A Message from UIW President Dr. Louis Agnese Jr.
With advances in technology drawing the world closer and closer together, international students play an increasingly vital part in the internationalization of the academic mission of the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW), which is the fourth-largest private university in Texas. International students enrich the learning experience by allowing all of us - students, faculty, staff and administrators - to interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The commitment by Incarnate Word to the international component of our academic mission is visible in many areas. Our international students, who represent more than 45 countries, comprise 6 percent of the UIW student body, one of the highest percentages of any university in San Antonio. And in order to better serve our growing international population, our Web site offers information in eight languages. We also offer Master's and Ph.D. degrees in international education and entrepreneurship.
In addition, we have sister school agreements for reciprocal education with more than 80 institutions in over 30 countries on six continents (please refer to the study abroad page for a complete listing). Our international commitment reached new heights with the opening of academic sites in Guangzhou, China and Mexico City, Mexico, where students can earn an accredited Incarnate Word undergraduate degree without having to leave either country.
The campus in San Antonio features the Dr. Burton E. Grossman International Conference Center (ICC1), a 46,000 square-foot facility that bristles with high-tech communications equipment and contains multi-media language and computer laboratories. Located next to the Grossman International Conference Center stands the ICC2, a 150,000 square-foot, five-story facility that features three levels of enclosed parking, a bookstore, apartment-style dormitories and the Sky Room, a banquet hall that is the second largest facility of its kind in the city.
The campus also features the Ann Barshop Natatorium, a swimming pool complex capable of hosting both national and international competitions, and the Gorman Business and Education Center. It houses the H-E-B School of Business and the Dreeben School of Education.
Additionally, a five-story Math, Science and Engineering complex opened in 2006, along the Feik School of Pharmacy. The pharmacy school, which will offer a doctoral degree in pharmacy, will be just one of five such schools in Texas and the only one situated at a private university.
Location also is an important part of any educational experience. We are fortunate that UIW is located in San Antonio, a dynamic Texas metropolis that is the eight-largest city in the United States. San Antonio offers a rich mixture of cultural heritages derived from its Indigenous roots to the city’s settlement in 1718 by groups from many countries throughout the world including Mexico, Spain, Germany, France and Ireland, to more recent arrivals from such locales as China, India, Puerto Rico and The Philippines.
San Antonio's proximity to Mexico - about a two-hour drive from the border - gives the city a distinct Hispanic flavor as well as a strategic location for unique opportunities in cultural and business exchanges with our southern neighbor.
Meanwhile, Austin, the capital of Texas, is just 70 miles north of us, while Corpus Christi, the gateway to the beaches of Padre Island and home to the fifth-largest port in the United States, is approximately 140 miles to the southeast.
I hope this brief message provided you with a glimpse of what the University of the Incarnate Word can offer international students. We are a Catholic institution founded in 1881 that welcomes to its community persons of diverse backgrounds in the belief that their respectful interaction advances the discovery of truth, mutual understanding, self-realization and the common good. I look forward to seeing you here!
