The most important story in 2006 for the City of San Antonio. A second major public university located in SA is huge. This is bigger than Toyota. I'm so happy for my home town!


Texas A&M regents plan to open new San Antonio campus in 2009
San Antonio Business Journal - 2:18 PM CDT Friday

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents voted Friday to proceed with the development of a new campus in South San Antonio, and has set a 2009 opening date for the school.

"We expect to achieve the required student enrollment of 1,500 full-time students and be ready to open the Texas A&M University-San Antonio campus in fall 2009," Board Chairman John D. White says.

Regents said the next step is to work with City of San Antonio to finalize the best location for the 400-acre campus.

The Texas Legislature authorized the creation of Texas A&M University-San Antonio during the 2003 legislative session. However, it did not approve tuition revenue bonds toward the project until this year. The state designated $40 million in tuition revenue bonds for the new campus during a special session.

Regents anticipate that the new school will eventually serve about 25,000 students.

"This new campus will bring quality higher education to an area that has been neglected for far too long," Regent Lowry Mays says.

"Texas A&M-San Antonio will be central to the A&M System's mission of providing access to all qualified students and to the state's goal of increasing Hispanic enrollment in Texas colleges and universities," he adds.

Mays is chairman of the board of Clear Channel Communications Inc. (NYSE: CCU) in San Antonio.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is working on a statewide plan to enroll 630,000 more students in higher education by 2015. The 18- to 24-year-old Hispanic population of Bexar County is projected to increase by almost 20,000 by 2015.

"San Antonio is the nation's seventh-largest city and continues to grow," White says. "It's time to add a second public university to support the city's and state's needs for higher education and a highly qualified work force."

The Texas A&M University System has had a presence in South San Antonio for more than five years. Texas A&M-Kingsville has offered junior and senior-level courses at Palo Alto College since 2000.

The Texas A&M University System operates nine universities, seven state agencies and a health science center. The system's headquarters is in College Station.