Texas State hosted its second annual State of Texas State speech, discussing the university’s accomplishments in the past year and goals looking forward on Friday, Aug. 23 at the University Events Center.
The address took place in the presence of faculty and staff. It included speeches from Texas State President Kelly Damphousse and a panel with Provost Pranesh Aswath, Executive Vice President for Operations and Chief Financial Officer Eric Algoe, Vice President for Student Success Cynthia Hernandez, Vice President of Texas State Round Rock Julie Lessiter and Vice President for Research Shreekanth Mandayam.
High student enrollment and retention rates were two major goals Damphousse said the university had for this upcoming school year.
According to Damphousse, Texas State hit a record high enrollment this year: 8,182 freshmen as of fall 2024, a 3.5% increase from last year. There are currently 40,712 students enrolled at Texas State. However, those numbers will not be officially finalized until census day on Sept. 12.
“A strong enrollment also represents increased revenue, which allows us to do several things– not raising tuition for the second year in a row, providing competitive wages… and investing in our infrastructure, maintaining our older facilities and building new ones,” Damphousse said.
Damphousse also said Texas State has achieved its highest freshman retention rate in university history, with 81.1% of the fall 2023 freshman class currently enrolled for their sophomore year.
Texas State’s Round Rock campus is also welcoming its first ever freshman class this fall.
“With the addition of 10 new degree programs in Round Rock this fall, an advance for many more in the future, we are working towards students being able to complete their entire degree on the Round Rock Campus,” Damphousse said.
As part of the university’s goal to increase its access, Damphousse touched on its satellite campus in Querétaro, Mexico. He said the campus will be operated by a private third-party Elisia Education Hub, which will provide the facilities for the university.
“Texas State will receive a percentage of the tuition revenue for each student enrolled in our programs [in Mexico],” Damphousse said.
Texas State’s aviation program is another way the university is harping on increasing its pathways. There are 28 students enrolled in the program this fall, Damphousse said.
All these initiatives have helped gear up Texas State to become an R1 institution by 2027, according to Damphousse.
Texas State is trending toward investing $160 million in research expenditures in fiscal year 2024 and awarded 71 doctoral degrees this past academic year—milestones that also bring the university closer to achieving R1 status, Damphousse said.
Another project Texas State is planning is the university hotel. The $70 million for the project will be funded by a private sector, and Texas State will not be investing any money into it. Algoe said the hotel will be located in downtown San Marcos and potentially break ground in early 2025, with construction taking 18 months.
“[It will be a] five-star facility, not like anything we have in the city today,” Algoe said. “It will be transformative to downtown San Marcos.”
Algoe also said their research revealed approximately 100 Texas State employees were earning less than what is considered the market’s minimum pay for their roles.
“So many employees are getting as much as 10% raises this year as part of that process, something we feel great about,” Algoe said.
As part of the university’s student success, Hernandez said Texas State hired Valerie Holmes as the new dean of students and associate vice president.
Another aspect of student success Hernandez is implementing is a health and well-being campaign that will roll out this year.
“[It would] help our students understand the agency they have in their own health and well being when it comes to sleep, nutrition, diet, exercise, we’re excited to engage in that,” Hernandez said.
To watch the full State of Texas State speech, visit its website.
