A record number of students are hitting the books today as classes begin at the UTSA Main and Downtown campuses, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
30,700 students are enrolled at UTSA, boosted by 8,000 new freshmen, the largest incoming class ever. And the class of 2021 brings with it plenty of credentials, fully 20% of UTSA's freshman class graduated in the top ten percent in high school.
There are plenty of new degree programs, from chemical engineering to programs in cloud computing, music technology and linguistics. UTSA is also beginning its first ever fully on line degree program for undergraduate studies, a degree in cybersecurity.
There are more than thirty new faculty members at the front of the classroom this year, with degrees from universities ranging from Columbia to Rice to Cairo University in Egypt.
And there is a new face in the president's office for the first time in 19 years. Taylor Eighmy, recently the vice chancellor of the University of Tennessee, and trained as a civil engineer, is taking over as UTSA's President, succeeding the retired Ricardo Romo.