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Alamo Colleges, Texas A&M San Antonio, Trinity University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio welcomed students for the fall semester on Monday.
Around 35,000 students have shown up for the first day of class at UTSA in recent years, making it the city's single largest institution of higher learning.
Meanwhile, enrollment is up 12% at Alamo Colleges, which expects 90,000 students at its combined campuses this fall, including Northeast Lakeview, Northwest Vista, Palo Alto, and San Antonio Colleges and St. Philip's University.
Texas A&M-San Antonio broke the 8,000 mark for enrollment this fall. Approximately 90% of its students don't live on campus, so to make them feel more at home, a commuter's lounge has been opened.
Juan Guardia is the vice president of student life at the far South Side University.
"What we would not like is for students to just park, take a class, and then go home. We want you to park, get engaged during your time here," he said.
Another dorm building is expected to open in 2028 to join the two other residence halls already on the campus, which has plenty of room to expand. It has only built on150-acres of its 600-acre property.
Guardia said a lot of students also get more quality time on campus by being employed in a federal work-study program.
The student body comes from all over the area, but the university is a huge favorite of South Side students, especially those who took their first two years of courses at Palo Alto, just across Southwest Loop 410.
Guardia said the university's criminal justice degree program remains a big draw at the school. And he touted the school's relatively new women's and men's basketball programs.
Trinity University usually enrolls more than 2,500 students for its fall semester.
Our Lady of the Lake University started Aug. 18. St. Mary's University classes started Aug. 19.
