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Diving certificate:
- The University of Texas System Board of Directors announced plans on Thursday to combine a research university and an academic health center in San Antonio into one facility.
- Under the plan, the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio – which are only about eight miles apart – are expected to merge by 2025, pending approval by the accrediting agency.
- UT San Antonio will be the “parent institution,” with UT Health San Antonio serving as part of the university, a FAQ to the merger. Taylor Eighmy, currently president of UT San Antonio, was named head of the merged institution.
Diving insight:
This is not the first time the UT system has considered a merger of the two institutions — The idea was also explored in 2002 and 2010, but recent growth at both institutions has created the “perfect time to come together as one high-performing university,” officials said in a document. present the case for integration.
Enrollment has grown at both universities in recent years, outpacing the industrywide trend. According to federal data, UT San Antonio had 34,393 students in fall 2022, up 12.9% from a decade earlier. Meanwhile, UT Health San Antonio’s enrollment grew 8.3% over the same period, totaling 3,518 students in fall 2022.
Carnegie Classification Lists UT San Antonio as an R1 institution, a coveted award for universities with the highest research activity. Most of the approximately 30,000 students are bachelor students; there is no medical faculty at the university.
UT Health San Antonio is designed for those seeking a degree in the health sciences. The majority of students are doctoral students and offer medical, nursing and dental schools.
The merged institution will become the third largest research university in Texas, officials said in the announcement. Together, the two institutions will accommodate 40,000 students. employs nearly 16,000 people and has a total endowment of $1.1 billion.
According to the FAQ, the programs offered by the two universities largely complement each other and do not compete with each other. Through the merger, the institutions will be able to offer joint degree programs and expand their academic offerings, say those responsible. System officials said the merger will help create clearer transitions between bachelor’s and master’s programs, especially in the health sciences.
Still, officials will consider whether to consolidate programs or services over the next year. In the FAQ, they did not say whether the merger will result in layoffs, but stressed that the move is not a “cost-cutting project.”
“It is premature to speculate on job numbers at this time, but the primary focus is on expansion and innovation, which will likely lead to the creation of new roles and opportunities,” the FAQ states.
System leaders also hope to strengthen the institutions’ research efforts. Officials expect the merger will increase their “competitive advantage and attract more grants and contracts to San Antonio.” The merged institution will spend nearly $470 million annually on research, according to the announcement.
Officials also expect the combined facility will attract more healthcare, technology and business workers to San Antonio.
“By bringing together all of their complementary and unique strengths, we are giving Texans access to the best education, discoveries and health care imaginable, while accelerating the university’s evolution into one of the finest universities in the United States and the world,” Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board, said in a statement.
