The University of Texas at Arlington

Public · Moderately Selective · TX

Photo: University of Texas at Arlington News Service Photograph Collection (CC BY 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationTX · South

SettingUrban

Undergrads32,294

Student:faculty23:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate33.6%

6-yr grad rate54%

Drop-out rate27.1%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$12k

Out-of-state tuition$30k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity78.4%

Gender diversity58.7%

International4.6%

Identity—

Overview

UT Arlington sits in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, one of the University of Texas System's largest campuses and a school whose identity is built as much around who it serves as any single program. It has grown from a commuter college into a genuine research university without shedding that access-oriented mission, enrolling large numbers of transfer students, working adults, and online learners alongside a more traditional undergraduate population. The Mavericks nickname belies a campus that still runs on flexibility: night classes, degree-completion pathways, and a sprawling online catalog sit alongside a growing number of research labs and a maturing residential core.

Academics

Nursing is the clear standout — the College of Nursing and Health Innovation is one of the largest in Texas and holds deep clinical partnerships across DFW's hospital systems. Engineering benefits from proximity to the region's aerospace and defense employers, and the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs has a solid regional reputation, especially in urban planning. UTA has pushed hard into research classification in recent years, adding labs and doctoral programs, even as its bread and butter remains flexible degree completion: articulation agreements with area community colleges, evening cohorts, and a large fully online program serving working adults well beyond Texas.

Campus & student life

The campus has urbanized noticeably, adding student housing, a redesigned central quad, and gathering spaces to counter its longtime reputation as a pure commuter school, and the share of students living on campus has grown steadily. Even so, a large portion of the student body still works, transfers in, or takes classes online, so the social rhythm is less centered on dorm life than at a typical flagship. Arlington's location between Dallas and Fort Worth puts students minutes from AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field, and Maverick athletics and a growing Greek scene provide a more traditional college feel for students who want it.

Getting in

Admission leans formula-driven rather than deeply holistic, weighing GPA and course rigor heavily and reflecting a mission oriented toward access rather than exclusivity — UTA admits a wide range of students and lets individual programs, especially nursing, apply their own more competitive standards once students are enrolled. Transfer admission is a major, well-developed pathway here rather than an afterthought, with structured agreements designed to bring community college students in smoothly instead of making them start over.

After graduation

Graduates feed heavily into DFW's hospital systems, engineering and defense firms, and corporate back offices, and the university's standing with regional employers is strong simply because so many alumni already live and work in the metroplex. The alumni network functions less as a nationally prominent brand and more as a dense regional professional web, which is a real asset for students planning to stay in North Texas after graduation.

Worth knowing

Nursing admission is genuinely competitive even though the university at large is not, so students set on that track should plan for an internal gate rather than assume general admission is enough. The heavy presence of transfer, online, and working-adult students shapes a campus culture that prizes flexibility over tradition — a good fit for students who want a serious research university without a rigid, fully residential four-year script.

uta.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate79.9%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1010–1240 · ACT 19–27

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through ApplyTexas or Common App.

Priority / scholarshipFeb 15

Verified from the school’s admissions pages ↗