UTA has second lowest student debt in nation
U.S. News & World Report’s map of the colleges and universities in the nation that graduate students with the least amount of debt associated with their degrees featured only one Texas school in the top 25 – The University of Texas at Arlington. UTA came in second only to Princeton in the lowest average amount students owe for their degrees upon graduating - $14,743 - well under the average of $18,587 among the universities surveyed for the rankings, according to U.S. News.
Lingering and unmanageable debt from loans taken out to finance a college education has become a topic of national dialogue in recent years.
“At UTA we are focusing our efforts on providing students with an extremely high quality degree which prepares them to join the workforce ready to contribute, at an affordable price – one of the most affordable, in fact, in the nation,” UTA president Vistasp Karbhari said. “Our 210,000 alumni have joined industry leaders such as Lockheed Martin, Bell Helicopter, Texas Health Resources, American Airlines, AT&T and many other Fortune 500 companies. Many have started their own companies, providing new job opportunities for Texans. We’re exceptionally proud of the mark they have made, and how they continue to give back by mentoring today’s students for their own successful careers.”
UTA features the third largest College of Engineering in Texas, and the largest Nursing and Health Innovation College in the state and one of the largest in the nation. Its College of Education was recently ranked in the top 3 percent of teacher preparation programs by the National Council on Teacher Quality and 89 percent of its graduates are hired to work in Dallas/Fort Worth area schools.
“In our recruiting, we have come to recognize UTA for producing quality, work-ready graduates,” said Christy Del Regno, Director of Diversity and University Recruiting at CVS Health. “The undergraduates who have come to work for CVS already have had work experience through part-time jobs or internships. Combined with a UTA education this make them as prepared and professional as you will find among the newly graduated.”
UTA conferred 11,526 degrees in the 2015-16 academic year, making it the third largest producer of college graduates in Texas. The 2016-17 conferral number is expected to exceed that amount. With another record-setting fall 2016 enrollment report of 39,714 Texas-based students, UTA is the second largest campus in the UT System. Its recognition as a Carnegie Classification R-1; “Highest Research Activity” institution in 2016 and growing numbers of faculty who are national academies members signal increasing excellence along with size.
“I am proud that the University of Texas at Arlington is working hard to be fiscally responsible and putting students and their financial success first,” said State Sen. Konni Burton, R-Colleyville.
About The University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a Carnegie Research-1 “highest research activity” institution. With a projected global enrollment of close to 57,000 in AY 2016-17, UTA is the largest institution in The University of Texas System. Guided by its Strategic Plan Bold Solutions | Global Impact, UTA fosters interdisciplinary research within four broad themes: health and the human condition, sustainable urban communities, global environmental impact, and data-driven discovery. UTA was recently cited by U.S. News & World Report as having the second lowest average student debt among U.S. universities. U.S. News & World Report also ranks UTA fifth in the nation for undergraduate diversity. The University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is ranked as the top four-year college in Texas for veterans on Military Times’ 2017 Best for Vets list.
