Key Points:
- UTSA & UT Health merge into a major research university.
- Stronger in healthcare, research, and education.
- Aiming for global impact and AAU status.
The UTSA merger with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has officially merged, creating a single institution now recognized as The University of Texas at San Antonio. The announcement, made Monday in a UTSA news release, marks a significant development in higher education and research within the state.
With this UTSA merger, the new UT San Antonio now stands as the third-largest public research university in Texas, measured by annual research expenditures. It ranks just behind Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin.
A World-Class Institution in the Making
The merged institution will build upon the strengths of both University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and UT Health San Antonio, which were already distinguished Tier One universities. UTSA President Taylor Eighmy emphasized that the UTSA merger was designed to combine excellence in education, healthcare, and research to create a model public research university.
“We intentionally grounded UT San Antonio in excellence — excellence in education, healthcare, transdisciplinary research and discovery — to form a model public research university that is nimble, creative and unlike any other,” Eighmy said in the release. “With that spirit of excellence, we’ve combined two distinguished Tier One institutions, the UTSA merger, to form a new world-class university that champions social mobility, improves health, and powers discovery to amplify our collective strengths and create impact at scale.”
The combined university now encompasses approximately 40,000 students and 17,000 employees, with annual research expenditures exceeding $486 million. Leaders of the new UT San Antonio expect the merger to accelerate innovation, foster collaboration across disciplines, and expand opportunities for both students and faculty.
Expanding Research and Healthcare Impact
The UTSA merger brings together a strong foundation in healthcare research and patient care. According to the release, the UT San Antonio Health Science Center ranks 84th out of 5,868 healthcare institutions worldwide and 38th in the United States in the 2025 Nature Index for healthcare research output.
UT Health San Antonio already serves more than 2.5 million patient visits annually and provides training for over 1,015 residents, fellows, and healthcare trainees. This integration is expected to expand healthcare education, research, and patient care capacity while providing students with more hands-on learning opportunities.
Francisco G. Cigarroa, MD, senior executive vice president for health affairs and health system at UT San Antonio, highlighted the broader impact of combining expertise across the institution. “Synergies of expertise that come together allow us to innovate. That’s going to be available now to students, to faculty, to scientists, to graduate students across the spectrum of this new university,” he said. “A discovery that happens here, that improves the quality of life, not only improves the quality of life for our children or for our loved ones, but that translates to the population at large, and it’s going to have a global impact.”
A Path Towards Academic Excellence
With its expanded resources and academic capabilities, UT San Antonio leaders believe the UTSA merger is positioned to grow into a premier university with national and global recognition. The merger, they said, moves UT San Antonio closer to joining the ranks of elite members of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a group of top-tier research institutions.
Looking ahead, UT San Antonio plans to launch new degree programs, expand hands-on learning experiences, and create stronger pathways for students pursuing careers in science, healthcare, and technology. The combination of research and education resources from both universities is expected to accelerate discoveries and prepare graduates for a rapidly evolving workforce.
By merging, UT San Antonio has significantly strengthened its role in higher education, healthcare innovation, and research. For students, the UTSA merger promises more opportunities to learn, contribute, and engage with cutting-edge discoveries that have the potential to make a global impact.