Program History
The Mathematics and Science Academy (MSA), then at The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, was established by the 79th Texas Legislature Session under Senate Bill 1452 in May 2005, and was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry. MSA opened its doors Fall 2007, graduating its first class in May 2009. The program has been updated under Senate Bill 24 for continuation at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, initially in Brownsville, and expanding to Edinburg as of August 2016.
The award-winning MSA program is for high school-aged students who are gifted in math and science. MSA students take classes from UTRGV faculty with current UTRGV students, and get the university experience during high school but have more supervision and guidance than traditional university students.
MSA differs from other state-supported math and science schools in that the academy offers students the opportunity to complete two years of college concurrently with the last two years of high school.