How to Navigate the UT Austin Website

Updated

The University of Texas at Austin site at utexas.edu is organized around a small set of entry points: audience menus in the header, utility links, and a homepage that routes visitors to news, academics, research, and impact pages. Prospective students should start with the "Be a Longhorn" and degree-program links; current visitors looking for campus news or events should use the news, Texas Today, and calendar links. The sections below describe what each entry point leads to, based on the site's own headings and homepage content.

Start With the Audience Menus

The header contains two navigation areas labeled "Audiences" and "Utility links." These are the fastest way to reach content written for a specific group rather than browsing the homepage.

  • Audiences is the place to look first if you belong to a defined group such as prospective students, current students, faculty, staff, or alumni. The site labels this menu explicitly, so it is the intended shortcut for group-specific resources.
  • Utility links sit alongside the audience menu in the header and typically hold secondary tools and quick-access items rather than main content sections.

If you are unsure which group applies to you, skip the menus and use the homepage sections described next.

Follow the Homepage Sections

The homepage is built around a few named blocks, each pointing to a deeper section of the site.

Homepage block What it leads to
"What Starts Here Changes The World" Top university news and leadership announcements, plus links to UT News, Texas Today, and the Calendar
"A Common Foundation for Every Longhorn" The new Core Curriculum and a "More About the New Core" link
"Boundless Ambition With Texas Roots" The Longhorn Experience and the "Be a Longhorn" path for prospective students
"Big Ideas. Bigger Impact." UT research, with a "Learn More About UT Research" link
"Learning With Purpose" Degree programs, via "Explore Degree Programs"
"For Texas, For the Future" The university's impact on Texas, via "See Our Impact on Texas"

Each block pairs a short description with one clear link, so you can move from the homepage to the relevant section in a single click.

Find News, Events, and the Calendar

The news area is grouped under the "What Starts Here Changes The World" heading. From there you can reach:

  • UT News for university-wide announcements, such as the president's position statement and faculty appointments.
  • Texas Today, the campus news outlet.
  • The Calendar for scheduled events.

These three links appear together, which makes them the practical starting point for anyone checking what is happening at the university rather than looking for academic information.

Explore Degrees and the Student Experience

Prospective and current students have two main routes:

  1. "Be a Longhorn" under the Longhorn Experience section, which describes hands-on research, real-world problem solving, and studying in Austin.
  2. "Explore Degree Programs" under Learning With Purpose, the entry point for academic programs.

The site states that UT offers 170 areas of study and 70 undergraduate and graduate programs ranked in the top 10. Use the degree-program link when you need specifics on what you can study; use the Longhorn Experience link when you want the broader picture of student life and research opportunities.

Check Research and Impact Figures

If your goal is research or institutional impact, two sections carry the relevant links and numbers:

  • Research: "Learn More About UT Research" leads to the research section. The homepage cites 1,291 patents in the last 10 years, 4,400 active externally funded projects in FY25, and $1.37 billion in total expenditures in FY25.
  • Impact on Texas: "See Our Impact on Texas" leads to the state-impact section, which cites an $18 billion annual contribution to the Texas economy and 122 thousand jobs supported.

These figures are the site's own summary claims; follow the section links for the fuller context behind them.

A Practical Navigation Sequence

For most visitors, this order works:

  1. Open utexas.edu.
  2. If you belong to a specific group, open the Audiences menu in the header.
  3. Otherwise, pick the homepage block that matches your goal: news and events, the Core Curriculum, the Longhorn Experience, research, degree programs, or Texas impact.
  4. Use UT News, Texas Today, or the Calendar when you need time-sensitive information.
  5. Use Explore Degree Programs when you need academic detail rather than general descriptions.

The main friction point is that the homepage favors short promotional blocks over a full site map, so visitors looking for a specific page should rely on the audience menus and utility links in the header rather than scanning the homepage alone.