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Dive Overview:
The University of Texas System Board of Regents announced plans Thursday to combine San Antonio's research university and academic medical center into one institution. Under the plan, The University of Texas at San Antonio and The University of Texas Health Science Center, located just eight miles apart, would merge by 2025, pending approval from accrediting agencies. UT San Antonio would become the “umbrella institution,” and UT Health San Antonio would operate as part of the university, according to FAQs about the merger. Taylor Amy, current president of UT San Antonio, has been named head of the combined institution.
Dive Insights:
This is not the first time the University of Texas System has considered merging the two schools — the idea was explored in 2002 and 2010 — but the recent growth of both schools made the timing “right for us to come together as one powerful university,” officials said in a statement explaining the merger.
Enrollment at both schools has been on the rise for the past few years, outpacing industry-wide trends. UT San Antonio will have 34,393 students for the fall 2022 semester, up 12.9% from a decade ago, according to federal data. Meanwhile, UT Health San Antonio's enrollment has increased 8.3% over the same period, to 3,518 students for the fall 2022 semester.
The Carnegie Classification lists UT San Antonio as an R1 institution, a prestigious designation given to universities with the highest levels of research activity. The majority of students, approximately 30,000, are undergraduates, and the university does not have a medical school.
UT Health San Antonio, on the other hand, caters to students seeking degrees in health sciences, with the majority of its enrollment being graduate students. The school operates schools of medicine, nursing, and dentistry.
The combined university will be the third largest research university in Texas, with a combined enrollment of 40,000 students, approximately 16,000 employees and a combined endowment of $1.1 billion, according to the announcement.
According to the FAQs, the programs at the two universities are largely complementary, not competitive. Officials hope the merger will allow the two schools to offer joint degree programs and expand academic offerings. System officials said the merger will also create clearer pathways between undergraduate and graduate programs, especially in the health sciences.
The agency will still evaluate over the next year whether to combine programs and services. The FAQ didn't say whether the merger would lead to job cuts, but it stressed that the move is not a “cost-cutting project.”
“While it is premature to speculate on job numbers at this time, the primary focus is on expansion and innovation, which may lead to the creation of new roles and opportunities,” the FAQ states.
System leaders also want to strengthen research activities at both institutions, and officials hope the merger will make them “more competitive in attracting additional grants and contracts to San Antonio.” The combined institutions will have annual research expenditures of nearly $470 million, according to the announcement.
Officials also hope the combined agency will attract more workers to San Antonio in the health care, technology and business sectors.
“By bringing together our complementary and unique strengths, we will provide Texans with access to the best education, discovery and healthcare imaginable, while accelerating the university's trajectory as a leading university in the nation and the world,” Kevin Eltife, chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents, said in a statement.
