UTSA Honors College Roadpiece

Honors

UTSA Honors College

Discover your full potential in The University of Texas at San Antonio Honors College. Rooted in experiential learning, our classes and programs are hands-on and project-based.

Turn every experience into a skill-building, career development and personal growth opportunity. From creating a maker space in an elementary school, to training for a marathon, to living off the grid in Costa Rica, to designing a vaccine tracker app...no matter what your major is or what you want to become, the honors experience will prepare you to chart your path and change the world.

Jill Fleuriet, Ph.D.

Vice Provost for Honors Education Distinguished Teaching Professor, Anthropology

“UTSA Honors is about extending students’ horizons professionally and academically. Our collaborative, innovative college has programs across the university, and we serve curious and committed students of all majors. Our staff and faculty work with each student to tailor their academic and professional paths with our nationally recognized, experience-based curriculum. Each student’s Honors roadmap through UTSA and beyond helps them realize just how much they can achieve and how to transform their futures.”

WANT MORE ABOUT THE HONORS COLLEGE?

Visit honors.utsa.edu

Honors by the Numbers

3.75+ GPA of 40% of our students

77% Top 15% of graduating class

19% First-Generation College Students

2000+ Students

80% Minority Students

22 Countries Represented

About UTSA

The University of Texas at San Antonio is a Tier One research university and a Hispanic Serving Institution specializing in cyber, health, fundamental futures and social-economic transformation. With more than 34,000 students, it is the largest university in San Antonio.

Founded in 1969, UTSA advances knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service.

The university embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property—for Texas, the nation and the world.

UTSA CAMPUS TOURS are available through the Welcome Center. Schedule a tour today by visiting future.utsa.edu/visit.

Why Honors College

Join Our Honors Family

The Honors College is home to the most intellectually curious and committed students across all majors at UTSA. Whether you are quirky, compassionate, generous, shy, outgoing, focused, wicked smart or a combination, we know you’ll find your fit within our close-knit honors family. We focus on creating a small elite college experience at a fraction of the price.

Honors Residential College

Universities across the country have found that students living on campus have greater academic success. As a first-year freshman in the UTSA Honors College, you will live and study with other honors students in a supportive community designed to help you succeed. Visit honors.utsa.edu to learn about our residential housing requirement.

Say Hi!

Contact the Honors College at (210) 458-4106 or email honorsadmissions@utsa.edu.

The Benefits Are Endless

Priority registration, dedicated academic counseling, peer coaching, access to awards and scholarships (including dedicated national scholarship and fellowship preparation), small classes with UTSA’s most outstanding faculty, research, publishing and presentation opportunities, camaraderie with an immediate group of friends...the list goes on and on.

UTSA’s newest on-campus housing property, Guadalupe Hall, is the residential home of the Honors College. Students benefit from its double rooms, study and meeting rooms, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces and a coffee shop!

Experiential Learning

Chart your honors path by tailoring what you want to accomplish and how you want to accomplish it. Whether through courses or independently designed activities, honors experiences will take you where you want to go.

Experiences include:

» Internships

» Research

» Independent study with faculty members

» Study abroad

» Service learning

» Community projects

» And more!

Students participate in service-based community projects.

Honors The Experience

Experience-Based Learning

Because our curriculum is experience-based, it can be highly customized to fit each student’s individual goals. Most of our Experiences can be completed either through an honors course or non-curricular experiences. This allows students the flexibility of graduating with honors without adding significant additional coursework or delaying graduation.

Students graduating from the Honors College must complete:

HONORS 101:

Under mentorship from faculty, staff, and peers, students chart out their Honors path at UTSA and the experiences that will prepare them in life, work and study upon graduation.

CIVIC ETHOS:

An introductory course to service, democratic ideals and civic engagement

HONORS TOPICS IN WORLD CULTURES:

A deep-dive into a current cultural tradition and heritage

HONORS COMPOSITION II: Persuasive communication and critical thinking

EXPERIENCES:

6 Experiences chosen from the following options:

» Service

» Professional Development/ Internship

» Intellectual Achievement/Research

» Cultural Exploration/Study Abroad

» Engaged Living

» Skill Development

» Double Major

» First-Year Seminar

» Independent/Graduate-Level Study

» Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar

» Honors College courses

» Honors courses in other colleges

Honors College Special Programs

Archer Fellowship

The Bill Archer Fellowship Program brings highly motivated and accomplished students to Washington, D.C. to participate in varied internships and take part in classes focusing on policy, economics, and persuasion. UTSA Archer Fellows intern in our nation’s capital, working with organizations such as the United Nations, offices within the White House and on Capitol Hill and with federal agencies and non-profit organizations.

Citymester

The UTSA Citymester Program is a summer of internship, service, and seminar courses where the city of San Antonio is our classroom. Students work with nonprofits, businesses or other agencies based on their career goals. Students engage in a micro-internship, service project, and leadership development during this program.

Legislative Fellows

Considering a future in politics or public policy? The Legislative Fellows program provides an opportunity for students to gain hands-on policy experience and cultivate their leadership skills while interning in prominent member’s offices at the Texas Capitol during the biennial legislative session.

Terry Scholars®

Terry Scholars at UTSA is a program designed for students with a distinguished record of leadership and a deep rooted desire to enrich the general welfare of their community. These multi-talented future leaders receive a scholarship to cover the cost of learning and living at UTSA. Learn more on page 10.

Top Scholars

The UTSA Top Scholar program is a comprehensive merit scholar program for academically driven students who want to develop into exceptional servant leaders. UTSA Top Scholars receive a comprehensive, last dollar scholarship and specialized programming. Learn more on page 8.

In one of our Honors study abroad programs, students learn about intentional living while experiencing life on a sustainable, organic, off-thegrid farm and yoga retreat in the Costa Rican rainforest.

Elijah Moya

Class of 2023

Scholarship Support

Housed in the Honors College, the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards helps UTSA students prepare for and apply to prestigious national scholarships that allow them to pursue amazing academic and career opportunities worldwide.

 honors.utsa.edu/onca

Elijah is a computer science major and interned at Geekdom as a Summer 2021 Citymester fellow.

Honors students have earned national recognition, including:

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship: $139,000 to fund Ph.D. programs

• DoD SMART Scholarship: up to $40,000 in undergraduate tuition

Forough

Askarirad

Class of 2022

• Truman Scholarship: $30,000 awarded to future leaders in public service

• Goldwater Scholarship: up to $15,000 awarded to leading undergraduate researchers

• Fulbright Student Program: One year of funding to travel abroad following graduation.

Fun Fact

Forough, an Archer Fellow, earned her BA in Psychology and interned at Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. She recently served as a Teaching English Assistant in the Fulbright Student Program in Bulgaria.

In 2022-23, UTSA students won over $2M in nationally competitive awards.

“Citymester allowed me to learn more about the city, how to get involved, and it helped me learn what my strengths are.”

“By learning the operations of a non-profit organization, working with CAIR Coalition gave me an understanding of the type of professional environment I thrive in and seek in my career.”

Benefits

The benefits are tremendous. As a UTSA Honors College student, you have access to:

» Priority registration

» Scholarships

» Competitive opportunities funding

» Residential honors experience

» Networks with top students and employers in region and beyond

» Priority consideration for scholar programs like Citymester and Legislative Scholars

» Experiential courses that encourage practical skills beyond your major

Honors Academic Counseling

Honors College students have access to phenomenal resources, including our Honors Academic Counselors, who guide them through the honors curriculum and beyond. Honors students are also assigned a major-specific academic advisor for their degree and graduation requirements.

Experiential Learning Lab

The Honors College Experiential Learning Lab is a space where students are counseled and coached to advance through the Honors curriculum and achieve beyond their expectations. Students can learn about internships, research opportunities, certifications and other experiences that count towards the Honors College curriculum and that help them become career ready and competitive.

UTSA has hundreds of student organizations to get involved in – from swing dancing to Quidditch to cultural, religious, service, pre-professional groups and everything in between.

Spotlight SCHOLAR

As a first-generation Hispanic college student, I felt so welcome and supported at UTSA. Through Honors, I was encouraged to seek out internships which truly changed my life. In the summers I interned with the Rocky Mountain Conservancy in Colorado, Stanford School of Medicine and Yale School of Medicine as part of the Medical Research Scholars program. These and other experiences helped prepare me for graduate school at one of the best medical schools in the country.

Magnolia, Texas

Statistics and data science major with a concentration in biology

First-generation college student

• Son of parents who immigrated from Mexico

• Americorps Fellow

• Yale Amgen Scholars Fellow • Coding it Forward Fellow

• Hispanic Scholar Fellow

• Ph.D. student at Stanford School of Medicine

“The Honors College has given me the opportunity to be a part of a compassionate, intelligent, and diverse cohort of individuals from various backgrounds.”

Joshua Lazaro ‘23

Spotlight SCHOLAR

At UTSA, I was able to focus my passion for climate action and environmental justice through experiences like being a United Nations Millennium Fellow with my Honors College peers and co-founding a student-led climate action group called Plant the Future, which has planted and distributed thousands of trees throughout San Antonio. I also attended the National Hispanic Environmental Council STEM Institute — a fully funded 10-day research trip for underrepresented students in environmental science. One of my most memorable experiences was spending a summer interning at a nonprofit in Thailand. I would not be where I am today without the support of Honors College staff and my fellow Top Scholars.

Madeline Morales ‘23 San Antonio, Texas Environmental Science Major

UTSA Top Scholar • UN Millennium Fellow • Fulbright Student Program participant, pursuing master’s degree at Umeå University in Sweden

Scan to learn more about Madeline and her Roadrunner experience by watching UTSA’s episode of The College Tour!

“The Honors experience made me a better student, advocate, citizen, and person. I am well-equipped to go into the world and make change.”

Top Scholar Program

AT UTSA

The UTSA Top Scholar program is a premier scholar program, well-known and highly regarded across the state for developing award winning, academically talented and exceptional servant leaders. We search the state for highly motivated students and provide experiences that empower and fuel their passions in a supportive community.

How to Apply

STEP 1

Apply to UTSA and submit all required admission documents.

STEP 2

Visit topscholar.utsa.edu and complete the steps to apply for the program by December 1.

BENEFITS:

» Four-year scholarship that includes funding for tuition, fees, and room and board

» Support for a funded global experience

» Priority registration, one-onone advising, smaller classes

» Live in Honors Residential College

» Access to internship and research opportunities

» Exclusive interaction with university and community leaders

COMPETITIVE CANDIDATES:

Applicants who have the best chance of being invited to an on-campus interview will be firsttime college students who have:

» 1440+ on the new SAT*

» 32+ on the ACT*

» Class rank in the top five percent of their graduating class

» Record of community volunteerism and leadership in school

» Texas residency

* Please check the Top Scholar website for updates regarding test score requirements.

Spotlight

I got involved in research my first year at UTSA which opened so many opportunities. Two summers in a row I was funded by the National Science Foundation to participate in research experiences, first at the University of North Texas and then at the University of Maine. I also just completed a summer internship at Amazon Web Services! I’ve gotten to compete in a university-wide entrepreneurship competition with some of my fellow Top Scholars, and serve in campus leadership roles for the Klesse College Student Advisory Council, Top Scholar Student Organization, and the Eta Kappa Nu honor society for electrical and computer engineers.

Jesus Guillen Jr. ‘24

Brownsville, Texas

Electrical and Computer Engineering Major Scan to learn more about Jesus and his Roadrunner experience by watching UTSA’s episode of The College Tour!

“Being a Top Scholar is the opportunity of a lifetime. It is a community of 40 intellectually curious students, and we are like a family. I’ve made lifelong friends and have been a part of some incredible experiences thanks to the program.”

Terry Scholars ®

Funded by the Terry Foundation®, this competitive scholarship program is designed to help high achieving, motivated and community minded students develop themselves in the areas of Scholarship, Leadership, Service and Community. A select group of high school seniors are selected each year based on demonstrated leadership potential, academic strength and financial need.

How to Apply

STEP 1

Apply to UTSA via ApplyTexas or CommonApp and submit all required admission documents.

STEP 2

Complete the Terry Scholars program application via the UTSA Scholarship Hub at onestop. utsa.edu/hub by December 1.

BENEFITS:

» Receive full funding for up to eight semesters (amount varies based on financial need)

» Receive additional funding (up to $5,000) to support a study abroad experience

» Live in Honors Residential College

» Be part of a community that participates in regular service projects

COMPETITIVE CANDIDATES:

» U.S. citizen or permanent resident

» Texas resident

» Rank in top 25% of a Texas high school

» Demonstrate financial need

» Have a completed FAFSA on file with UTSA

» Strong record of community volunteerism and leadership

Learn more at terryscholars.utsa.edu

terryscholars.utsa.edu

Spotlight SCHOLAR

I’m proud to be a Terry Scholar and a Roadrunner. I’ve had so many opportunities to get involved and explore who I am and what life I want to create for myself. This summer I studied abroad as a Gilman Scholar, and completed a financial analyst internship with global investment firm BlackRock. Both opportunities were life-changing. I’m involved in the Terry Scholar Student Organization, the UTSA Investment Society and Delta Sigma Pi. I’m also a peer mentor for the First Year Experience program. Recently, I was selected to join the prestigious Alvarez Fellows Undergraduate Research Program, which will allow me to explore my research interests alongside a faculty mentor. In my spare time I love to listen to music and explore new cultures.

Luis Nino

Manvel, TX Economics & Finance Major

“Being a Terry Scholar has allowed me to work alongside future doctors, engineers and researchers. Terry is more than a scholarship. It has allowed me to meet a second family, engage the community more effectively and create a legacy of my own.”

‘24

Academic Profile & Accolades

All Majors Welcome

The Honors College provides a unique educational experience for intellectually curious students with a commitment to excellence. Students from all colleges and all majors thrive as they journey through The Honors Experience.

TOP MAJORS

» Biology

» Computer Science

» Psychology

» Cyber Security

» Mechanical Engineering

» Finance

» Kinesiology

» Biomedical Engineering

» Architecture

» Management

» Neuroscience

HOME COLLEGES:

31% Sciences

18% Engineering & Integrated Design

17% Business

15% Health, Community & Policy

12% Liberal & Fine Arts

6% University College

1% Education & Human Development

Graduating

students receive Honors College stoles at a special ceremony before commencement.

Students have numerous opportunities to present their research and other Honors Experiences and develop public speaking skills at our Experiential Learning Fair.

Honors Student Snapshots

Marissa Coppin ‘24

• Named 2023 Barry Goldwater Scholar

• Researches treatments for epilepsy alongside Dr. Jenny Hsieh, nationally recognized brain health scholar

Margot Duque ‘24

• Named 2023 Truman Scholar

• Studied abroad in France

• Attended summer institute at Carnegie Mellon University

Joshua Chaj Ulloa ‘23

• Named 2021 Barry Goldwater Scholar

• Awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue Ph.D. at Cal Tech

• Completed summer research fellowships at the Mayo Clinic and MIT

Jenelle Millison ‘23

• Conducted research in the UTSA Vision & Artificial Intelligence Lab

• Employed full-time at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab

Admission Process

Honors College Admission

Admission to the Honors College is offered to a select number of highly motivated and successful students who wish to take charge of their education and achieve their highest potential at UTSA. The first step is to apply to UTSA. Visit future.utsa. edu/apply on how to apply to UTSA.

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

Automatic admission to the Honors College will be granted to all incoming UTSA first year students awarded a Distinguished Presidential Scholarship (DPS). Incoming first year students admitted after the DPS deadline (Jan. 15) will be admitted to the Honors College based on a holistic review process and space availability.

Those accepted into Honors will be sent an invitation to join via email. The acceptance form included in the invitation must be submitted to officially become a member of the Honors College. Once we receive your acceptance, our Honors team will work with you to secure a spot in Guadalupe Hall, the home of our residential college, and help you prepare for your new journey at UTSA.

TRANSFER

Automatic admission to the Honors College will be granted to all incoming transfer students awarded a Distinguished Transfer Scholarship (DTS). Incoming transfers admitted after the DTS deadline will be reviewed holistically for admission. Those accepted into Honors will be sent an invitation to join via email. The acceptance form in the invitation must be submitted to officially become a member of the college.

Visit onestop.utsa.edu/scholarships to find out if you’re eligible for the Distinguished Scholarships.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Incoming and current honors students who meet certain academic requirements enjoy access to more than 30 different scholarships ranging from $500 to $4,500 per year. Not including the scholarships provided to Terry Scholars and Top Scholars, funding available to support UTSA Honors College students exceeds $500,000. In addition, students may apply for grants ranging from $150 to $1,500 to defray the cost of educational travel, professional development, research, service or other experiential learning opportunities. Visit honors.utsa. edu/scholarships for more information.

honors.utsa.edu/admissions/process