaboration across disciplines and with industry, accelerating innovation and discovery and translating research into solutions that improve lives, strengthen communities and address some of society’s most consequential challenges.
With an annual research portfolio of approximately $521 million, the university is advancing discovery across critical fields ranging from cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia prevention, aging and metabolic disease to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, space science and engineering.
The opening of the Center for Brain Health, home to the Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, created a new destination where leading-edge brain health and neurological care, research and comprehensive support come together for patients and families.
The Mays Cancer Center earned renewal of its prestigious designation from the National Cancer Institute, remaining one of only four NCI-Designated Cancer Centers in Texas and the only one in South Texas.
A transformational $30 million philanthropic gift named the Kate Marmion School of Public Health, strengthening its ability to educate the next generation of public health leaders while extending its reach to better serve rural communities across Texas.
Together, these advances demonstrate the powerful continuum created by educating students, advancing discovery and translating knowledge into real-world impact.
Shaping the future of health for South Texas
The merger was envisioned not simply to create a larger university, but to build an institution with the scale and capabilities to address some of society’s most consequential health challenges.
UT San Antonio now encompasses the most comprehensive academic health center and health system in South Texas through UT Health San Antonio, connecting education and research with patient care across more than 120 specialties. With more than 2.8 million patient visits each year, 30 patient care locations and a 38-county service area, UT Health San Antonio is expanding access to world-class care and more than 500 clinical trials, bringing promising new treatments and therapies closer to patients and families across South Texas.
Its growing clinical network includes the UT San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital, further strengthening the region’s access to highly specialized care.
The trajectory ahead
The first anniversary of UT San Antonio is more than a moment to recognize progress. It reflects the meaningful impact already being realized as one university and the momentum building toward an even greater future.
UT San Antonio is on a trajectory to become one of the nation’s top 20 public research universities, strengthening its position as a national powerhouse in education, research, discovery and health. This ambition is not simply a pursuit of rankings. It reflects a commitment to the level of educational excellence, research impact, health innovation and public service expected of institutions that help shape the future.
Deeply rooted in San Antonio and embracing its role as an anchor institution for the city, UT San Antonio is committed to serving South Texas and the entire state. With the scale, expertise and reach of one comprehensive university, it is creating greater opportunity, fueling economic prosperity, confronting complex health and societal challenges, accelerating innovation and improving lives across Texas and beyond.
One year ago, two nationally recognized institutions came together with a shared vision and clear expectation that, as one, they could achieve greater impact, expand opportunity and strengthen their national standing. Today, that vision is taking shape through measurable progress and growing momentum. As UT San Antonio enters its second year, it is building on that progress with a growing national presence and the ambition to become one of the nation’s great public research universities. The work is well underway, and so is UT San Antonio’s emergence as a national powerhouse united by a defining purpose: to make lives better.
