Across the United States, higher education is navigating a period of profound change.
Many colleges and universities are facing enrollment declines, demographic headwinds, growing public skepticism and increasing pressure to demonstrate value.
Something different is happening at Texas State University (TXST).
With main campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock, applications to TXST are at record highs. Enrollment continues to grow. Research expenditures have more than tripled in recent years. Graduation rates are increasing. Nearly half of students are the first in their families to attend college.
And on July 1, TXST enters the new Pac-12 Conference as one of the fastest-rising universities in the country.
TXST’s trajectory is undeniable and can be attributed to a simple idea: access and excellence are not competing priorities.
For much of higher education, prestige has often been measured by exclusivity. TXST has pursued a different path, one focused on expanding opportunity while improving outcomes.
Today, nearly half of TXST’s students are the first in their families to attend college. Providing higher education access to these first-generation college students and multiple pathways to a degree are core elements of TXST’s institutional strategy. Over the last several years, the university has created more than 30 transfer and co-enrollment partnerships across Texas, launched nearly 60 online degree programs and grew online enrollment 500%. TXST has also expanded workforce-focused academic offerings and increased support systems designed to help students persist and graduate.
The result is not simply more students.
It is more graduates.
The outcomes speak for themselves. This spring, TXST awarded more than 5,200 degrees, the largest graduating class in university history.
“Texas State’s rise has never been measured solely by the number of students it enrolls,” said President Kelly Damphousse. “It is measured by the opportunities we create and the lives we change.”
That philosophy extends to the university’s academic strategy.
Over the last two years, TXST has added 32 new degree programs—including 11 doctoral programs—designed to support workforce needs, research growth and economic development. Student demand continues to accelerate, with applications exceeding 74,000 for Fall 2026. Overall, TXST is the fastest growing university in Texas, adding more students than any other Texas university between 2022–2025.
At the same time, the university is strengthening the academic profile of incoming students while improving retention and graduation outcomes.
TXST’s growth is not occurring at the expense of quality.
It is occurring because of it.
Research tells a similar story.
TXST’s research expenditures reached $183 million in 2025, more than tripling in recent years and placing the university on a path toward Carnegie R1 classification by 2027. The university recently announced it is making a $300 million investment in its research enterprise and faculty through its inclusion in the Texas University Fund.
The university is making strategic investments in areas critical to the future of the American economy and society, including artificial intelligence and robotics, semiconductors, water resources, aging and dementia, and technology and society.
Research universities are among the nation’s most important economic engines but often among the most exclusive. Few institutions have successfully expanded educational access and research capacity simultaneously.
TXST is attempting to do both.
Its approach extends beyond the traditional residential campus model.
Enrollment growth has been fueled by online education, regional expansion through the Round Rock Campus, statewide transfer pathways and international initiatives that broaden access while supporting long-term sustainability.
The goal is not to become larger for the sake of becoming larger.
The goal is to create more opportunity.
One of the clearest external validations of TXST’s transformation arrived when the Pac-12 invited the university as a new member.
For many institutions, conference realignment is primarily an athletics story.
For TXST, it transcends athletics.
“The Pac-12 did not change Texas State’s trajectory, it recognized it,” Damphousse said. “Our growth is the result of years of deliberate investment in student success, academic excellence, research, innovation and access.”
The conference recognized what many others are only beginning to see: a university with extraordinary momentum and a clear vision for the future.
TXST’s story is about what public higher education can still achieve when access, excellence, research, workforce development and student success are pursued not as competing priorities, but as complementary ones.