K-12 and Beyond
The College of Natural Sciences offers school children, teens and postsecondary learners a pipeline into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) success. We propel improvements that help students when they later pursue four-year degrees and eventually career success.
893,000
K-12 students are taught annually by a STEM teacher who graduated from a UTeach program
250,000
secondary students use mathematics curriculum developed by our Charles A. Dana Center
280,000
college credit hours have been awarded since 2012 to high schoolers enrolled in OnRamps courses taught by Texas Science faculty
Our STEM education transformation initiatives reach hundreds of thousands of students in grades pre-K through 12, as well as after secondary school, in Texas and across the country. Our research-informed STEM curriculum, teaching and professional development spans a number of initiatives. Plus, we offer dozens of different camp and summer academy programs throughout the college and at UT.
Charles A. Dana Center
The Dana Center, within the College of Natural Sciences, aims to ensure each student is afforded access and opportunities in STEM, opening doors for students in later life. Currently, a collaboration between the center, UT and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board works to improve mathematical college readiness for more than 1.5 million public high school students in Texas via a new open-source mathematics curriculum. Texas is also one of 23 states using the Dana Center’s Launch Years Initiative to help students bridge high-school-to-college transitions.
UTeach Institute
Fifty universities, located in nearly half of all states in the country, now have UTeach programs that use the model developed here in the College of Natural Sciences for effectively training educators in science and mathematics. UTeach programs are training STEM teachers to succeed in dynamic K–12 school environments. By the end of this decade, it is estimated that more than 1 million students every year in elementary and secondary science and math classes will be learning from a teacher who has completed a UTeach program.
OnRamps
Since 2012, 2,200 instructors in 594 schools have taught UT College of Natural Sciences courses in high schools throughout Texas via the UT OnRamps program. This has allowed Texas high school students to earn college credit while in secondary school. Almost half (44%) of the students served in these courses identify as first generation, meaning they would be among the first in their family to receive a college degree.