Gateway Courses

Gateway Courses are generally courses that are necessary for students to progress through their chosen major and are usually those courses which contain material in which a student needs a clear-cut comprehension in order to be successful in completing other course requirements for the major.

Many UTSA majors have designated certain courses as Gateway Courses. Gateway Courses often determine whether a student is a suitable candidate to pursue the indicated major.

How many times can I attempt a Gateway Course?

In order to promote student success and to help ensure that students are choosing majors that are appropriate for their aptitudes and skills, a UTSA student may attempt a Gateway Course for his or her major at most twice. If the student does not successfully complete a Gateway course in two attempts, then the student is required to change his or her major.

Note: students may petition to attempt a gateway course a third time due to circumstances beyond the student’s control that prevented the student from successfully completing the course on prior attempts. However, the petition must be approved prior to the third attempt. The petition is located here.

Successfully completing a Gateway Course means achieving a grade in the course required by the major. For instance, if the major requires that all of the courses required for the major must be completed with a grade of “C-” or above, then successful completion of a Gateway Course for that major means receiving a grade of “C-” or higher in the course. However, receiving a grade of “CR” through the “Challenging a UTSA Course” process or the “UTSA Competency Examination” process will be regarded as successfully completing a Gateway Course.

For the purpose of this policy, dropping a course with a grade of “W” or taking an equivalent course at another institution of higher education counts as an attempt at taking the course.

Which courses are Gateway Courses?