{"id":758771,"date":"2026-04-28T10:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/758771\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:53:16","slug":"hallmark-university-launches-hybrid-ai-degree-amid-rising-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/758771\/","title":{"rendered":"Hallmark University launches hybrid AI degree amid rising demand"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new degree in Artificial Intelligence is being developed at Hallmark University, which will become the second institution in San Antonio to add an AI degree pathway this fall.<\/p>\n

Hallmark University is already enrolling students in a Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence to begin an accelerated program in August. Like all of Hallmark\u2019s offerings, this new pathway promises a fast-paced, hands-on and hybrid degree path.<\/p>\n

Described as the process of developing computer systems that can mimic human intelligence to then learn, make decisions and identify solutions, AI <\/strong>has both been feared and welcomed across colleges and universities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

AI had a less-than welcoming arrival across education, with educators fearing it would be used a tool to do and learn less. But over the years it has transformed into a necessary skill, a tool that professionals are expected to know how to leverage in the workplace and apply to solve real-world issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you really think about what AI is doing for us, it\u2019s not what it used to be six months or a year ago when I was typing in, \u2018Make this email sound nicer,\u2019 Not even close,\u201d said Sandi Wolff, Hallmark University\u2019s vice president of community engagement. \u201cWhat we need is the next generation of it. How do we augment what we\u2019re doing in our business to make it better?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the second AI focused degree plan in San Antonio, with the University of Texas at San Antonio, offering an Artificial Intelligence Multidisciplinary Studies Degree<\/a>, in which students can merge multiple fields of study such as mathematics, computer engineering and information systems. This degree was launched in the fall of 2020 and runs at a more traditional pace, with students expected to graduate in four years.<\/p>\n

Hallmark University officials used Information Technology as the foundation to build the AI pathway, said Taylor Mercier, senior vice president of university operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Taylor Mercier, Senior Vice President of University Operations at Hallmark University, talks about the school\u2019s AI degree and coursework at their campus in Westover Hills on April 2, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Hallmark officials are leveraging some of the existing faculty to teach the foundation courses, such as introduction to computer programming and fundamentals of information security, then building up as the cohorts move forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of those foundational IT courses already architected, as we get into the more advanced, that\u2019s when we\u2019re going to start recruiting more of the advanced faculty to carry out the specializations,\u201d Mercier said. \u201cThe students enrolling in August won\u2019t get some of those advanced courses for another 18 months potentially, in an accelerated program.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is an area of expertise that is quickly evolving, Mercier said, so developing those higher level courses now might not translate into what students must know in 18 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mercier likened the challenges of developing such a quickly-evolving program to cybersecurity, where platforms, threats and vulnerabilities are ever changing, but the fundamentals remain true.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re teaching the foundation of how it works,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you understand how machine learning works and how neural networks work and how those processes work, then you can apply it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The Security Operations Center, a facility for the school of information technology where students can receive hands-on training monitoring and detecting cybersecurity threats and defending information systems, at Hallmark University\u2019s campus in Westover Hills on April 2, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Students are expected to also acquire certifications along the way, as a means to better position students for the job search. These certifications include data analytics, machine learning and cloud-based AI platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Feedback from industry partners, and possible future employers, is key in the ongoing development of this pathway, Mercier said, to continue building a degree path that answers to their needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students ultimately are coming here because they\u2019re wanting a lasting career,\u201d Mercier said. \u201cSo by designing and partnering with industry \u2026 We have an advantage of being able to build that in our curriculum and tailor that to the needs as long as it\u2019s a need that serves more of the community at large and not just one business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new degree in Artificial Intelligence is being developed at Hallmark University, which will become the second institution…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":758772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,738,311916,734,120067,43961,65,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,103041,68,2969],"class_list":["post-758771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-computer-programming","tag-cybersecurity","tag-hallmark-university","tag-icymi","tag-information-technology","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-university-of-texas-at-san-antonio","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116481964264094374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}