It looks like a very strong performance toward reaching the 2023 goals UTD has outlined in its plans.
Highlights of the 2019 freshman class:
4073 Students
195 National Merit Scholars
Average SAT 1344 and ACT 29 (The middle 50% ranges 1250-1450 and 26-33)
The only goals they seem to be off pace from achieving by 2023 is doctoral graduates and tenured track faculty hiring.
https://www.utdallas.edu/president/speeches/state-of-the-university-2019/sotu-2019.pdf
They are artificially producing scholars with sponsorship money, as soon as scholarship money stopped, their number of scholars would drop to 1/4th.
No good school uses such practices to inflate NMS numbers and SAT average, UT’s own flagship in Austin is against it.
UTD bottom quartile jumped from 1140 to 1250 in 3 years. Their top quartile went up 70 points (1380 to 1450) in the same time frame. Of course, merit scholarships help but not to this extent. After all they were awarding merit scholarships even in 2016. Yet, the difference in SAT is remarkable.
I don’t see anything bad about colleges offering merit scholarships. On the contrary, DS20 and I are very appreciative of all UTD has to offer. It’s nice that they actually recognize high performing high school students, award them merit scholarships, and provide them with excellent opportunities.
The breadth of their computer science requirements is really great. Look at the cs^2 program. Why would DS20 even consider other schools if he can get small honors cs classes with other smart students (average SAT 1540), priority registration (so he can actually enroll in the cs classes he wants unlike in many other universities), finish his masters in 4 years, be awarded many credits for his AP classes, stay in modern dormitories, … ?
It’s up to each student and their family to decide what’s best for them. It’s also up to each university to decide if they will award merit or not.
The bottom line is UTD is doing amazingly well for a university that admitted it’s first freshmen undergraduate class only in 1990. The report makes it very clear.
Texas has the problem that they have one premier school - UT, that does not have nearly enough seats to enroll the number of great students that are graduating in Texas. A&M is a good school but has a culture that puts off many students. UTD is recruiting these students, allowing them to enroll in the major of their choice and yes, actually helping to pay for it. I applaud them for it!
@riversider It’s really difficult to accept someone’s opinion as credible when they think schools like the University of Florida, Florida State, University of Southern California, Texas A&M… are “not good schools” because National Merit status at those school comes with significant scholarships or that UT Austin is a “good” school because they don’t.
UT Austin ended it’s National Merit program in the Fall of 2010 so it must not have been a good school until then??? Really? UT Austin isn’t “against” National Merit, lack of funds “forced” them to end their program
Please stop confusing your opinions with facts
I’ve thought long and hard about this @Riversider - and for the most part I think you are off base.
All schools in Texas should not be the same.
I know kids that would not consider UTD because it does not have a football program. Universities spend millions of dollars on their football programs. Does that make them a good school? It does give the schools a competitive advantage when attracting students that want a division 1 football experience.
One is not right or wrong, good or bad. They are just different.
UTD has decided to target highly academic focused students. They were initially forced to by the Texas legislature - by requiring the same academic standards as UT-Austin, a requirement not placed on any other school. And yes, scholarships are part of that. But the percentage of students getting aid is going down (ever so slightly) as the student population increases. None of the kids in my daughter’s suite are getting merit aid. And all are at the school that they wanted to attend.
And if you look at the tuition - it is one of the highest out of Texas state schools. So part of the scholarship $$$ is probably partially subsidized by full tuition paying students.
Bottom line - there are now thousands of freshman students that choose UTD every year. Some come to the decision as a “second” choice. Some for the scholarships. But many come because it is the school they feel is the best fit and will afford them the most opportunity in their major of choice.
you may be correct about the number of National Merit kids decreasing if the if they discontinue the National Merit Schollarships just look at what happened to at the University of Texas at Austin they only admitted 57 National Merit Scholars 3 years after ending their National Merit program down from 281 the year before funding for the scholarships was cut.
Another sign you think UT Austin is a “not a good school”???
Personally I think having the funding available to offer merit scholarships is an indicator of a “good school”
On the contrary schools like UT (Austin) , Ivies and other top schools doesn’t offer money because they are confident they are attractive enough to get top students without that.
As colleges only post numbers of Scholars, not finalists (who choose top colleges over money and scholar designation). If a school is offering money, they are usually not attractive enough to pull top students without it. If there is no money involved, students would pick college they like.
Bottom line, some colleges inflate numbers of Scholars with money hence these numbers are useless.
If y’all have kids at UTD and feel defensive, it’s natural and understandable. Its a good value for free ride.
Their National Merit and other scholarships help getting good students in and inflating average SAT. They attract lots of Asians with good stats and it helps with averages. If they have funds then why not. If other schools want those students, they too are free to offer good merit scholarships. It’s Austin’s choice to spend it on athletics and financial aid.
Again- I think you are grossly off base here.
It’s not about being “defensive” it’s about looking at a school’s culture, offering and educational opportunities and a student’s personality and needs and finding a match. For any student there are probably multiple schools where they would feel comfortable.
What is good on paper is not necessarily what is best for an individual.
Many, many students at UTD do not have merit scholarship and have grades and scores to get scholarships and honors programs at other state and neighboring state schools. But they still choose UTD because of what UTD is offering.
UTD well on its way to becoming the UCSD of TX (UCF aiming to become the UTD of FL).