University of Austin

The University of Austin (UATX) is an unaccredited private liberal arts university located in Austin, Texas, United States. The university established a campus in Downtown Austin's Scarbrough Building, enrolled its first undergraduate cohort in the fall of 2024. It is certified by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to award degrees and was granted "candidate for accreditation" status by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in 2025. UATX does not charge tuition or accept government funding.

Conceived of in May of 2021 by Joe Lonsdale, Pano Kanelos, Niall Ferguson, and Bari Weiss, the University of Austin's founding was announced in October of 2021, billed as a new institution that could address problems in higher education. The announcement was met with significant media attention, with many praising the concept, but others were skeptical of its viability. The project was described by reviewers as "anti-woke" and "anti-cancel culture". Numerous prominent academics served as initial advisors to UATX.

The school, having raised $200 million in private donations prior to admitting its first class, offered full scholarships to every student accepted. Following another large donation in 2025 by American billionaire Jeff Yass, UATX announced that all tuition would be permanently free.

The inaugural class entered the school on September 2, 2024. For the second class, the school set a new admissions rule that applicants with high scores on standardized tests would be automatically accepted. The second class entered in the fall of 2025. At that point, the university's two classes, totaling 150 students, were educated by 34 academic staff members.