Mathematics is everywhere, therefore, mathematics should be for everyone.

Mathematics is the alphabet with which the vocabulary of all sciences is built. It is no surprise that the departments of mathematics tend to be among the largest at US universities by number of students and credit hours served, and therefore it has a very large contribution to student success. At UTSA, we serve approximately 12,000 seats per year.

One of the best predictors of success across domains is numeracy coupled with confidence. Our society pays a tragic human cost when students drop out of college and never finish their degrees, or end up in different destination majors that do not match their passion and greatest contribution potential. In many cases, mathematics is the greatest obstacle.

A six-year graduation rate of 50% is common in urban universities. As an example, half of the students in a freshman class of 5,000 might never graduate. If the average lifetime earning of a person with a bachelor’s degree vs. a person without it is one million dollars, this graduation rate results in the removal of +$2.5B from the regional economy in terms of lifetime earnings year after year… at one institution!!! Across all institutions in the US, this figure is in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

We have a clear moral imperative: To have the face of success match the face of the nation. This cannot be done without equitable access to mathematics.