Texas State University

Admission to Texas State University is broadly accessible, though the school maintains a relatively steady draw among admitted applicants. In the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, the university stood at 288 in 2027, recovering ground after falling to 331 in 2023, though still below its 2019 position of 230. Getting accepted presents a relatively low hurdle for incoming undergraduates, as reflected by an overall acceptance rate of 89.3% in 2025. At the same time, the university shows solid traction once decisions are released: its yield rate reached 26.9%, which is higher than 93% of peer schools in its comparison group of similarly ranked public comprehensive universities. For prospective students building their college lists, Texas State offers an open admissions environment where qualified applicants face minimal competition for entry, paired with a reliable enrollment pull that outpaces nearly all of its institutional peers.

Admissions at Texas State University involve moderate testing standards, placing typical enrolling students near national midpoints. For the 2025 entering class, the middle fifty percent of applicants presented an ACT composite score between 19 and 25, alongside mid-range SAT section results centered in the five hundreds for both reading and math. Across all enrolled test-takers, the median SAT score was 1100, which is higher than 52% of peer institutions among public comprehensive universities with similar rankings. Standardized test submission is not universal, as fewer than half of enrolling freshmen provided SAT results and only a small minority supplied ACT results. Prospective candidates targeting this institution can feel academically well positioned if their standardized testing reaches or exceeds an ACT score around the low twenties or a combined SAT score near 1100, which aligns closely with the middle band of the admitted class.

Academic degrees at Texas State University are broadly distributed across fields rather than concentrated in a few programs. In 2025, the university conferred 7,238 bachelor's degrees, with the top three majors—Psychology, General Business Administration, and Marketing—accounting for just 17.6% of all undergraduate completions. The university's largest undergraduate programs do not overlap with its most prominently ranked areas. While undergraduate enrollments center on liberal arts and general business, the school's top academic standings appear in specialized graduate study, where U.S. News ranked Criminology at 26th in 2021 and Healthcare Management at 53rd in 2026. International participation varies dramatically by level and field; while foreign students represent an insignificant portion of undergraduate cohorts, they comprised 94.5% of master's degree recipients in Computer Science in 2025. Career financial outcomes reward technical disciplines, as 2023 earnings data show that graduates in Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering achieved the highest median starting salary at $85,908 one year after finishing.

Texas State University supports a large student community where undergraduate education predominates, with Hispanic and White students making up the largest racial groups on campus. Across academic levels, Asian and international students account for relatively limited shares of the overall undergraduate population but show distinct distributions. Asian representation is steady yet modest throughout undergraduate divisions, exemplified by the incoming freshman class, where Asian students numbered 246, or 3% of the cohort. International enrollment follows an uneven pattern between degree levels. While overseas undergraduates represent only a slight fraction of bachelor's degree seekers, international students form a noticeable presence in graduate education. Enrolled international graduate students numbered 769, comprising 17.3% of all graduate students in 2025. Female students also outnumber male students across both undergraduate and graduate levels, creating a campus environment shaped primarily by domestic undergraduates alongside a focused cohort of international advanced-degree scholars.

The student body at Texas State University is predominantly composed of traditional college-age undergraduates alongside early-career graduate students. In 2025, students aged 18 to 19 made up 39.5% of all undergraduates, while those aged 20 to 21 represented 34.9%, meaning undergraduate campus life revolves heavily around young adults in their late teens and early twenties. Meanwhile, graduate cohorts are concentrated among individuals in their twenties. Students aged 25 to 29 formed the largest graduate segment at 30.4%, followed by those aged 22 to 24 at 29.8%. This demographic distribution indicates that undergraduate social and academic activities are shaped by traditional-age students, while graduate programs consist primarily of young scholars pursuing advanced study shortly after finishing college.

International enrollment at Texas State University has followed an upward trajectory over the past decade, though foreign presence differs markedly across degree levels. Among undergraduates, the international share increased steadily to reach 2% in 2025, up from under one percent in 2016. In graduate programs, international representation expanded significantly over the same timeframe, rising to 17.3% by 2025. When examining completions, international students remain rare among bachelor's degree recipients, accounting for less than one percent of graduates across major undergraduate programs like psychology and business administration. Instead, international degree earners are heavily concentrated in quantitative and technological graduate fields. For master's degree recipients in 2025, international students made up 94.5% of graduates in Computer Science and 81.7% in Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Other. Prospective international applicants will thus encounter small peer cohorts in general undergraduate study, but deeply international communities within technical graduate programs.

Families exploring higher education in central Texas have several prominent institutions within commuting or short driving distance of Texas State University. Located just 29.8 kilometers away in the state capital, The University of Texas at Austin is a major public research institution ranked 34th among National Universities in the 2027 U.S. News rankings. To the south in San Antonio, Trinity University offers a focused private setting, holding the 38th spot among National Liberal Arts Colleges at a distance of 43.7 kilometers. Also located in San Antonio, The University of Texas at San Antonio is situated 45.8 kilometers away and ranked 227th among National Universities. Further north, Southwestern University provides another undergraduate liberal arts alternative 54.1 kilometers away, holding rank 91 on the 2027 Liberal Arts College list. These institutions present distinct academic settings and scale within the immediate regional corridor.

Campus safety statistics at Texas State University show that reported incidents are predominantly driven by substance conduct violations rather than severe violent crime. In 2025, the university recorded a crime rate per 1,000 students of 10.6, reflecting moderate enforcement activity across the campus population. For the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, liquor law disciplinary referrals represented the single largest category of campus safety reports, totaling 722 incidents. Substance offenses also accounted for the next most frequent category over that same span, with 318 drug arrests logged by law enforcement. Beyond drug and alcohol enforcement, safety logs recorded a smaller number of interpersonal disputes, including stalking, domestic violence, and assault. These patterns demonstrate that day-to-day security concerns on campus primarily revolve around university disciplinary enforcement of alcohol and drug rules rather than widespread violent threats.