The elimination of 76 courses from the Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s core offerings will effectively remove all Women’s and Gender Studies courses from the core starting in the fall of 2027, leaving the already small program with one less avenue to attract students. 

Earlier this month the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved changes to the core requirements across 11 of the system’s institutions. The regents were presented with a list of 360 courses recommended for removal, with some appearing under more than one category.

The courses approved for removal will not affect students currently enrolled in those courses this academic year, TAMUSA officials said, as the change to core offerings will become effective in the fall of 2027.

“As part of that process, the university recommended the removal of courses that were determined to be duplicative or no longer necessary within the 42-hour core framework,” said Adrian Jackson, associate vice president for marketing at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, in a statement. 

The San Antonio institution had the second highest number of core courses removed, right behind Texas A&M University in College Station, which had 103 courses removed.

Many of the courses removed included LGBTQ studies, women and gender studies, race and ethnicity, climate and more. 

Members of the American Association of University Professors, deemed the review as political rather than academic focused, and said university leaders are caving to conservative pressures. 

“The globalness that it once valued and said that it was going to protect is no longer a priority. …They’re going to basically whitewash our programs,” Leonard Bright, president of the American Association of University Professors chapter at Texas A&M University-College Station told The Texas Tribune. 

The review was required by Senate Bill 37, which tasked the board regents with ensuring that core courses — which are the mandatory general courses that undergraduates must complete to graduate — are functional and fundamental to a student’s preparation. 

SB 37 calls for such reviews every five years. The deadline for this first assessment is on Jan. 1.  

At Texas A&M University-San Antonio, President Salvador Hector Ochoa charged a committee of 12 to lead the review and issue recommendations. Members included academic leadership, faculty and four external community members. The first committee meeting took place on March 27. 

No minors or certificate programs were eliminated as part of this review, Jackson said, and currently-enrolled students are not impacted by the changes to the core. 

TAMUSA officials and faculty declined multiple interview requests. University leadership issued written statements and answered questions via email. 

“University academic leadership worked to ensure that the core curriculum remains focused on providing students with a strong educational foundation, while allowing major-specific coursework to be determined within the appropriate academic disciplines,” Jackson said in a statement. 

While some courses were indeed duplicative and offered under multiple core categories, the two Intro to Women’s and Gender Studies courses removed from the list, were the only two available as part of the core at TAMUSA. 

Despite these recent changes and limitations to what topics can be discussed and taught across college campuses, Texas A&M-San Antonio has managed to maintain its minor in women’s and gender studies. 

In February, Texas A&M officials announced they would close the same program at the College Station institution, which offered a bachelor of arts degree, a bachelor of science degree, an undergraduate minor and a graduate certificate.  

That spring program leaders told The Mesquite, TAMUSA’s student publication, that doing away with the core offerings linked to the program was perceived as a compromise by program leadership. 

At TAMUSA this program is housed under the College of Arts and Sciences and offers an interdisciplinary minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, with courses in English, history, philosophy, and more. 

Its mission is to equip students “to understand and think critically about the role that gender plays in shaping individuals, communities, relationships, histories and fields of study,” according to the program description.  

The small program had 19 students enrolled in the fall of 2025, down only one student since the fall of 2024. This latest change, however, could mean one less onramp for students to find their way into the minor. 

“We recognize that removing courses from the core curriculum may change potential entry points for students into those courses and minors,” said Sarah McBride, TAMUSA associate vice president for university communications, in a statement. 

“These programs have begun to explore ways to expand their efforts to connect with students about academic majors and minors and their course offerings.”

The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.