Pop "Blog" Culture: Texas State University

Not too many people from outside of Texas have heard about Texas State University formerly Southwest Texas State University. This state university is located on the I35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio.

San Marcos is a small town with a population of 47,000. It is essentially the gateway to the Texas Hill Country. It also sits on an inactive fault line, The Balcones Fault.

Texas State University at San Marcos is a doctoral degree granting university and is one of the top 75 largest schools in the United States. The University boast a student enrollment of more than 28,000 and continues to grow every year.

The school was founded almost 110 years ago in 1899 and was originally Southwest Texas Normal School. The recent name change was the fifth name change in the University's storied history.

Here is the campus' storied main building that was constructed in 1903:

1903

2007

Texas State has had some very notable alumni grace the halls of its hallowed buildings. The following is a list of our most notable:

- U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
- Country singer George Strait
- Country singer Randy Rogers
- Film director Thomas Carter
- Actor/filmmaker Richard Jones
- Actor G.W. Bailey
- Actor Powers Boothe[1]
- Actress Tracy Scoggins
- Columnist Heloise
- NBA basketball player Jeff Foster
- Former NBA basketball player Torgeir Bryn
- Writer Tomás Rivera
- Professional wrestlers Shawn Michaels, Paul London, and Lance Hoyt
- NFL football player Frederick Evans and Ricky Sanders
- Former NFL football player Jeff Novak
- Charles Austin Gold Medalist High Jump 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. 1991 world champion. The 190 cm Austin cleared 2.39m (7 ft 10) on his final jump (an Olympic record at the time).

Texas State continues to honor its founding as a teachers' college by certifying more teachers than any other school in Texas. The Association of Teacher Educators has recognized Texas State as one of the top three teacher education programs in the country and is headquarters for the National Center for School Improvement, the Texas School Safety Center and other education initiatives to meet the challenges of public education today.

The Princeton Review named Texas State a 2008 “Best Western College” and a 2007 “America’s Best Value College.” Only three other premier Texas universities received the distinction.

The Geography department has been ranked as the largest and the best nationally for many years by the Association of American Geographers.

In 2008, for the third consecutive year, Texas State was ranked in the top tier of master's universities in the 15-state Western Region of the U.S. News ranking system.

Places to visit while in San Marcos attending Texas State University:

1. Herbert's Taco Hut -