APLU Names The University of Texas at San Antonio 2025 Excellence in Student Success Award Winner

Philadelphia, PA – The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) today named The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) as the winner of its inaugural 2025 Excellence in Student Success Award. The annual award recognizes institutions demonstrating a comprehensive, systemic commitment to advancing student success. The award honors an institution that has enhanced degree completion, improved outcomes, and reduced barriers to educational attainment through innovative and sustainable efforts.

“Congratulations to The University of Texas at San Antonio on winning the inaugural Excellence in Student Success Award,” said APLU President Waded Cruzado. “Public and land-grant universities provide the most accessible path to a life-changing college education, and we’re delighted to recognize UT San Antonio’s efforts to advance student success, help students graduate in a timely manner, and support a skilled workforce. UT San Antonio’s approaches to boosting student success serves as a model for other public research universities across the country.”

UT San Antonio is advancing student success through a collaborative, and data-driven, ecosystem that integrates learning innovation, financial access, and career readiness. Anchored by a hub and spoke model, UT San Antonio’s Ruby Team—a cross-divisional leadership group—aligns efforts across Student Success, Academic Innovation, Strategic Enrollment, Institutional Research, and more to deliver holistic, student-centered support.

UT San Antonio’s real-time data dashboards and predictive analytics tools empower faculty and staff to identify barriers and implement targeted interventions. Their Classroom to Career (C2C) Initiative has expanded experiential learning by 85%, with a 22% increase in degrees awarded to students who participated, while, the Bold Promise program has enabled over 5,000 students to attend UT San Antonio tuition-free, removing financial barriers for high-achieving, low-income students. UT San Antonio attention to pedagogy is also transforming high-impact courses and fostering effective teaching practices. Course redesigns have improved student belonging and reduced rates of students earning grades of D or F or withdrawing from courses.

Collectively, these efforts contributed to a 94% increase in UT San Antonio’s four-year graduation rate and a 71% increase in six-year graduation rates. Forty percent of UT San Antonio graduates now complete their undergraduate degree debt-free. Recognized for both research excellence and economic mobility, UT San Antonio is setting a national standard for public universities—where every student is empowered to thrive.

The Excellence in Student Success Award is open to all APLU members. The University of California, Merced, University of Illinois Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and The University of Tennessee, Knoxville were also finalists for the award. A panel of outside reviewers examined the applications to determine the winner.