Universities in San Antonio (Austin, Kingsville: construction, private school, relocating)

[LittleTPot]

Does anyone have any feedback on the different universities in San Antonio? My husband and I will be relocating this summer, and I work in higher education administration. I know there are a lot of universities in the area, but I have no familiarity in terms of the caliber or reputations of the schools. Can anyone provide feedback on the local universities or point me the direction of a good resource for researching them? I know that working for and attending a university are two completely separate things, but I'm curious about general reputation as a place to work or attend.

Thanks!

[smuboy86]

Trinity I believe is considered the best. Small liberal arts private school, near downtown. In the same vein is University of the Incarnate Word, except it's catholic. In the public realm we have UTSA, which is a very large 25,000+ student university. It's starting to earn real respect and become more than a commuter college.

[Drzy]

From my not-very-informed perspective, the more "respected" universities are the three smuboy86 mentioned (UTSA, Trinity, and UIW), and I would add St. Mary's to the list as well. Texas Lutheran University is also a respected liberal arts school not too far away in Seguin. Our Lady of the Lake University is another, although I don't know much about it other than that their commericals are pretty low-tech.

[adtobias]

st marys our lady of the lake

[Bo]

Originally Posted by LittleTPot

I'm curious about general reputation as a place to work or attend.

If you use the "Search This Forum" feature to search for the names of universities mentioned here, you'll find some good subjective opinions about each of them. I remember a recent thread about UTSA that I found enlightening.

Here's a complete list of local higher education institutions from Flash Detection.

Colleges and Universities in San Antonio

• Alamo Community College District (includes Northwest Vista College, Palo Alto College, St. Philip's College, and San Antonio College)
• Baptist University of the Americas
• National Autonomous University of Mexico
  (http://www.express-news.net/unam-sanantonio/ - broken link)
• Northwest Vista College
  (http://www.accd.edu/nvc/index%7E1.htm - broken link)
• Our Lady of the Lake University
  
• Palo Alto College
  (http://www.accd.edu/PAC/PACMAIN/PACHP.HTM - broken link)
• San Antonio College (SAC)
  (http://www.accd.edu/sac/sacmain/sac.htm - broken link)
• St. Mary's University
  
• St. Philip's College
  (http://www.accd.edu/spc/spcmain/spc.htm - broken link)
• Texas A&M University-Kingsville System Center-San Antonio
• Texas Lutheran University (broken link) (in Seguin)
• Trinity University
  
• University of Mexico in San Antonio (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)
• University of Texas at San Antonio
• University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center
• University of the Incarnate Word
  
• Wayland Baptist University

[professorsenator]

As anyone in academia should know, the definitive university rankings are compiled by the Carnegie Foundation. See:
Carnegie Classifications (http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/classifications/ - broken link)

San Antonio does not have a Carnegie I school, which is the most prestigious tier (i.e. doctoral granting major research university). UT-Austin and Rice are the only top-tier schools in Texas (sorry Aggies!).

That said, one can get a good education at a variety of schools (Trinity and UTSA included). But in terms of the academic pecking order, neither Trinity nor UTSA are at the top.

[NEsananto]

Why do people compare universities like UTSA, which isn't even 30 years old yet, to schools like UT-Austin, which has been around for over 100 years and is one of the most endowed schools in the nation?

[LittleTPot]

Thanks for all of the information. The list of institutions was really helpful. I hadn't even thought of UTSA Health Science Center.

[tgannaway89]

UTSA is the 5th largest university in Texas, and the only Division 1 program in San Antonio. The campus itself is situated on 720 acres at the edge of the Hill Country. The school has 2 campuses (the main campus located on the Northwest side near Six Flags, and a newer downtown campus) as well as a museum. UTSA is an internationally-focused university. The school hosts students from some 100 different countries, and offers many international programs. Construction on campus (new additions, remodel, etc.) shows the schools rapid expansion. There is presently a quarter-billion dollars worth of construction going on at the campus. Numerous more projects are expected to come on board by the end of the decade.

UTSA.edu - Official website
GoUTSA.com - Athletics website

*Note - UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) is seperate from UTHSCSA (University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio) which is medical institution also in the UT System.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by NEsananto

Why do people compare universities like UTSA, which isn't even 30 years old yet, to schools like UT-Austin, which has been around for over 100 years and is one of the most endowed schools in the nation?

In their defense, UTSA is the second-largest and fastest-growing institution in the UT System. Most people outside higher ed think of institutions in terms of athletics. They know that UTSA plays Division I basketball and is probably less than 5 years away from fielding a Division I football team. So the logical conclusion for people thinking in those terms is that since it has nearly as many students and intercollegiate sports, it must be getting close to UT-Austin's prestige. The truth is much more complex, as other posters in this thread have pointed out.