University of Texas System

The University of Texas System is a public university system in the U.S. state of Texas. It includes nine universities and five independent health institutions. The UT System is headquartered in Downtown Austin. It is the largest university system in Texas with 250,000+ enrolled students, 21,000+ employed faculty, 83,000+ health care professionals, researchers and support staff. The UT System's $47.5 billion endowment is the largest of any public university system in the United States.

Component institutions

Academic institutions

The University of Texas System includes nine universities, each of which confers its own degrees.

Addition of Stephen F. Austin State University

On November 29, 2022, the Board of Regents of Stephen F. Austin State University announced their decision to accept an invitation to join the UT System. This decision occurred following an announcement at the start of the fall semester by SFA President Steve Westbrook that the board was considering joining a system. At the time, Stephen F. Austin was one of two independent public universities in Texas, alongside Texas Southern University. The Texas A&M University System, the Texas Tech University System, and the Texas State University System all extended invitations as well. The decision to join the UT System was made following a process that included faculty, staff, student, and alumni input. Stephen F. Austin's addition to the UT System was approved by the Texas Legislature during the 2023 session. The identically worded House and Senate bills that would formally add SFA to the UT System specified that SFA would retain its name, but with the phrase "a member of The University of Texas System" appended to the legal school name. They also stated that SFA would be technically dissolved and then immediately reconstituted as a member of the UT System. The Senate unanimously passed its bill on April 16, 2023, and the House passed its version on April 26. Governor Greg Abbott signed the measure into law on May 10.

UT Brownsville and UT Pan American (UTRGV) merger

On June 14, 2013, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a law officially approving the creation of a new university in South Texas within the UT System and replacing UT Brownsville and UT Pan American. The initiative resulted in a single institution, including a medical school, spanning the entire Rio Grande Valley, with a presence in each of the major metropolitan areas of Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen, and McAllen. On December 12, 2013, the UT Board of Regents voted to name the new university the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The new university began full operation in the 2015–16 school year.

Official name	Official abbreviations	Location	Founded	Joined system	Merged	Refs
The University of Texas at Brownsville	UTB UT Brownsville	Brownsville	1973	1991	2015
The University of Texas–Pan American	UTPA UT Pan American	Edinburg	1927	1989	2015

UT Tyler and UTHSC Tyler merger

In December 2019, the UT System Board of Regents unanimously agreed to merge The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler under The University of Texas at Tyler, creating a single unified institution. Two months later, the UT System formally announced its intention to establish a new medical school that will be added under the new unified UT Tyler administration. It will be the first medical school in the East Texas region.
On December 8, 2020, The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Schools approved a plan to merge UT Tyler and UTHSCT. UTHSCT will retain its status as a health-related institution but will now come under the administration of UT Tyler. The UT System Board of Regents met in late December 2020 and took action on the implementation of the merger which began on January 1, 2021.
On January 4, 2021, the Board of Regents installed Kirk A. Calhoun, M.D. as president of the newly aligned UT Tyler and UTHSCT. As of January 4, these two institutions are officially one. On January 15, 2021 the institution publicly named the new line of executive leadership for the merged institution.
The medical school opened in 2023.

Official name	Official abbreviations	Location	Founded	Joined system	Merged	Refs
The University of Texas at Tyler	UTT UT Tyler	Tyler	1971	1979	2021
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler	UTHSCT UT Health Tyler	Tyler	1943	1977	2021

UTSA and UTHSCSA merger

In 2010, a study was commissioned to explore the possibility of merging UT San Antonio and UT Health San Antonio. Officials ultimately decided against it, citing significant costs, administrative challenges, and different university cultures. In 2016, an op-ed published in the San Antonio Express-News urged the UT System Board of Regents to reconsider their decision. It was announced in August 2024 that the Board of Regent voted to merge the two into one university, a merger completed on September 1, 2025

Health institutions

The University of Texas System has 4 independent health institutions. None are officially associated with any of the 4-year academic institutions, though some may have close relationships or special joint programs with them due to geographical location.
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of the six schools at UT Health Science Center at Houston. Despite being officially associated under UT Houston, the UT System lists MD Anderson as a separate health institution due to its unique specialization.
Additionally, there are medical schools at UT Austin and UT Rio Grande Valley that are not directly affiliated with any of the independent health institutions. The third medical school organized under an academic institution in the UT System is UT Tyler Medical School, which began operations in 2023. UTSA and UTHSA completed their merger in 2025.

Independent UT Health institutions

Medical schools within academic institutions

Attempted academic and health institutions mergers

Dallas–Fort Worth
In 2001 the 77th Texas Legislature proposed HB 3568, which would have merged all Dallas–Fort Worth UT System institutions under the name "The University of Texas at Dallas". UTD's Richardson campus would have been designated as the main campus, UTA's Arlington campus would have become a satellite campus, and UTSW's Dallas campus would have become the merged university's medical school. The purpose was to help the metroplex gain one unified flagship-level university, but the House Bill ultimately failed to pass due to objections from UT Arlington and the lack of time to properly explain the complex process to state representatives.
Houston
In 2015, the UT System purchased 300 acres of land in the Houston area for $215 million for the development of a research campus, spearheaded by then-Chancellor William H. McRaven. While the UT System publicly denied plans to build a new university on the land, the land acquisition drew criticism from the University of Houston System and several Texas State Senators, notably John Whitmire, focusing on the UT System encroaching on the UH System, given the UT System's access to the Permanent University Fund, as well as the process by which the land was purchased. In 2017, the UT System announced it would be cancelling plans for the Houston campus.

Students

Racial and/or ethnic background

Demographic information of the total student population at all UT system academic and health institutions compared to 2020 US Census data.

	UT System Students	Texas	US
Asian	14%	5.7%	6.3%
Black	8%	13.4%	13.6%
Hispanic	50%	40.2%	19.1%
White	23%	39.8%	58.9%
International student	3%	N/A	N/A
Other races or unknown	3%	0.9%	2.1%

Undergraduate student success metrics

Reported 2022 statistics of Texas residents that attended UT system academic institutions.

Official name	Abbrev.	Retention Rate	Graduation Rate	Graduation Rate	Avg. Student Loan Debt for Bachelor's	Median Income	Median Income	Median Income
Stephen F. Austin State University	SFA	73%	43%	64%	$27,314	N/A	N/A	N/A
The University of Texas at Arlington	UTA UT Arlington	74%	38%	65%	$20,183	$60,676	$69,029	$71,901
	UT UT Austin	93%	74%	91%	$22,044	$52,084	$71,614	$88,825
The University of Texas at Dallas	UTD UT Dallas	85%	58%	75%	$21,953	$51,725	$66,540	$78,748
The University of Texas at El Paso	UTEP UT El Paso	75%	24%	50%	$20,952	$40,146	$54,294	$58,937
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	UTRGV UT Rio Grande Valley	76%	33%	57%	$14,950	$35,518	$53,219	$58,837
The University of Texas at San Antonio	UTSA UT San Antonio	80%	39%	67%	$21,147	$40,143	$58,625	$64,866
The University of Texas at Tyler	UTT UT Tyler	61%	51%	61%	$19,701	$53,243	$59,622	$66,116
The University of Texas Permian Basin	UTPB UT Permian Basin	65%	27%	47%	$19,930	$52,750	$59,650	$63,574