In 1997, the 75th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1795, signed into law by Governor George W. Bush, authorizing the school to add classes for freshmen and sophomore students.

In late 2019, the UT System Board of Regents unanimously agreed to merge the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT) under the University of Texas at Tyler (UTT), creating a single unified institution.

[12] The board of regents installed Kirk A. Calhoun as president of the newly aligned UT Tyler and UTHSCT.

University Academy offers grades K-12, with a focus on STEM and most students graduating with 30 credit hours from UT Tyler.

The Schools also serve as labs for students of the UTeach program and for faculty of the College of Education and Psychology.

The U. S. News & World Report rankings released in 2023 placed UT Tyler #331-#440 in National Universities, tied for #282 in Top Performers on Social Mobility, #169-#227 in Top Public Schools, and tied for #42 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs at schools where doctorates are not offered.

[28] UT Tyler has access to the State of Texas's Permanent University Fund (PUF), with over $32 billion in assets as of 2022[update].

Since 2005, UT Tyler student-athletes have won 29 American Southwest Conference Championships, 29 ASC East Division championships, made 32 team appearances in the NCAA postseason and had 26 students earn All-America or Academic All-America Honors.

[43] Besides its newspaper, the Patriot Talon, UT Tyler has its own NPR-affiliated campus radio station, KVUT.