The dean of the dental school in San Antonio told the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners on Nov. 7 that the program is expanding its research enterprise and student training and requested continued communication with the board to ease transitions from student to licensed provider.

Dean Hargreaves said the four-story facility supports clinical training for approximately 440 dental students and 60 dental-hygiene students, plus about 130 residents across nine specialty programs and more than 200 faculty. He said the school recently received roughly $6,000,000 in National Institutes of Health funding to support development of a new chemotherapeutic class for oral-cancer treatment and additional projects on cancer-related pain.

Hargreaves described applicant demand: more than 1,200 applicants for the class of 2029 and a projected 1,500 applicants for the incoming class. He reported the entering class GPA averaged about 3.69 and that first-year costs of attendance — described to the board as “all in” including tuition, fees, housing and equipment purchases — are approximately $96,000; nonresident costs would be higher.

The dean outlined integration with the newly merged University of Texas at San Antonio and said that access to UTSA’s artificial-intelligence and machine‑learning research creates new opportunities to use large clinical datasets for diagnostic and treatment innovation. He described curricular changes including a new department of predoctoral dental education, a four‑year digital-dentistry integration, and a stepwise curriculum for practice readiness.

Why it matters: The NIH award and growth in research and training affect clinical training opportunities, potential workforce distribution across South Texas and student debt considerations for new dentists.

Board members asked how regulators can help; responses included better early communication about board rules and opportunities for PRN and other programs to present to students. The board did not take formal regulatory action on the dean’s presentation.

Sources: Remarks by Dean Hargreaves at the Nov. 7 Texas State Board of Dental Examiners meeting; transcript excerpts at 01:04:03–01:11:44 and 01:11:44–01:18:32.