# UT Austin grows by reallocating access

Publication update, November 2, 2026: the latest UT construction advisory specifies 1,055 Whitis beds. Earlier 1,000–1,075 figures below keep their original source period. The new reader uses 1,055.


## Enrollment, capacity and the limits of the public record \| Sources checked November 2, 2026

UT Austin’s official enrollment rose from 49,996 in 2000 to 55,172 in 2026: 10.4% over 26 years. That modest-looking increase conceals 6,513 additional undergraduates, fewer students in the reported graduate/professional component, and sharp differences among colleges. The campus did not add students every year. It already enrolled 52,261 in 2002. [E1](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB00-01Complete)[[E2]](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB10-11Complete)[[E4]](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/students)[[E5]](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/09/22/ut-sets-academic-performance-records-remains-the-no-1-public-university-in-texas/)

Of the systems in the question, the automatic-admission guarantee has already adjusted. UT narrowed eligibility to the top 5% of a graduating class for fall 2026 while enrolling fewer first-time freshmen than in 2025. In other systems, the visible adjustment is often a change in access: where students live, how often their bus arrives, which course section fits their schedule, or whether they can obtain a particular garage. The evidence does not establish one universal physical limit. [E5](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/09/22/ut-sets-academic-performance-records-remains-the-no-1-public-university-in-texas/)[[E6]](https://news.utexas.edu/2025/09/18/ut-sets-all-time-highs-for-enrollment-and-student-performance/)[[L2]](https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/sb-175-letter-to-tea-commissioner-2025.pdf)[[L3]](https://tea2.tea.texas.gov/taa-letters/university-texas-austin-automatic-admission-policy-3)[[T4]](https://www.capmetro.org/servicechange/august-2026-service-changes)[[T6]](https://parking.utexas.edu/parking/student/how-get-r-permit)

The most useful frame is that capacity belongs to a particular student, purpose, place and time. An empty afternoon classroom does not provide a morning chemistry laboratory; a graduate apartment does not house a freshman; a seat on another bus route does not help a Riverside commuter. UT can increase degrees awarded, official headcount, professional-program enrollment and research space on different tracks. Treating them as one growth plan produces the wrong answer.

# The capacity picture

| System | Best verified measure | What it establishes |
| :---- | :---- | :---- |
| Enrollment | 55,172 official students in fall 2026; 44,675 undergraduates | Total +10.4% since 2000; undergraduate +17.1%. Official reporting excludes Option III graduate programs. |
| Instruction | 4,890 CDS undergraduate sections in fall 2025; 356 had 100+ students | More counted sections and a smaller large-section share than 2011. No current complete instructional-seat inventory recovered. |
| Rooms | 2025 classroom utilization 31 instructional hours/week; 64% average fill | A campus average, not available seats in required courses or at peak times. |
| Housing | IPEDS controlled capacity 8,588 in 2024; catalog hall groups roughly 7,650 in 2026–27 | Different universes. Neither is occupancy, unmet demand, or a freshman guarantee. |
| Parking | 17,124 spaces in AY 2020–21; 2026–27 resident permit guidance available | Inventory last verified 2020–21. Current peak occupancy and concurrent permit demand unknown. |
| Transit | 1.140 million UT Shuttle boardings in FY 2025; 1.026 million budgeted FY 2027 | Actual and budget differ. Routes 661/670 now have longer weekday headways. |
| Services | Published noncrisis counseling wait averages 1–2 weeks | No verified longitudinal clinical-FTE, advising-FTE or wait-distribution series. |
| Future enrollment | FY 2029 baseline projection 56,333 in August 2026 legislative request | +2.3% versus FY 2027 budget 55,064 within the same measure; not a verified fall-census or physical-capacity ceiling. |

Sources and scope: [E4](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/students)[[E5]](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/09/22/ut-sets-academic-performance-records-remains-the-no-1-public-university-in-texas/)[[E7]](https://global.utexas.edu/about/international-enrollment)[[C1]](https://reports.utexas.edu/common-data-set/pdf)[[C2]](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/reports/data/space-usage-efficiency-sue-institutional-comparison-2025/)[[H2]](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/complete-data-files/COST1_2024.zip)[[H3]](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/student-services/university-housing-and-dining/)[[T2]](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport_2021.pdf)[[T4]](https://www.capmetro.org/servicechange/august-2026-service-changes)[[T5]](https://www.capmetro.org/docs/default-source/about-capital-metro-docs/financial-transparency-docs/annual-budgets-docs/fy2027-approved-operating-and-capital-budget-capmetro.pdf?sfvrsn=6810a4bc_10)[[S3]](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/cmhc/)[[P1]](https://campusmasterplan.utexas.edu/)[[P7]](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2026/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2026.pdf). The workbook retains each observation’s year, unit, source and actual/forecast/plan status. Blank years are unknown, not zero.

## What grew: undergraduates, selected colleges and throughput

| Fall | Official total | Undergraduate | Graduate/professional |
| :---- | :---- | :---- | :---- |
| 2000 | 49,996 | 38,162 | 11,834 |
| 2002 | 52,261 | 39,661 | 12,600 |
| 2010 | 51,195 | 38,420 | 12,775 |
| 2015 | 50,950 | 39,619 | 11,331 |
| 2020 | 50,476 | 40,048 | 10,428 |
| 2025 | 55,000 | 44,314 | 10,686 |
| 2026 | 55,172 | 44,675 | 10,497 |
| 2000–2026 change | +5,176 / +10.4% | +6,513 / +17.1% | −1,337 / −11.3% |

These are official institutional fall counts, reconstructed from statistical handbooks and the current public dashboard. The complete 27-year series and annual college matrix are in the companion dataset. The undergraduate increase exceeds the entire net institutional increase. That is why dividing every service measure by total enrollment can hide the relevant demand. [E1](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB00-01Complete)[[E2]](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB10-11Complete)[[E3]](https://utexas.box.com/s/gflzag1a3f88jelotrdv9uendvmdf1kt)[[E4]](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/students)

*All 27 fall observations, 2000–2026. Official reporting scope; not an estimate of people physically present on campus.*

A more consequential boundary appears in UT’s own reporting notes: Texas Global explicitly says Option III graduate programs are excluded from official institutional reporting. Option III is a funding category, not a synonym for online study. The official headline therefore cannot be corrected by simply subtracting advertised online-master’s enrollments; some are already outside it. The reported graduate decline is a decline in this series, not proof that all UT graduate education contracted. A complete historical program crosswalk remains necessary. [E7](https://global.utexas.edu/about/international-enrollment)[[E9]](https://graduate.utexas.edu/degrees-programs/option3)[[E10]](https://cdso.utexas.edu/faq)

| Reported college, all levels | 2000 | 2026 | Change |
| :---- | :---- | :---- | :---- |
| Natural Sciences | 9,914 | 13,198 | +33.1% |
| Engineering | 6,595 | 8,172 | +23.9% |
| Liberal Arts | 13,549 | 12,490 | −7.8% |
| Business | 6,018 | 5,535 | −8.0% |

These endpoint changes show uneven organizational growth; they are not constant-boundary estimates. Geosciences separated from Natural Sciences in 2005, Undergraduate Studies changed Liberal Arts assignments from 2009, and newer schools and 2026 reorganizations require crosswalks. The full matrix preserves 452 disclosed college-year observations within 513 possible cells. It does not turn a missing 2026 Information value into zero. The claim that the fastest-growing colleges have the least space remains unproved without comparable teaching/laboratory area and course-load data. [E1](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB00-01Complete)[[E2]](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB10-11Complete)[[E4]](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/students)

Enrollment is a stock; entrants and graduates are flows. In a stable population, more entrants or longer time enrolled increases the stock, while faster completion can accommodate a larger entering class without an equivalent rise in simultaneous enrollment. UT’s four-year graduation rate rose from 45.6% for the 2000 entering cohort to 77.7% for the 2022 cohort. Its 2024 legislative request explicitly connects improved progression to larger incoming classes. These observations support the mechanism but do not identify exactly how many places faster graduation created. [E2](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB10-11Complete)[[E8]](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/graduation-rates)[[P4]](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2024/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2024.pdf) UT is also shifting entry time. Its fall 2026 Spring Start pilot invites selected students to begin at Austin Community College and enter UT in spring after meeting program conditions. The legislative request describes limited enrollment spaces; the admissions rules also restrict guaranteed majors. Timing and major access are capacity decisions. [P7](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2026/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2026.pdf)[[L6]](https://admissions.utexas.edu/apply/alternative-pathways-to-enrollment/ssp/)

The most recent year also defeats the idea of automatic annual expansion. Applications increased from 90,690 in 2025 to 98,841 in 2026, while first-time freshmen fell from 9,900 to 9,487, a 4.2% decrease. Total enrollment nevertheless increased 172. Applications, entering classes and the total student body answer different questions. [E5](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/09/22/ut-sets-academic-performance-records-remains-the-no-1-public-university-in-texas/)[[E6]](https://news.utexas.edu/2025/09/18/ut-sets-all-time-highs-for-enrollment-and-student-performance/)

## The admission rule is already the adjustment mechanism

The 2009 exception lets UT set a designated first-time Texas-resident undergraduate capacity, estimate how many offers will fill 75% of it, and offer admission by whole percentile groups. Thus the law constrains how resident places are allocated; it does not independently choose the total freshman class. Automatic university admission also does not guarantee a particular major. [L1](https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ED/htm/ED.51.htm)[[L5]](https://utexas-public.courseleaf.com/general-information/admission/undergraduate-admission/)

Illustration, not actual UT counts: a planned 10,000-person freshman class containing 9,000 Texas residents would imply approximately 6,750 automatic resident places and 2,250 other resident places. The remaining 1,000 are outside that resident denominator. Multiplying 75% by the whole class would answer a different question. Yield uncertainty and the whole-percentile requirement also mean the realized share need not equal exactly 75%.

The president’s 2025 letter reports rounded observed shares between 73% and 80% over 2012–2025, including 76% in 2024 and 2025. Thresholds have not tightened every year: 2016 returned to top 8% after top 7% in 2014–15. The current top 5% policy is announced through fall 2028 and spring 2029. The remaining discretion is substantial but bounded; exact resident and automatic-enrollee counts are needed to measure it for a particular class. [L2](https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/sb-175-letter-to-tea-commissioner-2025.pdf)[[L3]](https://tea2.tea.texas.gov/taa-letters/university-texas-austin-automatic-admission-policy-3)

A revealing counterfactual appears in the Senate analysis of 2023 legislation preserving UT’s exception. UT estimated that losing the cap would increase entering classes from roughly 9,000 to 13,000, adding 16,000 undergraduates across four cohorts. The legislature prevented that mechanism from taking effect. The 16,000 is a forecast used to justify legislation, not an approved growth plan. [L4](https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/analysis/html/SB02538F.htm)

There is also an unusually direct link between the law and classrooms: it provides for at least six semester credit hours during evening or other low-demand periods as necessary for efficient classroom use. No evidence recovered establishes that UT currently applies a universal evening-course requirement. That is a specific question for the registrar, not a finding about students’ schedules. [L1](https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ED/htm/ED.51.htm)

## The broad classroom story runs opposite to the obvious hypothesis

| Fall | Counted sections | Under 20 | 100 or more |
| :---- | :---- | :---- | :---- |
| 2000 | 4,154 | 41.7% | 9.0% |
| 2011 | 3,906 | 33.4% | 10.5% |
| 2019 | 4,037 | 37.4% | 9.7% |
| 2024 | 4,529 | 36.8% | 8.6% |
| 2025 | 4,890 | 40.7% | 7.3% |

From 2011 to 2025, counted undergraduate sections rose 25.2%, compared with 15.3% undergraduate enrollment growth. Sections with 100 or more students fell in number from 410 to 356 and in share from 10.5% to 7.3%. These public Common Data Set distributions contradict a simple campuswide claim that growth has meant an increasing share of very large sections. They do not establish a smooth improvement: small-section shares moved in both directions, and the 2025 share remains below 2000. [C1](https://reports.utexas.edu/common-data-set/pdf)[[E3]](https://utexas.box.com/s/gflzag1a3f88jelotrdv9uendvmdf1kt)[[E4]](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/students)

The denominator matters. CDS counts organized credit sections with at least one degree-seeking undergraduate; distance learning and several individualized forms of instruction are excluded, cross-listings count once, and laboratory/discussion subsections are reported separately. A ten-person seminar and a 400-person lecture each count as one section. These tables cannot establish the class size experienced by the typical course enrollment, identify a bottleneck in calculus or chemistry, or measure students unable to register. [C1](https://reports.utexas.edu/common-data-set/pdf)

The 2025 state space report gives UT classroom utilization of 31 instructional hours per week and 64% average fill; its overall efficiency score is 159. Those figures do not mean 36% of classroom capacity is usable slack. Fill is an average of meeting-level percentages, not a physical seat-stock ratio. Room type, equipment, timing and instructional staffing determine whether a nominally empty seat can meet a particular need. Demand and utilization also use different room universes. [C2](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/reports/data/space-usage-efficiency-sue-institutional-comparison-2025/)[[C3]](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/agency-publication/miscellaneous/overview-of-space-usage-efficiency-sue/)

The historical lesson is unusually specific. In a 2013 recollection, former president William Cunningham described the 1989 registration crisis as concentrated in 32 high-demand courses and reported 8,800 additional class seats after targeted changes. This is historical testimony, outside the 2000–2026 reconstruction; its value is showing why course-level access can bind even when a campus total looks manageable. [R5](https://alcalde.texasexes.org/2013/06/the-number-crunch)

The current complete instructional-room inventory was not recovered: the registrar’s current general-purpose classroom files lead to authenticated SharePoint. A historical count of general-purpose rooms cannot substitute for all departmental classrooms and laboratories. The 147,857-section archive mentioned in the brief was not located in connected sources, so no gateway-course trend is claimed here. [C4](https://registrar.utexas.edu/staff/rooms)

## Beds: a real access problem, but the aggregate shortage story fails a first test

Federal IPEDS records show UT’s institutionally controlled residential capacity rising from 6,777 in 2000 to 8,588 in 2024, or 26.7%, faster than official total enrollment over the same interval. This is evidence against the simple claim that controlled beds never kept pace in aggregate. It is not proof that housing is sufficient: the field includes controlled facilities on or off campus, is not undergraduate-only, and measures capacity rather than occupancy, affordability or unmet applications. The 25 annual observations and their reported-data flags are preserved. [H1](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/complete-data-files/IC2023_Dict.zip)[[H2]](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/complete-data-files/COST1_2024.zip)

UT’s 2026–27 catalog separately lists approximate residence-hall groups totaling 7,650 accommodations, including roughly 750 at Dobie. Apartments have a different scope. Subtracting either housing count from all students would manufacture a shortage estimate, because housing is not guaranteed or required and many students seek other arrangements. Actual pressure is documented more directly: KUT reported full UT occupancy and conversion of study rooms in 2023. That remains a dated pressure signal, not a verified 2026 occupancy rate. [H3](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/student-services/university-housing-and-dining/)[[R3]](https://www.kut.org/education/2023-09-13/college-dorms-in-central-texas-are-overcrowded-schools-and-students-are-getting-creative)

Whitis illustrates why announcements require a net ledger. UT advertises approximately 1,000 residents for fall 2027; the developer specifies 1,075 beds replacing buildings that housed approximately 200. UT’s 2024 legislative request described 800 net new undergraduate beds. These descriptions have different precision but all distinguish the new building from the net expansion. [H4](https://housing.utexas.edu/housing/residence-halls/residence-hall-locations)[[H5]](https://bbcampussolutions.com/university-of-texas-at-austin-residence-hall/)[[P4]](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2024/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2024.pdf)

A late change may erase much of the gain. Chron reported on October 30, 2026, quoting a UT spokesperson, that Dobie will be unavailable for 2027–28. Its reported physical capacity is 980; the current catalog describes roughly 750 accommodations. The operational count and future use remain unresolved. [H6](https://www.chron.com/texas/article/ut-dobie-dorm-22501104.php)[[H3]](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/student-services/university-housing-and-dining/)

| Baseline and conditional inputs | Net change from Whitis and Dobie |
| :---- | :---- |
| 2026: old Whitis already offline; add 1,000–1,075; remove 980 | +20 to +95 |
| 2026: old Whitis already offline; add 1,000–1,075; remove approximately 750 | +250 to +325 |
| Pre-demolition: also subtract approximately 200 old Whitis beds | Each corresponding result is 200 lower |

This is a sensitivity calculation, not a verified forecast. The operating and physical definitions must not be mixed into a single preferred estimate. The conclusion that survives every scenario is narrower and useful: a roughly 1,000-bed opening does not establish roughly 1,000 additional undergraduate places. Graduate housing must also stay separate: 784 East Campus Graduate Apartment beds opened in 2024; the 2024 request mentioned another approved 500-bed phase, but a current delivery schedule was not recovered. [H7](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/02/24/and-just-like-that-its-30-years-later-did-we-follow-the-campus-master-plan/)[[P4]](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2024/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2024.pdf)

## West Campus and the shuttle are one system

Private West Campus housing as UT’s unofficial residential system is already established in reporting and UT’s own master-plan retrospective. The useful new connection is to transportation records: CapMetro geocoded student addresses provided by UT, creating a way to measure the geography behind shuttle changes. [H7](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/02/24/and-just-like-that-its-30-years-later-did-we-follow-the-campus-master-plan/)[[T3]](https://www.capmetro.org/docs/default-source/public-involvement-docs/board-meetings-docs/board-agenda-docs/mar-2024-board-meeting-agenda-packet.pdf?sfvrsn=e2e683f1_1)

| Address catchment | 2018, reconstructed | 2023 | Five-year change |
| :---- | :---- | :---- | :---- |
| West Campus | 13,565 | 15,942 | +18% |
| Riverside/Oltorf | 2,863 | 979 | −66% |
| Far West | 1,328 | 870 | −34% |

The 2018 counts are reconstructed by subtracting each reported five-year change from 2023. These are address records in defined catchments, not beds or a complete housing census. Nevertheless, the direction is striking: enrollment can increase while the number of students living in traditional distant shuttle corridors falls. [T3](https://www.capmetro.org/docs/default-source/public-involvement-docs/board-meetings-docs/board-agenda-docs/mar-2024-board-meeting-agenda-packet.pdf?sfvrsn=e2e683f1_1)

UT’s own academic-year reports show shuttle boardings falling from 4.95 million in 2012–13 to 1.94 million in 2018–19, a 60.8% decline before COVID. Boardings are rides, not people. The separate CapMetro fiscal-year series reports 1.140 million actual boardings in FY 2025 and budgets 1.026 million for FY 2027, alongside fewer vehicle hours. The budget is not a realized count, and fiscal-year observations are not spliced into the academic-year series. [T1](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport18_V4.pdf)[[T2]](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport_2021.pdf)[[T5]](https://www.capmetro.org/docs/default-source/about-capital-metro-docs/financial-transparency-docs/annual-budgets-docs/fy2027-approved-operating-and-capital-budget-capmetro.pdf?sfvrsn=6810a4bc_10)

The student-life consequence is already concrete. Effective August 16, 2026, weekday headways on 661 Far West and 670 North Riverside changed from 8–10 minutes to 15–20 minutes. CapMetro attributes the change to ridership and student housing patterns. Students remaining farther away face a less frequent service even as the university’s official population grows. That establishes a service tradeoff, not current overload: trip-level loads, missed trips and pass-ups are still needed. [T4](https://www.capmetro.org/servicechange/august-2026-service-changes)

The resulting inference is that housing near campus substitutes for some transit demand, while service reductions can raise the time cost of living farther away. It is not yet possible to quantify the affordability effect. The H3 housing ledger referenced in the brief was not located, and no rent-to-commute causal estimate is claimed. Aggregate ridership decline also does not invalidate students’ accounts of a crowded particular bus; UT Social Work documented that experience on route 670 in 2019. [R4](https://socialwork.utexas.edu/senior-social-work-major-advocates-for-equal-access-to-public-transit/)

## Parking and services expose the same measurement problem

UT’s reported parking supply increased from 15,582 spaces in 2012–13 to 17,124 in 2020–21. Surface spaces fell 28.7%, while garage spaces rose 45.0%. Someone experiencing the disappearance of a convenient lot could reasonably perceive scarcity even as aggregate inventory increased. Those are historical inventories for all users, not current student-only supply. [T1](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport18_V4.pdf)[[T2]](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport_2021.pdf)

The current resident-permit instructions say UT has offered some form of garage permit to everyone entering that waitlist in recent years, though not necessarily the preferred garage. That counters a blanket claim that no parking capacity remains. It says nothing definitive about affordability, other permit classes or peak occupancy. Permit sales cannot be divided by spaces and called an occupancy rate: multiple permit categories and periods do not identify concurrent vehicles. [T6](https://parking.utexas.edu/parking/student/how-get-r-permit)

Counseling statistics contain a different trap. The 2023–24 report displays 28,312 CMHC sessions plus 5,527 TimelyCare sessions separately. The 2024–25 headline of 38,057 includes 9,945 TimelyCare sessions. Treating the headlines as comparable yields an apparent 34.4% increase. Including the earlier vendor count reduces that to roughly 12.5%, conditional on comparable scope; the later non-TimelyCare remainder is approximately 28,112. Component sums also have a small source discrepancy. Neither visits nor sessions are unique people or clinical capacity. [S1](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/docs/HH_ImpactStatement_2024.pdf)[[S2]](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/docs/HH_ImpactReport_2025.pdf)

The current CMHC page describes an average 1–2 week wait for scheduled noncrisis appointments, with same-day crisis access. A capacity diagnosis needs clinical full-time equivalents, available appointments, demand and wait distributions, not a staff headcount. Advising has a separate change: Vick closed May 1, 2026 and redirected students to colleges. The notice does not establish a net loss of university-wide advising capacity or an enrollment cause. [S3](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/cmhc/)[[S4]](https://undergraduates.utexas.edu/student-success/vick-advising-excellence-center/academic-advising)

## What is planned—and what the money cannot tell us

UT does publish numerical enrollment projections. Its August 2026 legislative request lists 55,064 for budgeted FY 2027, 55,597 for baseline FY 2028 and 56,333 for baseline FY 2029 under the measure “Number of Students Enrolled as of the Twelfth Class Day.” The FY 2029 figure is 1,269, or 2.3%, above the FY 2027 budget within that table. These fiscal-year performance projections have not been reconciled to the fall-census series and are not a commitment to an equivalent expansion of housing or classrooms. The new master plan runs through 2027. The president’s ambition to educate 100,000 citizens over a decade concerns cumulative output, not 100,000 simultaneous students. [P7](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2026/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2026.pdf)[[P1]](https://campusmasterplan.utexas.edu/)[[P5]](https://president.utexas.edu/speech/2026-state-of-the-university-address/)

The August 2026 capital program lists 15 Austin projects with combined project budgets of $3.441 billion. They include medical, utility, research, athletic and renovation work. Medical-center early/site work and its central utility project alone account for $1.515 billion, about 44% of the total. These are approved-program budgets and scheduled stages, not money already spent, a complete list of all construction, or a classroom-expansion commitment. [P2](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2027-2032-cip-report-august-2026final.pdf)

| Project / decision | Verified status | Capacity interpretation |
| :---- | :---- | :---- |
| FY 2029 enrollment projection | August 2026 LAR baseline 56,333; FY 2027 budget 55,064 | Fiscal-year performance measure; no verified fall-census or physical-capacity equivalence. |
| New Whitis hall | Announced fall 2027 opening; approximately 1,000–1,075 gross beds | Replacement and Dobie closure determine the net result. |
| New McCombs building | CIP budget $425 million; scheduled occupancy May 2028 | Academic space; no verified additional-student commitment. |
| BIO renovation for Civic Leadership | CIP budget $100 million; scheduled occupancy August 2028 | Repurposes existing area and relocates science uses. |
| Graduate apartments phase 2 | 2024 LAR described 500 beds recently approved | Current timing unknown; graduate-only capacity. |
| Campus master plan | Preparation 2026–2027 | Planning process; no verified numerical enrollment ceiling. |

Sources: [H4](https://housing.utexas.edu/housing/residence-halls/residence-hall-locations)[[H5]](https://bbcampussolutions.com/university-of-texas-at-austin-residence-hall/)[[P1]](https://campusmasterplan.utexas.edu/)[[P2]](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2027-2032-cip-report-august-2026final.pdf)[[P4]](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2024/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2024.pdf)[[P7]](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2026/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2026.pdf). CIP dates are schedules, not confirmation that a building opened. Gross square footage and parking additions also require subtracting replaced or demolished capacity before calling them net gains.

McCombs offers a particularly useful test of the building-first theory. Its strategic plan says UT rejected a 2023 undergraduate-growth proposal involving nonresident tuition revenue sharing. Its new building nevertheless remains in the capital program. The documents establish that building approval and permission to grow enrollment are separate decisions. They do not establish the exact reason central administration rejected the proposal. [P3](https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/about/strategic-plan/)[[P2]](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2027-2032-cip-report-august-2026final.pdf)

The funding formula is another reason to distinguish enrollment from resources. Texas’s instruction-and-operations formula rewards weighted semester credit hours, with different weights by discipline and level and a lagged base period. Summer/fall 2024 and spring 2025 activity informs FY 2026–27 funding; growth inside the funded biennium does not automatically reset that appropriation. The incentive is funded teaching activity, not an immediate check for each additional student. Capital financing, operating staff and auxiliary housing revenue are different resources. [P6](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/meeting/advisory-committee-agendas/formula-advisory-committee-gai-agenda-materials-september-5-2025/)

## What survives the hypothesis tests

| Proposed explanation | Verdict | What would settle the remaining question |
| :---- | :---- | :---- |
| Beds bind before classrooms | Not established campuswide. Housing access is a stronger hypothesis than an aggregate physical-bed shortage. | Operating beds by eligibility; offers/waitlists/cancellations; affordable vacancies and student demand. |
| Gateway class sizes grew faster than enrollment | Still open. The campuswide large-section share moved the other way. | The 147,857 section records, with stable course identities, mode and lecture/lab crosswalks. |
| Automatic admission fixes class size first | Rejected as stated. The threshold responds to designated resident capacity. | Exact annual resident, auto-admit and yield counts quantify remaining discretion. |
| Fast-growing colleges have the least space | Uneven growth confirmed; space mismatch untested. | College-level assignable teaching/lab area, taught credit hours and staffing across stable boundaries. |

Among the named choices, the admission guarantee has already given ground in breadth, and service frequency has already fallen in some commuting corridors. Evidence of housing pressure is real but does not yet prove a single bed ceiling controls UT’s admissions. The most defensible conclusion is that access changes before an aggregate inventory is visibly exhausted. The students outside the top 5%, outside the nearby housing market, or outside the available course/garage/time slot experience those changes differently.

# Method, contribution and what would change the answer

## Where existing coverage stops

The research began by separating the existing strands: Tribune coverage explains the access politics of automatic admission; Daily Texan and KUT reporting document housing and commuter experiences; UT’s own retrospective recognizes private housing’s role; statistical handbooks, state space reports, federal housing surveys and board budgets supply different pieces of the accounting. None of these general ideas is claimed as a discovery. The contribution here is the linked, dated reconstruction and the tests that contradict an overly simple crowding story. [R1](https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/16/ut-austin-top-five-percent-threshold/)[[R2]](https://thedailytexan.com/2023/01/31/ut-austin-housing-report-shows-almost-40-of-first-time-in-college-freshmen-dont-live-on-campus/)[[R3]](https://www.kut.org/education/2023-09-13/college-dorms-in-central-texas-are-overcrowded-schools-and-students-are-getting-creative)[[H7]](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/02/24/and-just-like-that-its-30-years-later-did-we-follow-the-campus-master-plan/) Academic research supplies another part of the mechanism: Adam Kapor’s “Transparency and Percent Plans” uses survey and administrative evidence to study how admissions transparency changes application and enrollment decisions. [R6](https://www.nber.org/papers/w32372)

## Measures worth adding

A single campus utilization score would conceal the students who cannot use nominal capacity. The next dataset should measure access at the point where a resource is actually needed:

| Proposed measure | Definition and why it matters |
| :---- | :---- |
| Required-course access | Eligible students needing a course this term who obtain a usable seat / all eligible students needing it. Count timetable conflicts and major restrictions. |
| Enrollment-weighted class size | For comparable lecture sections, sum(n squared)/sum(n). This describes a randomly selected course enrollment’s class size; it is not the mean experience of a unique student. |
| Affordable housing access | Beds available to the relevant student group within a stated all-in cost and commute budget / students seeking those terms. Include fees and lease length. |
| Peak transit reliability | Passenger loads, pass-ups, missed trips and headway variance by route, direction and class-start window. |
| Service access | Offered appointments and wait-time percentiles by service need, with clinical/advising FTE and consistent provider scope. |

For the section archive, first identify whether size means census enrollment, seats offered, or graded students. Deduplicate cross-listings; link lecture/laboratory components; preserve canceled and suppressed records; crosswalk renumbered courses and college reorganizations; separate online and in-person modes. Then compare within-course size trends and enrollment-weighted exposure with changes caused by the mix of courses. A public course-grade table that suppresses small groups cannot be treated as a complete section census.

## Confidence and unresolved inputs

High confidence: official annual arithmetic; the resident-capacity denominator in law; the CDS distributions; the distinction between project budgets and enrollment targets; the documented 2026 route-frequency change. Moderate confidence: the combined housing–transit interpretation, supported by address and service records but not a household-level causal study. Unresolved: the first binding constraint for a specific added cohort, current net operating undergraduate beds, gateway-course trends, current instructional-seat inventory, peak parking/bus loads, and advisor/counselor capacity series.

The reconstruction reconciles every annual undergraduate-plus-graduate/professional sum. College sums reconcile except one undisclosed/unallocated student in 2022. The chosen 2014 handbook total is 51,312; a current historical catalog gives 51,313, a retained one-person source conflict. Dashboard documentation describes 12th-class-day census records refreshed after the 20th day, so the 2026 release’s 20th-day wording is not itself evidence of a census break. Different graduation-report snapshots are not silently spliced into one exact rate-change claim.

The proprietary course archive, building directory and H3 ledger described in the brief were not located in the connected material. Their absence limits specific joins, rather than justifying invented values. No new interviews, records responses or student anecdotes were fabricated. A verified course-waitlist series, operating-bed ledger, or peak-service dataset could change the ranking of constraints; those are the decisive next reporting requests.

# Sources and data package

The companion workbook contains annual/college enrollment, class-size snapshots, room utilization, housing, parking, transit, student addresses, services, admissions, capital projects and evidence gaps. The public-data ZIP includes CSVs, source maps, definitions and reproducible scripts. Each observation retains its own year and scope; this report does not label all numbers as 2026.

[E1](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB00-01Complete) UT Statistical Handbook 2000–2001. Institutional totals and college table, PDF pp. 3, 42–43. [Source](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB00-01Complete)

[E2](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB10-11Complete) UT Statistical Handbook 2010–2011. Table S28 annual/college history; Table S23 graduation cohorts. [Source](https://utexas.box.com/v/SHB10-11Complete)

[E3](https://utexas.box.com/s/gflzag1a3f88jelotrdv9uendvmdf1kt) UT Statistical Handbook 2020–2021. Tables 9 and 24; selected 2014 total 51,312. [Source](https://utexas.box.com/s/gflzag1a3f88jelotrdv9uendvmdf1kt)

[E4](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/students) UT Trends in Student Data. Public Tableau aggregate exports, 2017–2026; definitions and suppression retained. [Source](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/students)

[E5](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/09/22/ut-sets-academic-performance-records-remains-the-no-1-public-university-in-texas/) UT fall 2026 enrollment announcement. Total 55,172; UG 44,675; FTIC 9,487; applications 98,841. [Source](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/09/22/ut-sets-academic-performance-records-remains-the-no-1-public-university-in-texas/)

[E6](https://news.utexas.edu/2025/09/18/ut-sets-all-time-highs-for-enrollment-and-student-performance/) UT fall 2025 enrollment announcement. 2024/2025 headcounts, entering classes and applications. [Source](https://news.utexas.edu/2025/09/18/ut-sets-all-time-highs-for-enrollment-and-student-performance/)

[E7](https://global.utexas.edu/about/international-enrollment) Texas Global international-enrollment data note. Explicit Option III and English Language Center exclusions from official reporting. [Source](https://global.utexas.edu/about/international-enrollment)

[E8](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/graduation-rates) UT graduation-rate dashboard. Cohort-specific four-year rates; 2022 entering cohort 77.7%. [Source](https://reports.utexas.edu/spotlight-data/graduation-rates)

[L1](https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ED/htm/ED.51.htm) Texas Education Code 51.803. Current automatic-admission law, resident-capacity denominator and whole-percentile rule. [Source](https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ED/htm/ED.51.htm)

[L2](https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/sb-175-letter-to-tea-commissioner-2025.pdf) UT president’s September 11, 2025 letter to TEA. Historical thresholds and observed rounded auto-admit shares, 2012–2025. [Source](https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/sb-175-letter-to-tea-commissioner-2025.pdf)

[L3](https://tea2.tea.texas.gov/taa-letters/university-texas-austin-automatic-admission-policy-3) TEA October 2026 automatic-admission notice. Top 5% through summer/fall 2028 and spring 2029. [Source](https://tea2.tea.texas.gov/taa-letters/university-texas-austin-automatic-admission-policy-3)

[L4](https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/analysis/html/SB02538F.htm) Senate analysis of SB 2538, 2023. UT’s counterfactual estimate if its cap had terminated. [Source](https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/analysis/html/SB02538F.htm)

[P1](https://campusmasterplan.utexas.edu/) UT Austin Campus Master Plan. Planning process 2026–2027; separate from the LAR fiscal-year enrollment projections. [Source](https://campusmasterplan.utexas.edu/)

[P2](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2027-2032-cip-report-august-2026final.pdf) FY 2027–2032 UT System Capital Improvement Program, August 13, 2026. Austin 15-project budget total, individual approvals, project scope and schedules. [Source](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2027-2032-cip-report-august-2026final.pdf)

[P3](https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/about/strategic-plan/) McCombs strategic plan. States 2023 undergraduate-growth proposal was rejected; intake denominator not assumed. [Source](https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/about/strategic-plan/)

[P4](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2024/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2024.pdf) UT Austin legislative appropriations request, August 2024. Degree progression, 800 net Whitis beds, graduate-apartment second phase; PDF p. 10. [Source](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2024/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2024.pdf)

[P5](https://president.utexas.edu/speech/2026-state-of-the-university-address/) President’s 2026 State of the University address. Ten-year education ambition is a flow, not simultaneous headcount. [Source](https://president.utexas.edu/speech/2026-state-of-the-university-address/)

[P6](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/meeting/advisory-committee-agendas/formula-advisory-committee-gai-agenda-materials-september-5-2025/) THECB formula advisory committee materials, September 5, 2025. Weighted credit hours, base periods and enacted appropriations. [Source](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/meeting/advisory-committee-agendas/formula-advisory-committee-gai-agenda-materials-september-5-2025/)

[C1](https://reports.utexas.edu/common-data-set/pdf) UT Common Data Set archive. I3 distributions in 2000, 2011, 2019, 2024 and 2025; exact PDFs/pages in data. [Source](https://reports.utexas.edu/common-data-set/pdf)

[C2](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/reports/data/space-usage-efficiency-sue-institutional-comparison-2025/) THECB 2025 Space Usage Efficiency institutional comparison. UT classroom 47 demand, 31 utilization hours/week, 64% average fill; overall 159. [Source](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/reports/data/space-usage-efficiency-sue-institutional-comparison-2025/)

[C3](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/agency-publication/miscellaneous/overview-of-space-usage-efficiency-sue/) THECB Space Usage Efficiency methodology. Different demand/utilization room universes; instructional-hour conversion; mean meeting fill. [Source](https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/agency-publication/miscellaneous/overview-of-space-usage-efficiency-sue/)

[C4](https://registrar.utexas.edu/staff/rooms) UT Registrar room-scheduling resources. Current GPC room files linked to authenticated SharePoint; not recovered as public inventory. [Source](https://registrar.utexas.edu/staff/rooms)

[H1](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/complete-data-files/IC2023_Dict.zip) IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023 dictionary. ROOMCAP definition: institutionally controlled residential facilities on or off campus. [Source](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/complete-data-files/IC2023_Dict.zip)

[H2](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/complete-data-files/COST1_2024.zip) IPEDS COST1 2024 data. UT unitid 228778; 8,588 capacity. Earlier annual source ZIPs are row-linked in workbook. [Source](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/complete-data-files/COST1_2024.zip)

[H3](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/student-services/university-housing-and-dining/) UT 2026–27 housing catalog. Approximate hall groups sum 7,650; Dobie approximately 750; apartments separate. [Source](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/student-services/university-housing-and-dining/)

[H4](https://housing.utexas.edu/housing/residence-halls/residence-hall-locations) UT Housing residence-hall locations. New Whitis announced for 1,000 residents in fall 2027. [Source](https://housing.utexas.edu/housing/residence-halls/residence-hall-locations)

[H5](https://bbcampussolutions.com/university-of-texas-at-austin-residence-hall/) Whitis developer project description. 1,075 beds replacing approximately 200. [Source](https://bbcampussolutions.com/university-of-texas-at-austin-residence-hall/)

[H6](https://www.chron.com/texas/article/ut-dobie-dorm-22501104.php) Chron, October 30, 2026: Dobie unavailable for 2027–28. UT spokesperson quoted; physical 980 versus catalog accommodation 750 unresolved. [Source](https://www.chron.com/texas/article/ut-dobie-dorm-22501104.php)

[H7](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/02/24/and-just-like-that-its-30-years-later-did-we-follow-the-campus-master-plan/) UT master-plan retrospective, February 24, 2026. Private West Campus housing and the changing role of shuttles; 784 graduate beds opened 2024. [Source](https://news.utexas.edu/2026/02/24/and-just-like-that-its-30-years-later-did-we-follow-the-campus-master-plan/)

[T1](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport18_V4.pdf) UT PTS 2016–17 annual report. Parking and historical transit; PDF pp. 6, 9. [Source](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport18_V4.pdf)

[T2](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport_2021.pdf) UT PTS 2020–21 annual report. Parking and historical transit; PDF pp. 7, 10. [Source](https://parking.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/AnnualReport_2021.pdf)

[T3](https://www.capmetro.org/docs/default-source/public-involvement-docs/board-meetings-docs/board-agenda-docs/mar-2024-board-meeting-agenda-packet.pdf?sfvrsn=e2e683f1_1) CapMetro March 2024 board packet. Student-address catchments, PDF p. 147/slide 18. [Source](https://www.capmetro.org/docs/default-source/public-involvement-docs/board-meetings-docs/board-agenda-docs/mar-2024-board-meeting-agenda-packet.pdf?sfvrsn=e2e683f1_1)

[T4](https://www.capmetro.org/servicechange/august-2026-service-changes) CapMetro August 2026 service changes. Routes 661/670 weekday headways change 8–10 to 15–20 minutes, effective August 16. [Source](https://www.capmetro.org/servicechange/august-2026-service-changes)

[T5](https://www.capmetro.org/docs/default-source/about-capital-metro-docs/financial-transparency-docs/annual-budgets-docs/fy2027-approved-operating-and-capital-budget-capmetro.pdf?sfvrsn=6810a4bc_10) CapMetro approved FY 2027 operating and capital budget. UT Shuttle actual/forecast/budget, PDF pp. 55, 57–58. [Source](https://www.capmetro.org/docs/default-source/about-capital-metro-docs/financial-transparency-docs/annual-budgets-docs/fy2027-approved-operating-and-capital-budget-capmetro.pdf?sfvrsn=6810a4bc_10)

[T6](https://parking.utexas.edu/parking/student/how-get-r-permit) UT 2026–27 resident parking-permit instructions. Recent garage-offer experience and garage-specific selection. [Source](https://parking.utexas.edu/parking/student/how-get-r-permit)

[S1](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/docs/HH_ImpactStatement_2024.pdf) Healthyhorns 2023–24 impact statement. CMHC and separately displayed TimelyCare sessions; PDF p. 3. [Source](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/docs/HH_ImpactStatement_2024.pdf)

[S2](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/docs/HH_ImpactReport_2025.pdf) Healthyhorns 2024–25 impact report. CMHC headline includes TimelyCare; PDF p. 12. [Source](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/docs/HH_ImpactReport_2025.pdf)

[S3](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/cmhc/) UT Counseling and Mental Health Center. Published current scheduled-appointment wait and crisis access. [Source](https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/cmhc/)

[S4](https://undergraduates.utexas.edu/student-success/vick-advising-excellence-center/academic-advising) UT Vick advising transition notice. Closure May 1, 2026 and redirection to college advisors. [Source](https://undergraduates.utexas.edu/student-success/vick-advising-excellence-center/academic-advising)

[R1](https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/16/ut-austin-top-five-percent-threshold/) Texas Tribune, September 16, 2024: top 5% threshold. Prior statewide access reporting. [Source](https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/16/ut-austin-top-five-percent-threshold/)

[R2](https://thedailytexan.com/2023/01/31/ut-austin-housing-report-shows-almost-40-of-first-time-in-college-freshmen-dont-live-on-campus/) Daily Texan, January 31, 2023: freshman housing. Prior commuter reporting; non-campus residence does not establish denied housing demand. [Source](https://thedailytexan.com/2023/01/31/ut-austin-housing-report-shows-almost-40-of-first-time-in-college-freshmen-dont-live-on-campus/)

[R3](https://www.kut.org/education/2023-09-13/college-dorms-in-central-texas-are-overcrowded-schools-and-students-are-getting-creative) KUT, September 13, 2023: dorm crowding. UT 100% occupancy and study-room conversions, dated 2023. [Source](https://www.kut.org/education/2023-09-13/college-dorms-in-central-texas-are-overcrowded-schools-and-students-are-getting-creative)

[R4](https://socialwork.utexas.edu/senior-social-work-major-advocates-for-equal-access-to-public-transit/) UT Social Work, January 2019: transit access. Student accounts of crowded route 670 and added service after advocacy. [Source](https://socialwork.utexas.edu/senior-social-work-major-advocates-for-equal-access-to-public-transit/)

[R5](https://alcalde.texasexes.org/2013/06/the-number-crunch) Alcalde, June 2013: The Number Crunch. Former president’s account of 1989–90 bottlenecks in 32 high-demand courses. [Source](https://alcalde.texasexes.org/2013/06/the-number-crunch)

[L5](https://utexas-public.courseleaf.com/general-information/admission/undergraduate-admission/) UT undergraduate admission catalog. Automatic university admission does not guarantee admission to a particular major. [Source](https://utexas-public.courseleaf.com/general-information/admission/undergraduate-admission/)

[E9](https://graduate.utexas.edu/degrees-programs/option3) UT Graduate School: Option III programs. Non-formula-funded category can use on-campus, online/hybrid, evening/weekend or off-campus delivery. [Source](https://graduate.utexas.edu/degrees-programs/option3)

[E10](https://cdso.utexas.edu/faq) UT Computer and Data Science Online FAQ. All CDSO programs are designated Option III; this connects online-program counts to the reporting exclusion. [Source](https://cdso.utexas.edu/faq)

[P7](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2026/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2026.pdf) UT Austin legislative appropriations request, August 2026. PDF p. 50 / printed 43; Operations Support measure 6. Fiscal-year baseline request projects 56,333 in FY 2029; not a fall-census or physical-capacity commitment. [Source](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/ut-system-reports/2026/ut-system-legislative-appropriations-requests-ut-austin/university-of-texas-at-austin-lar-august-2026.pdf)

[L6](https://admissions.utexas.edu/apply/alternative-pathways-to-enrollment/ssp/) UT Spring Start Program admissions rules. Fall 2026 invitation-only pilot: ACC fall coursework, conditional UT spring entry and restricted guaranteed majors. [Source](https://admissions.utexas.edu/apply/alternative-pathways-to-enrollment/ssp/)

[R6](https://www.nber.org/papers/w32372) Adam Kapor: Transparency and Percent Plans. NBER Working Paper 32372, revised June 2024; survey/administrative evidence and modeling of transparency, application and enrollment decisions. [Source](https://www.nber.org/papers/w32372)


## Supporting data downloads

The public package contains curated, dated aggregate snapshots, dataset definitions and source notes. Its Excel workbook contains values, rather than the original editable formulas. The source and formula notes describe the reproducible scope.

- [Curated data, definitions and source notes (ZIP)](/research/deep-research/data/ut-austin-growth-and-class-access-support.zip)
- [Curated tables, values only (Excel)](/research/deep-research/data/ut-austin-growth-and-class-access/support.xlsx)
- [Primary comparison table (CSV)](/research/deep-research/data/ut-austin-growth-and-class-access/annual-enrollment.csv)
- [Dataset definitions (JSON)](/research/deep-research/data/ut-austin-growth-and-class-access/definitions.json)