In 1990, the Texas Legislature authorized The University of Texas at Dallas to admit lower division students. UT Dallas' first freshman class consisted of only 100 students. Despite its small size, this cohort's achievements set the standard for future classes. Since then, freshman classes have grown in size while the university has maintained high enrollment standards. Nationally published data indicate that UT Dallas’ freshman class compares extremely well with those from many prominent national universities. UT Dallas consistently has almost two-thirds of its entering freshmen in the top twenty-five percent of their graduating class with many coming from the state's most competitive high schools.

The transition of the university from a part-time upper division school to a four-year university with an emphasis on engineering, mathematics, the sciences and the management of new technologies has been greatly facilitated by the university's faculty. By retaining key faculty members and attracting more nationally and internationally prominent researchers and instructors, UT Dallas has enabled its faculty to provide quality instruction to an increasingly diverse student population while sustaining the university's longstanding research tradition. In the past decade, the faculty has increased the level of external research funds substantially. During this same period, the university expanded its teaching mission, became a full-fledged institution, improved its external research funding, enhanced its areas of focused excellence and became independently recognized as one of the top public universities in the nation.

The Office of Undergraduate Education coordinates undergraduate education across the seven schools: Arts and Humanities, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, Engineering and Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Studies, Management, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The staff of the Office of Undergraduate Education manages the freshman admission review process and Academic Excellence Scholarship programs. They coordinate academic advising, administer the teaching evaluation system, monitor academic compliance for NCAA athletes, manage pre-professional training programs, and supervise the Collegium V honors program, as well as all Intellectual Competition teams. In addition, all freshman and sophomore students without declared majors are advised in the Office of Undergraduate Education.