Dive Summary:
- University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa is pushing a plan that would consolidate the University of Texas-Pan American and the University of Texas at Brownsville, creating a single university in their place.
- The schools' presidents, Robert Nelsen and Juliet García, support the move, which will require the approval of two-thirds of the Texas Legislature.
- UT officials project that the new school would become home to 28,000 undergraduate students with $11 million in research expenditures a $70 million+ endowment, creating 7,000 jobs.
From the article:
"... Both presidents have endorsed an ambitious plan by University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa to consolidate their respective colleges and create a single university with multiple Valley campuses, including new administrative offices in McAllen. But it will be Texas lawmakers who determine if the plan — which would also incorporate a proposed medical school and tap into significant state financing sources that the two Valley universities are currently barred from accessing — is too good to be true. ..."