Five things to watch at UTSA in 2025

JANUARY 6, 2025 -UTSA has big plans for 2025. From academic excellence and innovative research to community outreach and growth initiatives, UTSA is forging a path to become one of the state's leading public universities.

Here are five things to watch as students, faculty and staff return to campus for the new year.

Merger of UTSA and UT Health San Antonio

Last year, The University of Texas System announced that UTSA and UT Health San Antonio would merge to create a premier university that combines their top-tier academic and health science components within a single institution. This new university will leverage its size and scale to bring significant advantages to Texas on a national level.

San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas and seventh largest in the U.S., is the gateway to South Texas, home to 5.5 million people and projected to grow to 6.1 million by 2040. It plays a crucial role in Texas' care for its citizens and in maintaining the state's national competitiveness.

This unified institution will activate and accelerate the complementary strengths of UTSA and UT Health San Antonio, expanding academic degree programs, bolstering the health care enterprise, multiplying research, technological, and commercialization advancements, and empowering the next generation of innovators, educators, and health care providers to build a highly skilled workforce that benefits society.

The integration will make San Antonio the home of the most comprehensive public university and the third-largest public research institution in Texas. Upon completion, the integrated university will boast 40,000 students, nearly 16,000 employees, $467 million in research expenditures, $1.1 billion in endowments and a budget of $2.2 billion.

President Taylor Eighmy gives a few remarks during the celebration of the merger of UTSA and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

New College of AI, Cyber and Computing

The new College of AI, Cyber and Computing will build on the university's stellar leadership in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science and other industries that are crucial to meeting the demands of a growing digital and interconnected world. The college is expected to debut this fall and to enroll more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students. A recent two million dollar gift from USAA to support the new college is a testament of UTSA's capability to drive workforce development and economic success in San Antonio and the state.

UTSA remains one of just a few universities in the nation, and the only Hispanic Serving Institution, to hold three National Center of Excellence designations from the National Security Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Additionally, the university is home to the nation's only School of Data Science at a Hispanic Serving Institution.

The new college will highlight UTSA's work in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data science.

Center for Space Technology and Operations Research

UTSA is home to more than 35 researchers and 200-plus students working on space technology related research and career development. In December, the university established the Center for Space Technology and Operations Research (CSTOR) to support the institution's advancements in engineering, technology and operations that will make possible new missions between the Earth and Moon, an area known as cislunar space.

Currently, more than 35 researchers and over 200 students are doing space technology-related work at UTSA. The new center will strengthen the university's partnerships with organizations like the Southwest Research Institute and the Department of Energy National Labs. It will also strengthen UTSA's ability to further attract, train and support the talent pipeline that will bolster Texas' space economy.

Graduate research assistant Angelina Andrade adjusts a test rocket in the wind tunnel at the UTSA Hypersonics Lab.

San Pedro II

Core to San Antonio's downtown development strategy is San Pedro II, a 180,000-square-foot, $131 million project that is anticipated for completion this fall and is scheduled to open in Spring 2026. Known as the Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Careers Building, this innovative hub for learning and its predecessor, San Pedro I, are central to larger placemaking efforts underway at UTSA to connect classrooms and meeting spaces with outdoor venues, public art and greenspaces along San Pedro Creek.

Together, San Pedro I and II will be the hub of the university's growing presence in AI research and high-technology careers. San Pedro I will continue to serve as serving as the home of the National Security Collaboration Center and Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute while both buildings will accommodate elements of the new College of AI, Cyber and Computing.

San Pedro II is expected to open in Spring 2026 in Downtown San Antonio.

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