Palestine Resident Presents Economics Research in UT Tyler Hibbs Institute Student Showcase
Sara Maldonado
TYLER, Texas (December 10, 2025) – Sara Maldonado of Palestine, an honors student at The University of Texas at Tyler, recently presented as a student researcher for the Hibbs Institute for Business and Economic Research as part of the institute’s Fall 2025 Student Research Showcase held at UT Tyler.
Her project, “Educational Pathways in East Texas,” explores the post-high-school options available to students and how these choices are shaping the region’s workforce.
“We are proud of our student researchers, who help the institute in providing key findings that support economic understanding and decision-making in East Texas,” said Dr. Manuel Reyes, UT Tyler senior research analyst and Hibbs Institute director.
Maldonado is a senior majoring in economics with minors in mathematics and political science. A Hibbs Institute student researcher for two years and member of UT Tyler’s Honors College, she will represent the university as a spring 2026 Archer Fellow in Washington, D.C., where she will learn with other selected students across UT System.
She will graduate with a UT Tyler bachelor’s degree in May.
The Hibbs Institute for Business and Economic Research, a unit of the UT Tyler Soules College of Business, plays a vital role in supporting the university and East Texas region by providing economic research and analysis. For more information, email HibbsInstitute@uttyler.edu or visit uttyler.edu.
With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 11,500 students. Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.
