 | |
| Latin:Universitas Texana[1] | |
Former names | The University of Texas (1881–1967)[2] |
|---|---|
| Motto | Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis (Latin) |
Motto in English | "Education is the Guardian of the State"[a][3] |
| Type | Publicresearch university |
| Established | September 15, 1883; 141 years ago (1883-09-15) |
Parent institution | University of Texas System |
| Accreditation | SACS |
Academic affiliations | |
| Endowment | $19.72 billion (FY2023) (UT Austin only)[4] $47.47 billion (FY2024) (system-wide)[5] |
| Budget | $3.97 billion (FY2024)[4] |
| President | Jim Davis (interim)[6] |
| Provost | David Vanden Bout (interim)[7] |
Academic staff | 4,022 (fall 2022)[4] |
Administrative staff | 2,135 (fall 2023)[4] |
Total staff | 27,754 (fall 2023)[4] |
| Students | 53,082 (fall 2023)[4] |
| Undergraduates | 42,444 (fall 2023)[4] |
| Postgraduates | 10,638 (fall 2023)[4] |
| Location | , Texas ,United States 30°17′06″N97°44′06″W / 30.285°N 97.735°W /30.285; -97.735 |
| Campus | Large city[8], 431 acres (1.74 km2) |
| Newspaper | The Daily Texan |
| Colors | Burnt orange and white[9] |
| Nickname | Longhorns |
Sporting affiliations | NCAA Division I FBS -SEC[10] |
| Mascot | |
| Website | utexas |
 | |
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin,UT, orTexas) is apublicresearch university inAustin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is theflagship institution of theUniversity of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2023, it is also the largest institution in the system.[4]
The university is a major center for academic research, with research expenditures totaling $1.06 billion for the 2023 fiscal year.[11] It joined theAssociation of American Universities in 1929. The university houses seven museums and seventeen libraries, including theLyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and theBlanton Museum of Art, and operates various auxiliary research facilities, such as theJ. J. Pickle Research Campus andMcDonald Observatory.
UT Austin's athletics constitute theTexas Longhorns. The Longhorns have won fourNCAA Division I National Football Championships, six NCAA Division I National Baseball Championships, sixteen NCAA Division I National Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, and the school has claimed more titles in men's and women's sports than any other member in theBig 12.
As of 2020,[update] 13Nobel Prize winners, 25Pulitzer Prize winners, 3Turing Award winners, 2Fields Medal recipients, 2Wolf Prize winners, and 3Abel Prize winners have been affiliated with the school as alumni, faculty members, or researchers. The university has also been affiliated with threePrimetime Emmy Award winners, and as of 2021, its students and alumni have earned a total of155 Olympic medals.[12]
The idea of a public university in Texas was first mentioned in the 1827 constitution of the Mexican state ofCoahuila y Tejas, which promised public education in the arts and sciences under Title 6, Article 217, but no action was taken.[13] After Texasgained independence from Mexico in 1836, theConstitution of the Republic emphasized Congress's duty, in Section 5 of its General Provisions, to establish a general system of education when circumstances allowed.[14]
AfterTexas was annexed, theSeventh Texas Legislature passed O.B. 102 on February 11, 1858, allocating $100,000 in United States bonds from theCompromise of 1850 for the University of Texas.[15][16] TheCivil War delayed fund repayment, leaving the university with only $16,000 by 1865.[17] Nevertheless, theTexas Constitution of 1876 reaffirmed the mandate to establish "The University of Texas" by popular vote.[18]
On March 30, 1881, the Texas legislature organized the structure of the university and called for a popular vote to determine its location.[19] Austin was chosen as the site with 30,913 votes, whileGalveston was designated for the medical department.[20][21] On November 17, 1882, the cornerstone of the Old Main building was laid at the original "College Hill" location, and University President Ashbel Smith expressed optimism about Texas's untapped resources.[22] The University of Texas officially opened its doors on September 15, 1883.[23]
The oldMain Building of the university was built in aVictorian-Gothic style and served as the central point of the campus's 40-acre (16 ha) site, and was used for nearly all purposes. But by the 1930s, discussions arose about the need for new library space, and the Main Building was razed in 1934, despite the objections of many students and faculty. The modern-day tower and Main Building were constructed in its place.[24][25]
In 1916, a contentious dispute erupted between Texas GovernorJames E. Ferguson and the University of Texas over faculty appointments. Ferguson's attempt to influence these appointments led to a retaliatory veto of the university's budget, jeopardizing its operations. Subsequently, Ferguson was impeached by theTexas House of Representatives, convicted by the Senate on charges including misapplication of public funds, and removed from office.[26]
In 1921, the legislature appropriated $1.35 million to purchase land next to the main campus. However, expansion was hampered by the restriction against using state revenues to fund construction of university buildings as set forth in Article 7, Section 14 of the Constitution. With the completion of Santa Rita No. 1 well[27] and the discovery ofoil on university-owned lands in 1923, the university added significantly to its Permanent University Fund. The additional income from Permanent University Fund investments allowed for bond issues in 1931 and 1947, which allowed the legislature to address funding for the university along with the Agricultural and Mechanical College (now known asTexas A&M University). With sufficient funds to finance construction on both campuses, on April 8, 1931, the Forty Second Legislature passed H.B. 368.[28] which dedicated the Agricultural and Mechanical College a 1/3 interest in the Available University Fund,[29] the annual income from Permanent University Fund investments.
In 1929, the University of Texas was inducted into theAssociation of American Universities.[30]
DuringWorld War II, the University of Texas was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in theV-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.[31] Additionally, to facilitate the wartime effort, academic calendars were compressed, allowing for accelerated graduation.[32]
AfterBrown v. Board of Education in 1954, Houston, Texas, area teen Marion Ford had been accepted to become one of the first Black attendees. In an interview with a reporter he announced his desire to try-out for the football team. The Ford Crisis would begin and all Black admissions at the time were rescinded until policy could be drawn up.[33]
In the fall of 1956, the first Black students entered the university's undergraduate class.[34] Black students were permitted to live in campus dorms, but were barred from campus cafeterias.[34] The University of Texas integrated its facilities and desegregated its dormitories in 1965.[35] UT, which had had an open admissions policy, adopted standardized testing for admissions in the mid-1950s, at least in part as a conscious strategy to minimize the number of Black undergraduates, given that they were no longer able to simply bar their entry after the Brown decision.[36]
Following growth in enrollment after World War II, the university unveiled an ambitious master plan in 1960 designed for "10 years of growth" that was intended to "boost the University of Texas into the ranks of the top state universities in the nation."[37] In 1965, theTexas Legislature granted the university Board of Regents to useeminent domain to purchase additional properties surrounding the original 40 acres (160,000 m2). The university began buying parcels of land to the north, south, and east of the existing campus, particularly in theBlackland neighborhood to the east and the Brackenridge tract to the southeast, in hopes of using the land to relocate the university's intramural fields, baseball field, tennis courts, and parking lots.[37]
On March 6, 1967, the Sixtieth Texas Legislature changed the university's official name from "The University of Texas" to "The University of Texas at Austin" to reflect the growth of theUniversity of Texas System.[38]
On August 1, 1966, Texas studentCharles Whitman barricaded the observation deck in the tower of the Main Building. Armed with multiple firearms, he killed 14 people on campus, 11 from the observation deck and below the clocks on the tower, and three more in the tower, as well as wounding two others inside the observation deck. The massacre ended when Whitman was shot and killed by police after they breached the tower.
After the Whitman event, the observation deck was closed until 1968 and then closed again in 1975 following a series of suicide jumps during the 1970s. In 1999, after installation of security fencing and other safety precautions, the tower observation deck reopened to the public. There is a turtle pond park near the tower dedicated to those affected by the tragedy.
The firstpresidential library on a university campus was dedicated on May 22, 1971, with formerPresident Johnson,Lady Bird Johnson and then-PresidentRichard Nixon in attendance. Constructed on the eastern side of the main campus, theLyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is one of 13 presidential libraries administered by theNational Archives and Records Administration.
A statue ofMartin Luther King Jr. was unveiled on campus in 1999 and subsequently vandalized.[39] By 2004, John Butler, a professor at theMcCombs School of Business suggested moving it toMorehouse College, a historically black college, "a place where he is loved".[39]
The University of Texas at Austin has experienced a wave of new construction recently with several significant buildings. On April 30, 2006, the school opened theBlanton Museum of Art.[40] In August 2008, the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center opened, with the hotel and conference center forming part of a new gateway to the university. Also in 2008,Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was expanded to a seating capacity of 100,119, making it the largest stadium (by capacity) in the state of Texas at the time.[41]
On Tuesday, September 28, 2010, a shooting occurred at thePerry–Castañeda Library (PCL) where student Colton Tooley, armed with an AK-47, fired shots on his walk from Guadalupe Street to the library's front entrance. The student ascended to the sixth floor, before killing himself. No one else was injured, except for one sprained ankle suffered by a student fleeing the scene.[42]
In early 2020, following a major outbreak of the newcoronavirus, the university restricted travel to Wuhan province in China, aligning with the U.S. Department of State's recommendation.[43] By March 17, 2020, then-UT President Gregory L. Fenves announced a transition to online classes for the rest of the spring semester after 49 confirmed COVID-19 cases emerged from students' travels to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, during spring break.[44] Throughout the summer, the university reported over 400 cases and its first COVID-19-related death, a custodial worker.[45][46]
The fall 2020 semester consisted of a majority of online courses through platforms like Zoom. On August 6, 2020, UT Austin initiated plans for free COVID-19 tests for all students. UT Austin returned to primarily in-person classes and campus activities for the fall 2021 semester, implementing safety protocols like testing requirements and vaccination incentives to ensure a safe return amid the ongoing pandemic.[47]
In 2024, after four years of test-optional admissions for undergraduate applications due to the COVID-19 pandemic, standardized testing scores were once again made a mandatory part of admissions, beginning with applications for the fall 2025 semester.[48] Jay Hartzell commented that the SAT and ACT standardized exams were "a proven differentiator that is in each student's and the University's best interest."[48]
On April 2, 2024, the University of Texas at Austin announced additional adjustments in compliance with Senate Bill 17,[49] particularly in response to a letter from March 26, 2024, from Texas State SenatorBrandon Creighton,[50] which led to the layoff of approximately 60 individuals, most of whom formerly worked in DEI-related programs, and the elimination of the newly renamed Division of Campus and Community Engagement.[51] Students, faculty, staff, and outside critics denounced the university's over-compliance with the anti-DEI law, since the university had already been compliant since January 1, 2024.[52][53] At a UT Austin Faculty Council meeting on April 15, 2024, in response to mounting criticism,President Jay Hartzell stated the additional changes were made in response to the threats from theRepublican-ledState Legislature and theUniversity of Texas System Board of Regents, and to restore "confidence" in the university, reacting to changing tides in public opinion towards higher education amongst Republicans.[54] The university's Division of Campus and Community Engagement operated theUniversity of Texas-University Charter School, acharter school system with 23 campuses across Texas, until the closure on April 2, 2024, leading the charter school to be moved to theCollege of Education.[55]
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On February 4, 2024, aPalestinian-American student at a pro-Palestinian protest at the campus was stabbed, receiving non-life-threatening injuries.[56][57] The attacker used a racial slur against the protestors and the attack was investigated as ahate crime.[58][59][60] A month later the attacker was indicted by agrand jury on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge but was not charged with any additional hate crime charge.[61]
A large student and faculty Pro-Palestinian protest occurred on April 24, 2024, demanding a ceasefire in theGaza war and that the university divest from companies profiting from Israel's actions.[62] The protests occurred amidst theongoing nationwide demonstrations on college campuses.[63][64]
In response, the university, under the explicit direction of President Hartzell,[65][66] requested the assistance of theAustin Police Department (APD) and theTexas Department of Public Safety (DPS), in coordination withTexas GovernorGreg Abbott, in an attempt to quell said protests and an "occupation" of the university,[67][68] in contrast tofree speech on campus laws praised by Abbott and the university in prior years.[69] The deployment of multiple police units led to the confirmed arrest of 57 protesters, including a photojournalist for Fox 7 Austin, with several more detained.[70][71][72][73][74] Charges were then dismissed against 46 protesters the next day, leading to their subsequent release,[75][62][76] with the charges against the remaining 11 protesters dropped on April 26, 2024.[77]
This decision received sharp backlash, including from general faculty, staff, students, severalDemocratic legislators for the region, andFirst Amendment advocacy groups,[78][79] including an official statement from the UT Faculty Council Executive Committee denouncing it,[80] in part due to the extreme, chaotic, and violent police response that ensued and alleged violations ofFirst Amendment rights.[81][70] The university additionally set new rules for protests on campus, such as banning masks and face coverings and instituting a 10 PM curfew for all protests, directly contradicting prior guidelines.[82] Initially, the university told students and faculty that arrested protestors would no longer be allowed on campus, but retracted the statement two hours later, stating that they would be allowed "academic" access, only to then announce a change to full access for university affiliates.[83] Additionally, the university temporarily suspended the student organization that organized the protests, the Palestine Solidarity Committee.[84]Travis County Attorney Delia Garza stated that the way that the university handled the protests put a strain on the local criminal justice system, specifically reprimanding the sending of protestors to jail for low-level charges.[85]
A report later released by the UT Austin Committee of Counsel on Academic Freedom and Responsibility (CCAFR) on July 17, 2024, found that UT Austin administrators violated its own institutional rules in clear disregard of freedom of speech and expression protections.[86]
On April 8, 2025, the University of Texas at Austin announced the removal of its graduation requirement for "Flag" courses, including the Cultural Diversity in the United States Flag. Interim Provost David Bout stated that while the core curriculum remains required, students are no longer obligated to complete Flag courses to graduate. The decision follows increased scrutiny of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in Texas, including the passage of Senate Bill 17, which banned DEI offices at public universities.[87][88]
The university's property totals 1,438.5 acres (582.1 ha), comprising the 423.5 acres (171.4 ha) for the Main Campus in centralAustin and theJ. J. Pickle Research Campus in north Austin and the other properties throughout Texas. The main campus has 150 buildings totaling over 18,000,000 square feet (1,700,000 m2).
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One of the university's most visible features is theBeaux-ArtsMain Building, including a 307-foot (94 m) tower designed byPaul Philippe Cret.[89] Completed in 1937, the Main Building is in the middle of campus. The tower usually appears illuminated in white light in the evening but is lit burnt orange for various special occasions, including athletic victories and academic accomplishments; conversely, it is darkened for solemn occasions.[90] At the top of the tower is acarillon of 56 bells, the largest in Texas. Songs are played on weekdays by student carillonneurs,[91] in addition to the usual pealing ofWestminster Quarters every quarter-hour between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.[92] In 1998, after the installation of security and safety measures, the observation deck reopened to the public indefinitely for weekend tours.[93]
The university's seven museums and seventeen libraries hold over nine million volumes, making it the seventh-largest academic library in the country.[94] The holdings of the university'sHarry Ransom Humanities Research Center include one of only 21 remaining complete copies of theGutenberg Bible and the first permanent photograph,View from the Window at Le Gras, taken byNicéphore Niépce.[95] The newest museum, the 155,000-square-foot (14,400 m2)Blanton Museum of Art, is the largest university art museum in the United States and hosts approximately 17,000 works from Europe, the United States, and Latin America.[96][97] ThePerry–Castañeda Library, which houses the central University Libraries operations and thePerry–Castañeda Library Map Collection, is at the heart of campus. TheBenson Latin American Collection holds the largest collection of Latin American materials among US university libraries,[98] and maintains substantial digital collections.[99]
The University of Texas at Austin has an extensive tunnel system that links the buildings on campus. Constructedc. 1928 under the supervision of UT engineering professor Carl J. Eckhardt Jr., then head of the physical plant, the tunnels have grown along with the campus.[100] They measure approximately six miles in length.[101][102] The tunnel system is used for communications and utility service. It is closed to the public and guarded bysilent alarms. Since the late 1940s, the university has generated its own electricity. Today its natural gascogeneration plant has a capacity of 123 MW. The university also operates aTRIGA nuclear reactor at theJ. J. Pickle Research Campus.[103][104]
The university continues to expand its facilities on campus. In 2010, the university opened the state-of-the-art Norman Hackerman building (on the site of the former Experimental Sciences Building) housing chemistry and biology research and teaching laboratories. In 2010, the university broke ground on the $120 million Bill & Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex and Dell Computer Science Hall and the $51 million Belo Center for New Media, both of which are now complete.[105][106] The newLEED gold-certified, 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m2) Student Activity Center (SAC) opened in January 2011, housing study rooms, lounges and food vendors. The SAC was constructed as a result of a student referendum passed in 2006 which raised student fees by $65 per semester.[107] In 2012, the Moody Foundation awarded the College of Communication $50 million, the largest endowment any communication college has received, so naming it the Moody College of Communication.
The university operates two public radio stations,KUT with news and information, andKUTX with music, via localFM broadcasts as well as live streaming audio over the Internet. The university usesCapMetro to provide bus transportation for students around the campus on theUT Shuttle system and throughout Austin, and UT students, faculty, and staff with an active UT ID card are able to ride public transportation without paying a fare.[108]
The university contains eighteen colleges and schools and one academic unit, each listed with its founding date:[109]
The University of Texas at Austin offers more than 100 undergraduate and 170 graduate degrees. In the 2009–2010 academic year, the university awarded a total of 13,215 degrees: 67.7%bachelor's degrees, 22.0% master's degrees, 6.4%doctoral degrees, and 3.9% Professional degrees.[110]
In addition, the university has ninehonors programs, eight of which span a variety of academic fields: Liberal Arts Honors, the Business Honors Program, the Turing Scholars Program in Computer Science, Engineering Honors, the Dean's Scholars Program in Natural Sciences, the Health Science Scholars Program in Natural Sciences, the Polymathic Scholars Program in Natural Sciences, and the Undergraduate Nursing Honors Program in School of Nursing. The ninth is the Plan II Honors Program, a rigorous interdisciplinary program that is a major in and of itself.[111] Many Plan II students pursue a second major, often participating in another department's honors program in addition to Plan II.[112] The university also offers programs such as theFreshman Research Initiative and Texas Interdisciplinary Plan.[113]
| Undergraduate admissions statistics | |
|---|---|
| Admit rate | 28.8 (  −11.6) |
| Yield rate | 47.7 (  +2.2) |
| Test scoresmiddle 50% | |
| SAT Total | 1230–1480 (among 56% ofFTFs) |
| ACT Composite | 29–34 (among 26% ofFTFs) |
The University of Texas at Austin encourages applicants to submitSAT/ACT scores, but it is not required.[116] However, for students applying for admission from fall 2025 onwards, submission ofSAT/ACT scores is mandatory as part of their undergraduate admission application.[117] As of 2011, the university was one of the most selective universities in the region. Relative to other universities in the state of Texas, UT Austin was second toRice University in selectivity according to aBusiness Journal study weighing acceptance rates and the mid-range of the SAT and ACT. The University of Texas at Austin was ranked as the 18th most selective in the South.[118]
As a state public university, UT Austin was subject toTexas House Bill 588, which guaranteed Texas high school seniors graduating in the top 10% of their class admission to any public Texas university. A new state law granting UT Austin (but no other state university) a partial exemption from the top 10% rule, Senate Bill 175, was passed by the 81st Legislature in 2009. It modified this admissions policy by limiting automatically admitted freshmen to 75% of the entering in-state freshman class, starting in 2011. The university will admit the top one percent, the top two percent and so forth until the cap is reached; the university currently admits the top 6%.[119] Furthermore, students admitted underTexas House Bill 588 are not guaranteed their choice of college or major, but rather only guaranteed admission to the university as a whole. Many colleges, such as the Cockrell School of Engineering, have secondary requirements that must be met for admission.[120]
For others who go through the traditional application process, selectivity is deemed "more selective" according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and byU.S. News & World Report.[121][122] For fall 2023, 66,109 applied and 19,253 were accepted (29.1%), and of those accepted, 48.8% enrolled.[123] Among freshman students who enrolled for fall 2024, the averageSAT English reading and writing score was 680, with the 25th percentile at 630 and the 75th percentile at 730, while the averageSAT Math score was 690, with the 25th percentile at 610 and the 75th percentile at 760.[124] In terms of class rank, 74.4% of enrolled freshmen were in the top 10% of their high school classes and 91.7% ranked in the top quarter.[123] In the 2020–2021 academic year, 79 freshman students wereNational Merit Scholars.[125]
| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applicants | 66,043 | 57,241 | 53,525 | 50,575 | 51,033 | 47,511 |
| Admits | 18,989 | 18,291 | 17,029 | 19,482 | 18,620 | 19,182 |
| Admit rate | 28.8 | 32.0 | 31.8 | 38.5 | 36.5 | 40.4 |
| Enrolled | 9,060 | 8,459 | 8,170 | 8,960 | 8,381 | 8,719 |
| Yield rate | 47.7 | 46.2 | 48.0 | 46.0 | 45.0 | 45.5 |
| ACT composite* (out of 36) | 29–34 (26%†) | 26–33 (47%†) | 27–33 (54%†) | 27–33 (56%†) | 26–33 (65%†) | 26–32 (64%†) |
| SAT composite* (out of 1600) | 1230–1480 (56%†) | 1220–1450 (79%†) | 1240–1470 (79%†) | 1230–1480 (78%†) | 1230–1460 (73%†) | — |
| * middle 50% range † percentage of first-time freshmen who chose to submit | ||||||
| Academic rankings | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Forbes[130] | 46 |
| U.S. News & World Report[131] | 30(tie) |
| Washington Monthly[132] | 98 |
| WSJ/College Pulse[133] | 41 |
| Global | |
| ARWU[134] | 45 |
| QS[135] | 66 |
| THE[136] | 50 |
| U.S. News & World Report[137] | 56(tie) |
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) was ranked 30th among all universities in the U.S. and 7th among public universities according toU.S. News & World Report's 2025 rankings.[131] Internationally, UT Austin was tied for 56th in the 2024 "Best Global Universities" ranking byU.S. News & World Report, 45th in the world byAcademic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) in 2024, 52nd worldwide byTimes Higher Education World University Rankings (2024), and 66th globally byQS World University Rankings (2025).[138] UT Austin was also ranked 35th in the world by theCenter for World University Rankings (CWUR) in 2024.[139]
The University of Texas at Austin is considered to be a "Public Ivy"—a public university that provides anIvy League collegiate experience at a public school price, having been ranked in virtually every list of "Public Ivies" since Richard Moll coined the term in his 1985 bookPublic Ivies: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities. The seven other "Public Ivy" universities, according to Moll, were the College of William & Mary, Miami University, theUniversity of California, theUniversity of Michigan, theUniversity of North Carolina, theUniversity of Vermont, and theUniversity of Virginia.[140]
The Accounting and Latin American History programs are consistently ranked top in the nation by theU.S. News & World Report college rankings, most recently in their 2023 and 2021 editions, respectively.[141][142] More than 50 other science, humanities, and professional programs rank in the top 25 nationally.[143] The College of Pharmacy is listed as the third-best in the nation and The School of Information (iSchool) is sixth-best in Library and Information Sciences.[143] Among other rankings, the School of Social Work is 7th, theJackson School of Geosciences is 8th for Earth Sciences, theCockrell School of Engineering is tied for 10th-best (with the undergraduate engineering program tied for 11th-best in the country), the Nursing School is tied for 13th, theUniversity of Texas School of Law is 15th, theLyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs is 7th, and theMcCombs School of Business is tied for 16th-best (with the undergraduate business program tied for 5th-best in the country).[143]
TheUniversity of Texas School of Architecture was ranked second among national undergraduate programs in 2012.[144]
A 2005Bloomberg survey ranked the school 5th among all business schools and first among public business schools for the largest number of alumni who areS&P 500 CEOs.[145] Similarly, a 2005USA Today report ranked the university as "the number one source of newFortune 1000 CEOs".[146] A "payback" analysis published by SmartMoney in 2011 comparing graduates' salaries to tuition costs concluded the school was the second-best value of all colleges in the nation, behind onlyGeorgia Tech.[147] A 2013 College Database study found that UT Austin was 22nd in the nation in terms of increased lifetime earnings by graduates.[148]
UT Austin isclassified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity."[122] For the 2014–2015 cycle, the university was awarded over $580 million in sponsored projects,[149][150] and has earned more than 300 patents since 2003.[151] The University of Texas at Austin houses the Office of Technology Commercialization, atechnology transfer center which serves as the bridge between laboratory research and commercial development. In 2009, the university created nine new start-up companies to commercialize technology developed at the university and has created 46 start-ups in the past seven years. License agreements generated $10.9 million in revenue for the university in 2009.[151] In January 2020, the University of Texas Austin's Texas Innovation Center was established to provide support for startups.[152]
Research at UT Austin is largely focused in the engineering and physical sciences,[153] and the university is a world-leading research institution in fields such as computer science.[154] Energy is a major research thrust, with federally funded projects on biofuels,[155] battery and solar cell technology, and geological carbon dioxide storage,[156] water purification membranes, among others. In 2009, the University of Texas founded the Energy Institute, led by former Under Secretary for ScienceRaymond L. Orbach, to organize and advance multi-disciplinary energy research.[157] In addition to its own medical school, it houses medical programs associated with other campuses and allied health professional programs, as well as major research programs in pharmacy, biomedical engineering, neuroscience, and others.
In 2010, the University of Texas at Austin opened the $100 million Dell Pediatric Research Institute to increase medical research at the university and establish a medical research complex, and associated medical school, in Austin.[158][159]
The university operates several major auxiliary research centers. The world's third-largest telescope, theHobby–Eberly Telescope, and three other large telescopes are part of the university'sMcDonald Observatory, 450 miles (720 km) west of Austin.[160][161] The university manages nearly 300 acres (120 ha) of biological field laboratories, including theBrackenridge Field Laboratory in Austin. The Center for Agile Technology focuses onsoftware development challenges.[162] TheJ.J. Pickle Research Campus (PRC) is home to the Texas Advanced Computing Center which operates a series of supercomputers, such as Ranger (from 2008 to 2013[163]), Stampede (2013–2017[164]), Stampede2 (since 2017[165]), and Frontera (since 2019).[166] The Pickle campus also hosts the Microelectronics Research Center which houses micro- and nanoelectronics research and features a 15,000 square foot (1,400 m2) cleanroom for device fabrication.
Founded in 1946, the university's Applied Research Laboratories at the PRC has developed or tested the vast majority of the Navy's high-frequency sonar equipment. In 2007, the Navy granted it a research contract funded up to $928 million over ten years.[167][168] The Institute for Advanced Technology, founded in 1990 and located in the West Pickle Research Building, supports the U.S. Army with basic and applied research in several fields.
TheCenter for Transportation Research is a nationally recognized research institution focusing on transportation research, education, and public service. Established in 1963 as the Center for Highway Research, its projects address virtually all aspects of transportation, including economics, multimodal systems, traffic congestion relief, transportation policy, materials, structures, transit, environmental impacts, driver behavior, land use, geometric design, accessibility, and pavements.[169]
In 2013, the University of Texas at Austin announced the naming of the O'Donnell Building for Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences. The O'Donnell Foundation of Dallas, headed byPeter O'Donnell and his wife, Edith Jones O'Donnell, has given more than $135 million to the university between 1983 and 2013. University presidentWilliam C. Powers declared the O'Donnells "among the greatest supporters of the University of Texas in its 130-year history. Their transformative generosity is based on the belief in our power to change society for the better."[170] In 2008, O'Donnell pledged $18 million to finance the hiring of university faculty members undertaking research in mathematics, computers, and multiple scientific disciplines; his pledge was matched by W. A. "Tex" Moncrief Jr., anoilman and philanthropist fromFort Worth.[171]In addition, UT Austin and Amazon established a new science hub in 2023.[172][173]
The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute is located on the Gulf coast in Port Aransas. Established in 1941, UTMSI was the first permanent marine research facility in the state of Texas and has since contributed significantly to our understanding of marine ecosystems. Research at the Marine Science Institute ranges from locally-important work on mariculture and estuarine ecosystems to the investigation of global issues in marine science, from the Arctic to the tropics.
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The University of Texas System is entitled to at least 30% of the distributions from thePermanent University Fund (PUF), with over $33 billion in assets as of year-end 2021.[174][175] The University of Texas System gets two-thirds of theAvailable University Fund (the name of the annual distribution of PUF's income), and the Texas A&M University System gets the other third. A regental policy[176] requiresat least 45 percent of UT System's share of this money go to the University of Texas at Austin for "program enrichment". By taking two-thirds and multiplying it by 45 percent, UT gets 30 percent, which is theminimum amount of AUF income that can be distributed to the school under current policies. The Regents, however, can decide to allocate additional amounts to the university. Also, the majority of the University of Texas system share of the AUF is used for its debt servicebonds, some of which were issued for the benefit of the Austin campus.[177] The Regents can change the 45 percent minimum of the University of Texas System share that goes to the Austin campus at any time, although doing so might be difficult politically.
Proceeds from lands appropriated in 1839 and 1876, as well as oil monies, comprise the majority of PUF. At one time, the PUF was the chief source of income for Texas' two university systems, the University of Texas System and theTexas A&M University System; today, however, its revenues account for less than 10 percent of the universities' annual budgets. This has challenged the universities to increase sponsored research and private donations. Privately funded endowments contribute over $2 billion to the university's total endowment.
The University of Texas System also has about $22 billion of assets in its General Endowment Fund.[178]
| Race and ethnicity[179] | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 37% | 37 | |
| Hispanic | 26% | 26 | |
| Asian | 23% | 23 | |
| Other[b] | 5% | 5 | |
| Black | 6% | 6 | |
| Foreign national | 4% | 4 | |
| Economic diversity | |||
| Low-income[c] | 23% | 23 | |
| Affluent[d] | 77% | 77 | |
For fall 2023, the university enrolled 42,444 undergraduate students and 10,638 postgraduate students, bringing the total student count to 53,082. Out-of-state students accounted for 9.4% of the undergraduate student body, and international students comprised 9.6% of the total student body.[4]
For fall 2015, the undergraduate student body was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.[180] In 2022, the three most popular undergraduate majors were Biology/Biological Sciences, Psychology, and Computer and Information Sciences. For graduate studies, the top choices were Business Administration and Management, Accounting, and Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods.[181]
The campus has fourteen residence halls, the newest of which opened in spring 2007. As of 2024, there are a total of fifteen on-campus residence halls, with eight located in North Campus and seven in South Campus.[182] Residence Hall Rates for the 2024–25 fall and spring terms vary across eleven different rates, ranging from the lowest rate of $13,504 to the highest rate of $20,447, each corresponding to different room types.[183] On-campus housing can hold more than 7,100 students.[184]Jester Center is the largest residence hall with its capacity of 2,945.[185] Academic enrollment exceeds the on-campus housing capacity; as a result, most students must live in private residence halls,housing cooperatives, apartments, or withGreek organizations and other off-campus residences. University Housing and Dining, which already has the largest market share of 7,000 of the estimated 27,000 beds in the campus area, plans to expand to 9,000 beds.[186]
The University of Texas at Austin is home to an active Greek community. Approximately 14 percent of undergraduate students are in fraternities or sororities.[187] With more than 65 national chapters, the university's Greek community is one of the nation's largest.[187] These chapters are under the authority of one of the school's six Greek council communities,Interfraternity Council,National Pan-Hellenic Council, Texas Asian Pan-Hellenic Council, Latino Pan-Hellenic Council, Multicultural Greek Council and University Panhellenic Council.[188] Other registered student organizations also name themselves with Greek letters and are called affiliates. They are not a part of one of the six councils but have all of the same privileges and responsibilities of any other organization.[189] Most Greek houses are west of theDrag in theWest Campus neighborhood.
Students express their opinions in and out of class through periodicals includingStudy Breaks magazine, Longhorn Life,The Daily Texan (the most award-winning daily college newspaper in the United States),[190] and theTexas Travesty. Over the airwaves students' voices are heard through Texas Student Television (K29HW-D) andKVRX Radio.
The Computer Writing and Research Lab of the university's Department of Rhetoric and Writing also hoststhe Blogora, a blog for "connecting rhetoric, rhetorical methods and theories, and rhetoricians with public life" by theRhetoric Society of America.[191]
Traditions at the University of Texas are perpetuated through several school symbols and mediums. At athletic events, students frequently sing "Texas Fight", the university's fight song[192] while displaying theHook 'em Horns hand gesture[193]—the gesture mimicking the horns of the school's mascot,Bevo theTexas Longhorn.
The University of Texas is also represented by theTexas Cowboys, who maintainSmokey, the university's replica 1,200-poundCivil War artillery cannon.[194][195][196]
The University of Texas offers a wide variety of varsity and intramural sports programs.
The university's men's and women's athletics teams are nicknamed the Longhorns. Texas has won 50 total national championships,[197] 42 of which areNCAA national championships.[198]
The football team experienced its greatest success under coachDarrell Royal, winning three national championships in 1963, 1969, and 1970. It won a fourth title under head coachMack Brown in 2005 after a 41–38 victory over previously undefeatedSouthern California in the2006 Rose Bowl.
The university'sbaseball team has made more trips to theCollege World Series (35) than any other school, and won championships in 1949, 1950, 1975, 1983, 2002, and 2005.[199]
The Texas Longhorns men's basketball has qualified for the NCAA Final Four three times and achieved 28 conference championships and 38 total appearances in the NCAA tournament.[200]
Rick Barnes led the Texas Longhorns men's basketball from 1998 to 2015. Under his leadership, the team achieved 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four appearance in 2003.[201]
Shaka Smart coached the Texas Longhorns men's basketball from 2015 to 2021. While at UT Austin, Smart's teams made 3 NCAA Tournament appearances.[202]
Additionally, the university's men's and women's swimming and diving teams lay claim to sixteen NCAA Division I titles, with the men's team having 13 of those titles, more than any other Division 1 team.[203] The swim team was first developed under CoachTex Robertson.[204]
On June 12, 2020, UT student-athletes banded together with their #WeAreOne statement on Twitter. Among the list of changes included: renaming certain campus buildings, replacing statues, starting outreach programs, and replacing "The Eyes of Texas". UT Interim President Jay Hartzell released a statement on July 13, 2020, announcing the changes to be implemented in light of these demands from UT student-athletes. Hartzell said the university would make a multi-million dollar investment to programs that recruit, retain and support Black students; rename the Robert L. Moore Building as the Physics, Math and Astronomy Building; honor Heman M. Sweatt in numerous ways, including placing a statue of Sweatt near the entrance of T.S. Painter Hall; honor the Precursors, the first Black undergraduates to attend the University of Texas at Austin, by commissioning a new monument on the East Mall; erect a statue forJulius Whittier, the Longhorns' first Black football letterman, at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium; and more. However, one of the most controversial topics on the list – replacing "The Eyes of Texas" as UT's alma mater – remained untouched.[205]
In the fall of 2016, the school employed 3,128full-time faculty members, with a student-to-faculty ratio of 18.86 to 1. These include[206][207] winners of theNobel Prize, thePulitzer Prize, theNational Medal of Science, theNational Medal of Technology, theTuring Award, thePrimetime Emmy Award, and other various awards.[208] Nine Nobel Laureates are or have been affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin. Research expenditures for the university exceeded $679.8 million in fiscal year 2018.[209][210]
Texas Exes is the official University of Texas alumni organization.The Alcalde, founded in 1913 and pronounced "all-call-day", is the university's alumni magazine.
At least 15 graduates have served in theU.S. Senate orU.S. House of Representatives, includingLloyd Bentsen, who served in both Houses.[211] Presidential cabinet members include formerU.S. Secretaries of StateRex Tillerson, andJames Baker,[212] former U.S. Secretary of EducationWilliam J. Bennett, and former U.S. Secretary of CommerceDonald Evans. FormerFirst LadyLaura Bush and daughterJenna both graduated from Texas,[213] as well as former First LadyLady Bird Johnson and her eldest daughterLynda.
In foreign governments, the university has been represented byFernando Belaúnde Terry (42nd President ofPeru) and byAbdullah al-Tariki (co-founder ofOPEC). Additionally, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority,Salam Fayyad, graduated from the university with a PhD in economics.Tom C. Clark served asUnited States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and as an Associate Justice of theSupreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967.
Alumni in academia include the Nobel Prize-winning immunologistJames P. Allison, and the Nobel Prize-winning hematologistE. Donnall Thomas. Additional alumni include 26th president ofThe College of William & MaryGene Nichol, the 10th president ofBoston UniversityRobert A. Brown,[214] and the 8th president of theUniversity of Southern CaliforniaJohn R. Hubbard. The university also graduatedAlan Bean, thefourth man to walk on the Moon.
Alumni who have served as business leaders include formerSecretary of State and formerExxonMobil Corporation CEORex Tillerson,Dell founder and CEOMichael Dell,Morton Meyerson (name sake of theMorton H. Meyerson Symphony Center) andGary C. Kelly, a formerSouthwest Airlines CEO.
In literature and journalism, the school boasts over 25Pulitzer Prizes credited to alumni and faculty members,[215] includingGail Caldwell andBen Sargent.Walter Cronkite, the formerCBS Evening News anchor once called the most trusted man in America, attended the University of Texas at Austin, as didCNN anchorBetty Nguyen. AlumnusJ. M. Coetzee also received the 2003Nobel Prize in Literature. NovelistRaymond Benson was the official author of James Bond novels between 1996 and 2002, the only American to be commissioned to pen them.Donna Alvermann, a distinguished research professor at the University of Georgia, department of education also graduated from the University of Texas, as didWallace Clift andJean Dalby Clift, authors of several books in the fields of psychology of religion and spiritual growth. Notable alumni authors also includeKovid Gupta, author of several bestselling books,Ruth Cowan Nash, America's first woman war correspondent, andAlireza Jafarzadeh, author of "The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis" and television commentator.[citation needed] Although expelled from the university, former student andThe Daily Texan writerJohn Patric went on to become a noted writer forNational Geographic,Reader's Digest, and author of 1940s best-sellerWhy Japan was Strong.[216][citation needed]
University of Texas at Austin alumni also include 112Fulbright Scholars,[217] 31Rhodes Scholars,[217] 28Truman Scholars,[218] 23Marshall Scholars,[217] and nine astronauts.[219]
Several musicians and entertainers attended the university.Janis Joplin, the American singer posthumously inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame who received aGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award, attended the university,[220] as did February 1955PlayboyPlaymate of the Month andGolden Globe recipientJayne Mansfield.[221] ComposerHarold Morris is a 1910 graduate. Noted film director, cinematographer, writer, and editorRobert Rodriguez is a Longhorn, as are actorsEli Wallach andMatthew McConaughey, the latter of which now teaches a class at the university.[222] Founding members of psychedelic rock bandThe Bright Light Social Hour Jackie O'Brien and Curtis Roush both received master's degrees from the university in 2009 while completing their debut self-titled album.[223]
Kendall Ross Bean completed his Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance in 1982. As a master piano rebuilder and concert pianist, Bean first performed on a piano he rebuilt in one of the first classical music videos to be broadcast across the United States on the A&E Network which in 1985 had 18 million cable viewers. This broadcast coincided with MTV emerging as a medium for record production companies to use music videos to promote the albums of Rock and Pop stars. The novelty of a classical music video featuring a solo pianist and the inside view of piano hammers hitting strings, contrasted to the high production rock music videos caught media attention from coast to coast. The video was titled:Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat.
Karen Earle Lile, niece ofTony Terran, received her Bachelor of Arts Degree with Highest Honors in English in 1982. She is the Art Director/Executive Producer for theUSPS Building Bridges Special Postal Cancellation Series and a Talk Show host for Sail Sport Talk onSports Byline USA, a record producer[224][225]atFantasy Studios and the historian who discovered theprovenance of the Lost Lennon piano,[226] afterwards known as theLennon-Ono-Green-Warhol piano.[227]
Robert Rodriguez dropped out of the university after two years to pursue his career in Hollywood, but completed his degree from the Radio-Television-Film department on May 23, 2009. Rodriguez also gave the keynote address at the university-wide commencement ceremony. Radio-Television-Film alumniMark Dennis and Ben Foster took their award-winning feature film,Strings, to the American film festival circuit in 2011. Web and television actressFelicia Day and film actressRenée Zellweger attended the university. Day graduated with degrees in music performance (violin) and mathematics, while Zellweger graduated with a BA in English. Writer and recording artistPhillip Sandifer graduated with a degree in history.Michael "Burnie" Burns is an actor, writer, film director and film producer who graduated with a degree in computer science.[228] He, along with graduateMatt Hullum,[228] also founded the Austin-based production companyRooster Teeth, that produces many hit shows, including the award-winning Internet series,Red vs. Blue.Farrah Fawcett, one of the originalCharlie's Angels, left after her junior year to pursue a modeling career. ActorOwen Wilson and writer/directorWes Anderson attended the university, where they wroteBottle Rocket together, which became Anderson's first feature film. Writer and producerCharles Olivier is a Longhorn. So too are filmmakers and actorsMark Duplass and his brotherJay Duplass, key contributors to themumblecore film genre. Another notable writer,Rob Thomas graduated with a BA in history in 1987 and later wrote the young adult novelRats Saw God and created the seriesVeronica Mars. Illustrator, writer and alumFelicia Bond[229] is best known for her illustrations in theIf You Give... children's books series, starting withIf You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Taiwanese singer-songwriter, producer, actressCindy Yen (birth name Cindy Wu) graduated with double degrees in music (piano performance) and broadcast journalism in 2008. Noted composer and arrangerJack Cooper received his D.M.A. in 1999 from the University of Texas at Austin in composition and has gone on to teach in higher education and become known internationally through the music publishing industry. ActorTrevante Rhodes competed as a sprinter for the Longhorns and graduated with a BS in Applied Learning and Development in 2012. In 2016, he starred as Chiron in theAcademy Award- andGolden Globe-winning filmMoonlight.
Many alumni have found success in professional sports. Legendary pro football coachTom Landry attended the university as an industrial engineering major but interrupted his education after a semester to serve in theUnited States Army Air Corps during World War II. Following the war, he returned to the university and played fullback and defensive back on the Longhorns' bowl-game winners on New Year's Day of 1948 and 1949. Seven-timeCy Young Award-winnerRoger Clemens entered theMLB after helping the Longhorns win the1983 College World Series.[230]NBA MVP and four-time scoring championKevin Durant entered the2007 NBA draft and was selected second overall behindGreg Oden, after sweeping National Player of the Year honors, becoming the first freshman to win any of the awards. After becoming the first freshman in school history to lead Texas in scoring and being named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year,Daniel Gibson entered the2006 NBA draft and was selected in the second round by theCleveland Cavaliers. In his one year at Texas, golferJordan Spieth led the University of Texas Golf club to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship in 2012 and went on to win TheMasters Tournament three years after leaving the university.[231] Several Olympic medalists have also attended the school, including2008 Summer Olympics athletesIan Crocker (swimming world record holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist) and 4 × 400 m relay defending Olympic gold medalistSanya Richards.[232][233]Mary Lou Retton (the first female gymnast outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title, five-time Olympic medalist, and 1984Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year) also attended the university.[234]Garrett Weber-Gale, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and world record-holder in two events, was a swimmer for the school. Also an alumnus is Dr.Robert Cade, the inventor of the sports drinkGatorade. In big, globalphilanthropy, the university is honored byDarren Walker, president ofFord Foundation. 2022 and 2024Masters Tournament champion,Scottie Scheffler, attended the university, where he was an All-American Golfer for the Longhorns.
Other notable alumni include prominent businessmanRed McCombs,Diane Pamela Wood, the first female chief judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, astrophysicistNeil deGrasse Tyson, chemistDonna J. Nelson, and neuroscientistTara Spires-Jones. Also an alumnus is AdmiralWilliam H. McRaven, credited for organizing and executing Operation Neptune's Spear, the special ops raid that led to thedeath of Osama bin Laden.[235]Oveta Culp Hobby, the first woman to earn the rank of a colonel in the United States Army, first commanding officer and director of the Women's Army Corps, first secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare attended the university as well.Erika Thompson is a well-known beekeeper.
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