The University of Texas System Board of Regents has approved the creation of a new School of Computing at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), a move the university says will bring together academic programs tied to computer science, information, statistics and data sciences under one umbrella beginning in fall 2026.
According to the university’s announcement, the School of Computing will be housed within the College of Natural Sciences and is intended to align instruction and research in areas tied to computing and data-driven work that are increasingly central to government, industry and the broader economy. The new school is also positioned as a way to address growing student demand for computing-related majors while expanding access to computing education for students outside those majors.
University leaders framed the change as both an organizational shift and a capacity expansion. The School of Computing plans to recruit and hire 50 faculty members, an effort that UT Austin said is aimed at increasing instructional capacity and supporting research that spans multiple disciplines.
“This unified school represents an opportunity to leverage our resources in ways that will accelerate discovery, help Texas attract talent, and position our university to lead in developing systems that are trustworthy and designed to serve society’s interests,” College of Natural Sciences Dean David Vanden Bout said in the announcement.
The university has already begun planning for the transition. Vanden Bout named Peter Stone, chair of the Department of Computer Science and founding director of Texas Robotics, as special adviser for school formation. Stone will work with Ken Fleischmann, interim iSchool dean, and James Scott, chair of the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences, to prepare for the launch.
Stone said the combined structure is expected to broaden cross-field partnerships and support work across areas ranging from robotics and machine learning to health informatics and the societal impacts of AI.
UT Austin’s announcement also emphasized that the additional faculty hiring is expected to support a larger number of majors in computing-related fields while making computing and AI education available across the university, regardless of a student’s discipline. The university said the approach is designed to help ensure graduates across programs are prepared to work with technologies that shape their professions.
UT Austin Wins Approval for New School of Computing
What to Know:
- The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved a new School of Computing at the University of Texas at Austin that is slated to open in fall 2026.
- The school will sit in the College of Natural Sciences and will unite programs spanning computer science, information, and statistics and data sciences under a single structure.
- UT Austin said it plans to hire 50 faculty members as part of the launch, aiming to expand teaching capacity and support interdisciplinary research tied to computing and artificial intelligence.
