Fifty-six years after its inception, UT San Antonio has launched a journalism major, enabling students to gain expertise and experience in the field. However, this is what The Paisano has been doing for nearly 45 years. A journalism degree is not needed when field experience can be attained for free at an independent, student-led publication.

The Paisano is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit led by UT San Antonio student volunteers. Not a single one of their current or former staff has majored in journalism at UT San Antonio, but many alumni who have worked at the publication now boast successful careers in journalism.

Amber Serio served as a News Editor for The Paisano in the spring of 2024. She graduated from UT San Antonio that same semester, majoring in English with a concentration in professional writing. Serio has since published 185 articles at the San Antonio Business Journal after joining in September of 2024. 

Mason Hickok, former Editor-in-Chief at The Paisano, graduated from UT San Antonio in the spring of 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in digital communication and a minor in film studies. He now works for KSAT as a digital journalist with 887 articles published.

Sarah Gibbens immediately got a job at the National Journal, a newsroom under The Atlantic focused on Washington, D.C. politics, after graduating from UT San Antonio. She was laid off, but began working for National Geographic shortly after. Gibbens is now the Senior Digital Editor in the Science & Environment section of National Geographic’s Digital Editorial, with 824 articles to her name. She, like Serio, majored in English with a concentration in professional writing back in 2015, and like Hickok, served as Editor-in-Chief of The Paisano. 

These people, all once UT San Antonio students, did not pay a single cent to The Paisano to gain the knowledge and hands-on experience in journalism that landed them full-fledged careers in the field. They volunteered their time outside of their studies, and it has paid off immensely. 

With a projected 4% decline in news analyst, reporter and journalist jobs from 2024 to 2034 and a staggering 52% of college graduates working at jobs that do not need their degrees, UT San Antonio will make statistics out of its students. What the student body needs is not a journalism degree — they need to join The Paisano.