When you ask a person on the street what two colleges come to mind when you mention the state of Texas, the most common answers will be The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M. UH is trying to change those answers.
David Delgado/The Daily Cougar
Because of a number of factors ranging from its recent Tier One classification in research to its position in a city with a flourishing job market, UH is beginning to gain an edge among other Texas schools.
Sure, UT and A&M have had more exposure because of their successes in sports on the national stage, but UH has more to offer than a quarterback that can scramble when the game is on the line.
UH was granted Tier One classification in research by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in its most recent classification of universities, issued in January 2011. A Tier One school is recognized for its world-class research, academic excellence, an exceptional student body and the highest levels of innovation, creativity and scholarship.
With this recognition, UH joins UT and A&M as the only public schools in Texas that have achieved Tier One status.
Jordan Sass, assistant director for Transfer and International Admissions, believes that Houston has a lot to offer that cities like Austin and College Station cannot.
“UH is located minutes from downtown Houston, the fourth largest city in America,” he said, “and that is a great opportunity for our students to acquire jobs straight out of college or work on internships during the school year thanks to the short commute.”
According to CNN Money in 2011, Houston was home to 22 Fortune 500 companies. That rank was good for second in the nation, trailing only New York, and far ahead of Dallas in third with 10.
Going to college is a great opportunity for students to meet and socialize with a new group of people, whether that is from the other side of town or the other side of the world. At least that’s the case when you attend UH, maybe not so much for UT or A&M.
Collegeboard.com shows that racial diversity is one of the many things in which UH continues to lead the state. Along with an almost equal population of White and Hispanic/Latino students attending the school, it also has a higher population of Asian and African-American students than Longhorns of UT and Aggies of A&M.
“Diversity is one of the things we pride ourselves on at UH,” said Sass, who was formerly an admissions counselor at Texas A&M. “We are the most diverse university in Texas and second in the nation. Part of gaining an education is working with people that are not like you. When you walk across our campus, you will see many different nationalities and hear so many unique languages.”
Another aspect that UH has been working to improve is its campus living and atmosphere. New dorms, which will completed by the time the fall 2013 semester begins, will make on-campus living available to more students than ever before and will lift UH into the top two schools in Texas in relation to how many dorm rooms they can offer students. In addition to the new dorm rooms being added, students can also look forward to more parking space becoming available just across from the Welcome Center.
And if that’s not enough, UH is remodeling the University Center with Phase 1 opening in January 2014 and Phase 2 starting sometime after that. Couple that with the new, $105 million football stadium that is being built for the 2014 season, and it sounds like there will be a lot more for students to look at every day as they walk across campus.
Every school in Texas can say they are making changes to enhance student living and campus environment in order to entice new students to attend their certain college, but UH is one of the few that is actually getting the job done and showing its students that it wants to improve for them. Along with the Tier One status in research and student diversity, UH is quickly becoming a hot spot for students within the state, within the nation and all over the world, and it’s only going to get bigger and better in the coming years.
Euan Leith is a journalism junior and may be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com.