Renderings courtesy of OVERLAND | Gensler
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 — UTSA announced today a $2 million gift from USAA to support students pursuing degrees in UTSA’s new college focused on artificial intelligence, cyber, computing and data science.
A total of 5,404 students are currently enrolled in artificial intelligence, cyber, computing and data science-related degree programs at UTSA, reflecting a 62% increase since 2019. The new college will position UTSA to lead in the rapidly evolving landscape of advanced technologies, reshaping its academic landscape and further strengthening San Antonio’s economic and workforce impact by producing a highly trained talent pipeline.
USAA’s gift will establish a student success center and data repository in the new college. Additionally, it will support student scholarships. These three components will be integral to enabling student success and prepare them for the workforce.
To recognize USAA’s generosity, The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved the naming of the USAA Student Success Center for three years.
“UTSA is a vital institution to our community, providing employers like USAA a talent pipeline that meets the needs of our workforce and acts as an essential component to our region’s economic success,” said Tom Troy, USAA chief transformation officer. “USAA continues to be the largest employer of UTSA graduates and provider of internships for UTSA students. We’re thrilled to provide additional ways to support students and their success with this gift that will support the Student Success Center and complement the support we have for STEM scholarships for those attending the new college and on-the-job training.”
Building upon the effective model for student success centers created across UTSA’s other colleges, the USAA Student Success Center will facilitate experiential learning opportunities including internships, externships, co-ops, faculty coaching and mentorship. At UTSA, these strategies have proven effective in preparing students to successfully transition to professional careers and acclimate to workplace culture.
Additionally, USAA’s gift will enable UTSA to increase real-world applications through a new data repository, which will create opportunities for students and faculty to securely store, analyze and share data while fostering research collaborations. The repository will also increase the visibility of research findings and support the long-term preservation and reuse of data across academic disciplines within UTSA’s new college.
“As a university community, we’re at a historic moment in time to realize great opportunities for growth, advancement and discovery, especially as it relates to increasing avenues of support for student success,” said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. "I am immensely grateful to USAA for its continued partnership and for this significant gift, which will keep UTSA at the forefront of these future-looking programs while building the professional workforce pipeline for our region and our state."
UTSA’s new college is expected to attract, cultivate and retain high-achieving students interested in AI, cyber, computing and data science careers from across the state. To support them, approximately one third of USAA’s gift will be allocated to scholarships for deserving students in the new college, positively impacting student retention and success.
USAA’s gift will also support UTSA’s Be Bold campaign, a comprehensive capital campaign that aims to enhance student success, research excellence and innovation. To date, the campaign has raised over $428 million from more than 55,000 donors and is the largest fundraising campaign in university history.
"One of our most important goals is to ensure UTSA students are prepared to excel in the interdisciplinary workforce of tomorrow," said Heather Shipley, UTSA provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. "This remarkable gift from USAA strengthens our commitment to student success by expanding experiential learning opportunities that are essential to career readiness. It enables us to deliver educational excellence across emerging disciplines, equipping students with the hands-on skills and critical thinking needed to meet complex, multifaceted challenges and lead confidently in these dynamic fields."
Elements of the new college will be housed in San Pedro II, located at 622 Dolorosa St. in the heart of downtown San Antonio along San Pedro Creek. Combined with its companion, San Pedro I, the new facility will enable UTSA to draw on the broad opportunities that exist in San Antonio to address the city’s pressing workforce needs, connect UTSA students with experiential learning and career-engagement opportunities and provide training to prepare students for careers in interdisciplinary fields such as artificial intelligence, cyber, computing and data science. It will open its doors in Spring 2026.
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