University of Houston - University of Houston System (2024)

Founded in 1927 and led by President Renu Khator, the University of Houston is the leading public research university in Houston and one of the largest universities in Texas. In 2021, UH enrolled more than 47,000 students in 276 undergraduate and graduate academic programs – both on campus and online. UH awards more than 11,000 degrees annually and has more than 326,000 alumni. Expanding its community reach, UH also serves students through instructional sites in Sugar Land and Katy. In 2020, the University launched a College of Medicine to meet the health care needs of underserved populations in the region and state.

The student body at UH is one of the most diverse in the nation among research universities for its ethnic diversity, with no majority race on campus, and is also very international in character, with students from more 125 nations. With more than 500 student organizations and 17 intercollegiate sports teams, campus life at UH is vibrant and engaging. Within nine residential communities, UH houses approximately 8,400 students.

The University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's, professional and doctoral degrees. Classified as a Tier One institution by virtue of its Highest Research Activity ranking by the Carnegie Foundation. UH is home to a Phi Beta Kappa chapter — America’s most prestigious honor society.

The University's distinguished faculty members include Tony Award winners as well as 20 members of the National Academies of Science and Engineering and 19 members of the National Academy of Inventors. As a member of the Association of Research Libraries, UH is distinguished by the breadth and quality of its collections and services.

Undergraduate Education

The University of Houston has the most competitive admissions standards within the UH System. Beginning in fall 2011, only freshmen who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class received automatic admission to the University. The entering freshman class of 2021 was larger, more academically prepared (with an average 1240 SAT) and more diverse than ever before. Once admitted, undergraduates at UH choose from 114 majors and 139 minors and certificates housed in 15 academic colleges and schools and an interdisciplinary Honors College, which is a nationally recognized community of the University's most talented students.

UH values undergraduate research as an important educational experience for students and as an essential skill for graduates seeking employment. UH facilitates opportunities for all undergraduates to participate in research through multiple avenues, including a senior honors thesis program, an undergraduate research scholarship program, a summer undergraduate research fellowship program and assistance in applying for nationally competitive scholarships. More than half of the entering first-year class chose to participate in the UHin4 program, which offers closely monitored academic and degree plan advising as well as a fixed rate tuition option.

Graduate Education

The University of Houston offers 111 master's degrees, 47 doctoral degrees, and four professional degree programs (in Law, Medicine, Optometry and Pharmacy). Many of these programs are nationally recognized, with four programs ranked in the Top 10 and 20 programs ranked among the Top 50 in the country. In particular, the entrepreneurship program in the C.T. Bauer College of Business that has been ranked among the top three by Entrepreneur Magazine and the Princeton Review for nearly a decade. Additionally, the UH Law Center and the Graduate College of Social Work are consistently ranked in the top tier nationally.

Research

With more than $203 million* in research expenditures in FY 2021, the University of Houston is home to eight national research centers and 28 university research centers and institutes. To enable scholars to explore emerging research areas and work more effectively with industry, other research organizations and the community, the University has established five interdisciplinary research areas. These are powerful centers of creativity where teams of researchers from a wide range of disciplines collaborate across traditional boundaries to bring research knowledge to bear on issues of intellectual, scientific, social, economic, environmental and cultural importance.

UH research areas are:

• Accessible Health Care
• Cyber and Physical Security
• Drug Discovery and Development
• Energy Security and Transition
• Sustainable Communities and Infrastructure

These research areas were derived from the intersection of three streams.

• Interests of the UH faculty and research leaders, obtained through discussions with deans, heads and leading research faculty. Account was also taken on immediate faculty hiring plans through engagement with the Senior Vice President and Provost.
• Available and short-term attainable research infrastructure, including laboratories, computing capacity, shared facilities and major equipment, as well as short-term plans for the acquisition of additional research infrastructure, including the new College of Medicine.
• Societal and global challenges, as documented in the national academies (NAE, NAE, NIH) reports, and other leading international academies and intellectual leadership. These were enriched with discussions on local, regional and statewide challenges that affect society and that have the potential to negatively impacting the quality of life of underserved sectors of our society.

These initiatives are unique to UH, since the process of intersection cited above would lead to different results when applied in another university and community setting. The UH institutional research thrusts represent the aspirations of our broad community to serve and enhance our society, and to maximize the impact of our research in service of the least fortunate amongst us.

*as reported to the National Science Foundation

University of Houston at Sugar Land

The University of Houston’s Sugar Land instructional site (14000 University Boulevard, Sugar Land, TX 77479) serves nearly 3,000 students and offers programs and courses leading to UH undergraduate and graduate degrees from the UH Colleges of Nursing, Technology, Education, Social Work, Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and the C.T. Bauer College of Business. UH at Sugar Land serves students from the greater Houston area, as well as the greater Fort Bend County region, including—Sugar Land, Richmond/Rosenberg, Stafford and Missouri City.

University of Houston at Katy

The University of Houston’s Katy instructional site (22400 Grand Circle Boulevard, Katy, TX 77449) offers courses leading to UH undergraduate and graduate degrees from the UH Colleges of Nursing and the UH Cullen College of Engineering, which also is in partnership with Houston Community College (HCC) to offer the HCC/UH Engineering Academy. UH at Katy serves students from the greater Houston area, including, Katy, Fulshear, Brookshire, Cinco Ranch and Pecan Grove.

UH at Katy shares the facility with UH-Victoria at Katy, which offers its own unique degree programs.