What you’ll learn in this article…
- UT Austin's 2026-2028 catalog adds six new bachelor's degrees.
- McCombs adds only one new minor: the Energy Studies minor.
- All six new majors sit outside business, targeting computing, energy, national security.
On August 21, 2026, UT Austin announced six new bachelor's degrees and 13 minors for the 2026-2028 undergraduate catalog. Only one addition sits inside the McCombs School of Business: a new Energy Studies minor.
For BBA applicants, that scarcity is the signal. All six new bachelor's degrees are hybrid computing, national security, and materials science programs, which means future business graduates will compete for energy, tech, and policy roles against peers holding cross-disciplinary technical credentials. UT's own stated workforce priorities (computing, energy, national security) now shape the catalog itself.
What's New in UT Austin's 2026 Undergraduate Catalog
Six New Bachelor's Degrees
The University of Texas at Austin's 2026-2028 undergraduate catalog, announced Aug. 21 via UT News, adds six bachelor's degrees for job prospects. Three are in the College of Natural Sciences and pair computer science with another field: a B.S. in Neuroscience and Computer Science, a B.S. in Linguistics and Computer Science, and a B.S. in History and Computer Science. Two come from the School of Civic Leadership: a B.A. in Strategy and Statecraft through the Clements Center for National Security, and a B.A. in Great Books. The Cockrell School of Engineering adds a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, its 12th undergraduate degree, which began accepting applications for Fall 2027 entry.
13 New Minors Across Campus
The catalog also adds 13 minors, including Advertising, Radio-Television-Film, and Digital Game Industries at Moody College of Communication; Dance, Theatre, and Music at the College of Fine Arts; Child and Family Health and Human Development and Family Sciences at the College of Natural Sciences; International Development and National Security at the LBJ School; Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the College of Education; and Nuclear Engineering at Cockrell. The university ties the expansion to student demand and job growth for business majors, with roughly 55,000 students enrolled last fall.
The Only New Mccombs Addition: The Energy Studies Minor
Which McCombs program is actually new in UT Austin's 2026-2028 catalog? The only business-school-specific addition is an energy minor. UT's announcement describes it as a minor in energy studies, and McCombs catalogs it as the Energy Studies Minor.
What the Energy Management Minor Requires
Energy Studies is a 15-credit interdisciplinary minor administered by McCombs as a specialized minor option. It is open to all UT Austin undergraduates, not just students pursuing a BBA degree. Admission requires at least one completed semester at UT, a minimum 2.0 UT GPA, and enrollment in the summer Energy Management program, where most required courses are delivered. You must also complete all courses at UT Austin and earn C- or better in each. After the summer sessions, students choose two courses from areas such as valuation of natural resources, oil, gas and mineral law, energy technology and policy, and finance. A supplemental application is required, and admission is tied to the summer program. Students in the Energy Finance, Law and Science track are not eligible for EMM.
The new minor ties UT's curriculum directly to Texas's energy-sector economy and employer demand for graduates with both business administration skills and energy-systems knowledge.
How It Compares to Other McCombs Minors
For students without a business degree, the Business Foundations minor remains the most straightforward entry point: a fixed 18-hour core administered by McCombs, with no lower-division prerequisites, a 2.00 GPA threshold, and upper-division enrollment after 45 credit hours. Energy Studies is also 15 credits, but it is more restrictive because it hinges on the summer program, at-UT residency, and a separate application. A standalone Finance minor for non-business majors is not clearly defined in the 2026 catalog; Finance appears as BBA tracks, including Finance-with-Accounting.
Did You Know?
Five of UT Austin's six new majors sit outside the business school, so the real signal for BBA students is not new business coursework. It is competition: hybrid computing, national security, and materials science graduates will pursue the same high-demand energy, tech, and policy jobs.
New Majors and Minors Vs. Existing BBA Majors: What's Actually New for Business Students
For business applicants, "new" in UT Austin's 2026-2028 catalog does not mean a new BBA degree. None of the six new bachelor's degrees sits inside McCombs. Three combine computer science with neuroscience, linguistics, or history in the College of Natural Sciences. The remaining new majors are Strategy and Statecraft, Great Books, and Materials Science and Engineering, housed in the Clements Center for National Security with the School of Civic Leadership and the Cockrell School of Engineering.
The existing BBA major lineup is unchanged
McCombs continues to list the same 10 BBA majors for the 2026-2028 catalog: Accounting, Finance, International Business, BBA in Marketing, BBA in Business Analytics, Management, Management Information Systems, Supply Chain Management, Business Honors, and the Integrated MPA (BBA/MPA in Accounting). This aligns with the public BBA majors page updated in May 2026. No new business major was added, and none of the six new university degrees overlaps with this BBA list.
What actually changes for business students
The only direct McCombs addition is a new minor in Energy Studies. That is a minor-level option, not a new degree path. BBA students also gain indirect access to other colleges' new minors, such as Advertising, International Development, or National Security, depending on cross-college rules. The majors versus minors distinction is the practical takeaway: no new BBA degree options, one new business minor, and more non-business minor combinations to pair with a business major.
Last fall, UT Austin enrolled about 55,000 students, with applicants from over 200 Texas counties and 122 countries. At that scale, a single new minor like the McCombs Energy Studies minor can ripple across a student body larger than many small cities.
Why the New Programs Skew Toward Tech, Energy, and National Security
The 2026-2028 catalog is not a random list of new degrees. UT Austin describes the expansion as a response to workforce demand in computing, energy, and national security, and the choices line up almost one-for-one with those sectors. Three B.S. degrees pair computer science with neuroscience, linguistics, and history. The B.A. in Strategy and Statecraft anchors the national security and policy track.
For BBA students, the implication is about competition, not classroom coverage. New graduates with hybrid computing-plus-domain credentials will pursue product, strategy, and business analyst career paths that business majors have long treated as natural targets. A McCombs degree still signals strong fundamentals, but employers in energy, tech, and defense increasingly see candidates who can translate between business logic and technical or policy work.
UT's status as the No. 1 public university in Texas gives this shift statewide weight. When the state's flagship expands in these three areas, hiring pipelines in Houston energy, Austin tech, and defense contracting tend to follow. BBA students should treat the catalog as a market forecast and pair their business core with a business technology management or policy-adjacent minor, including the new Energy Studies minor inside McCombs.
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Business Minors for BBA Majors Vs. Minors Open to All UT Students
The McCombs School of Business splits its minor offerings into distinct access tiers: some minors are reserved for BBA students, some are reserved for non-business students, and several specialized minors remain open to all undergraduates. The new Energy Studies minor falls into the open-access category, while the Finance minor remains exclusive to BBA students. The table below compares the most relevant business-related minors for prospective and current UT Austin students.
| Minor | School/Department | Open To | Approx. Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Foundations Minor | McCombs School of Business | Restricted to degree-seeking non-business students | 18 |
| Finance (minor) | McCombs School of Business, Department of Finance | Restricted to Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students | 12 |
| Energy Studies (minor) | Interdisciplinary minor administered through McCombs as a specialized minor option | Open to currently enrolled undergraduate students in any major at UT Austin | 15 |
| Professional Sales and Business Development (minor) | Jointly offered by Moody College of Communication and McCombs School of Business | Open to students of all majors at UT Austin (application required) | 16 |
| Business Analytics (minor) | McCombs School of Business (specialized minor) | Open to currently enrolled undergraduate students in any major at UT Austin | 15 |
| Entrepreneurship (minor) | McCombs School of Business (specialized minor) | Open to currently enrolled undergraduate students in any major at UT Austin | 15 |
