Texas Computer Science is committed to educating tomorrow’s top leaders in technology and staying ahead of the trends that guide how businesses operate. To meet the needs of our students and prepare them for their future careers, we’ve launched the Texas Honors Computer Science and Business (Texas CSB) program. 

Texas CSB is a four-year, integrated honors degree between the Department of Computer Science and the Canfield Business Honors Program. The breadth and quality of information the program provides appeals to a wide range of students with varying career aspirations, including data analytics, marketing analytics, financial engineering, and leadership roles in tech companies. 

It was the program’s focus on developing both technical skills and business savvy that made Austin Joseph, a first-year UT Austin student and Texas CSB cohort member, excited to apply.   

On speaking about his motivations for joining Texas CSB, Joseph said, “One thing I really want to do is start my own company by my junior or senior year. Since I want to create a quantitative finance group, I need make sure I have a strong understanding of computer science and finance… I thought [Texas CSB] was the perfect way to merge those things.” He then added, “The classes are challenging but I can already see my growth as a programmer and as a person.”

In the first year alone, the program has garnered the interest of many talented students—in total there were 409 applicants. Admittance into Texas CSB was based on a holistic evaluation of a student’s leadership qualities, academic achievements, and passion for the fields of business and technology. The inaugural class comprises a group of 23 exceptional students who uphold UT Austin’s reputation for academic excellence while reflecting the increasingly broad landscape of computer science. The cohort possesses an impressive academic background, with the group’s median SAT and ACT scores being 1560 and 36, respectively. Texas CSB also touts more female students in admittance than the national average for other computer science programs.

Another Texas CSB member, Julia Hathaway, attended Lake Travis High School and was the school’s 2019 valedictorian. At that time, she said that she wanted to work in the realm of computer science but also “really love[d] working with people” and wanted to incorporate that into her career. Ultimately, she applied to Texas CSB because she identified with the program’s goal of preparing students to work in roles “where you have the technical skills, but [also] have the background in business to take on more managerial roles or be an entrepreneur.” 

By combining the degrees, which are already recognized as ranking among the top ten programs in their respective fields, students are able to complete their education in a shorter amount of time, as opposed to those who pursue separate degrees in the two colleges. This integrated approach is fostering a new generation of leaders that have both the technical knowledge and business acumen to tackle modern, pressing issues.