At the western edge of Fort Worth, near where Tarrant County meets Parker County, the University of Texas at Arlington is staking out its next frontier.
University officials got the green light Aug. 5 to build a new campus, known as , in Fort Worth.
鈥淲e have identified two parcels of land that total approximately 51 acres, which will be the location of the UTA West campus,鈥� UTA President Jennifer Cowley said in an exclusive interview ahead of the university鈥檚 Monday announcement. 鈥淚t鈥檚 beautiful rolling hills of prairie land. In the spring, it鈥檚 filled with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes. It鈥檚 really a beautiful, scenic part of our region.鈥�
Those wildflowers bloom near where Interstates 20 and 30 merge within the , a high-end neighborhood in far west Fort Worth. The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved the purchase of the land with an allocation of university bonds at a special meeting Aug. 5. Until the university closes on the property, Cowley said, officials won鈥檛 be able to disclose the price of the land, which is about 30 miles west of the main Arlington campus.
鈥淵ears from now, when we look back at major milestones in the life of the Fort Worth region and UT-Arlington鈥檚 history, this new campus will rise to be among the top,鈥� UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken said in a statement. 鈥淎s cities prepare for rapid growth, the presence of great universities contributes immensely to their vibrant transformation.鈥�
The prospects for the west Fort Worth location are huge. At final build-out, the campus could support more than 10,000 students, just under Texas Christian University鈥檚 fall 2023 undergraduate enrollment of about 10,800 students.
UTA West鈥檚 first building is expected to open in the fall of 2028 and serve a couple thousand students, Cowley said. At initial rollout, the university expects to offer academic programs for graduate, junior and senior college students.
鈥淥ne of the advantages of this particular region is that it鈥檚 fast-growing, so we know that new companies are going to be moving in,鈥� said and came to lead her hometown university in 2022. 鈥淎nd so, we鈥檙e going to grow alongside it.鈥�
UTA, with an enrollment of over 41,000, is the second-largest university in the UT System. Its enrollment has rapidly increased over the past decade. From 2010 to 2020, enrollment grew by 29%, according to . And it鈥檚 expected to keep on growing.
From 2025 to 2035, enrollment is projected to climb 19%, and those estimates do not factor in the new campus. Compared with other public four-year colleges in Dallas-Fort Worth, UTA鈥檚 growth percentage is second only to the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, whose main address is in rapidly growing Collin County.
The area surrounding UTA West is expected to grow, too. in the nation that saw the greatest numeric increase of residents, and in terms of counties that saw the largest percentage growth, according to U.S. census data from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023.
Boost to economic development
The UTA West campus is about 10 miles away from major employers Lockheed Martin and the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, both near Ridgmar Mall in west Fort Worth.
Walsh Ranch has previously been the target of major economic development proposals. Electric truck manufacturer Rivian eyed Walsh land for a $5 billion factory in 2021, but Tarrant County lost out on the deal to Georgia. When the car manufacturer announced its new location, it offered by the Technical College System of Georgia. Construction of the is now on pause.
Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, said that economic growth in the area surrounding UTA West will be 鈥渟tratospheric鈥� in the coming decade and beyond.
鈥淟et鈥檚 talk about the No. 1, 2 and 3 key issues that are driving economic development today and will be in the near future, and that is workforce, workforce and more workforce,鈥� said Allen, who has been part of the new campus discussions.
The area will be in a high-growth corridor for the city, with new residential developments, a sought-after school district in Aledo ISD and raw undeveloped land for business, Allen said. The plan, he said, is for the campus to teach students skills for jobs near their homes and current workplaces, serve as a magnet to recruit businesses and diversify the economy. Besides the hallmark industries of Fort Worth 鈥� aerospace and defense 鈥� other businesses in technology, IT, artificial intelligence and manufacturing could set up shop, Allen said.
The closest colleges to UTA West鈥檚 proposed location are Weatherford College, a community college 15 miles west that offers a handful of bachelor鈥檚 degree programs and plans to add a computer science degree. Tarleton State University鈥檚 Fort Worth campus is about 20 miles away, off Chisholm Trail Parkway.
While UTA officials are still in the process of deciding which majors they will offer at UTA West, Cowley says they will consider the university鈥檚 strengths.
鈥淲e have a really large engineering school; all of our programs are ranked in the top 100. We have the largest public nursing school in the country,鈥� said Cowley, who, prior to coming to UTA, was at The Ohio State University for 16 years, serving in a variety of capacities, including vice provost for capital planning and regional campuses. 鈥淧art of our strategy is about where do we expand capacity and (meet) high need and high workforce demand areas?鈥�
UTA expansion comes amid higher-ed growth in Tarrant County
UTA isn鈥檛 the only college in Tarrant County expanding its footprint. Texas A&M鈥檚 flag is up in downtown Fort Worth, is visible and expected to be complete by the end of next year. Tarleton State Fort Worth is welcoming and will open its second building on its southwest Fort Worth campus this month. TCU is exploring a multiuse development along Berry Street, with the goal of connecting the campus to the Trinity River as part of its .
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker hopes that all this higher education growth will not only draw students to study in the region but act as an incentive to have graduating high school seniors stay in the area.
鈥淵ou cannot have a growing, thriving community 鈥� a population of a million people 鈥� and not be thinking about the way our workforce is educated,鈥� said Parker, who previously served as chief executive of Fort Worth Cradle to Career and the Tarrant To & Through Partnership, which connects students to workforce training and credentials. She remains on the organization鈥檚 board of directors.
College leaders are looking at voids in workforce training, Parker said, and consciously thinking about how they鈥檙e best equipped to fulfill them. Many of those leaders, she said, are at the table when businesses consider coming to the area.
鈥淭hey play in the same sandbox,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淵eah, they鈥檙e competitive, because they want top-tier students to be at their institutions. But at the same time, they all recognize they鈥檙e on the same team for North Texas.鈥�
UTA has ongoing partnerships with Tarrant County College and Weatherford College, whose top majors include nursing and other healthcare fields. In 2007, the university opened the UTA Fort Worth Center in downtown, with a focus on programs for working professionals.
鈥淲hen I arrived at UTA, I asked three simple questions,鈥� said Cowley, who earned her doctorate in urban and regional science at Texas A&M University and headed the city planning program at The Ohio State University. 鈥淲hat areas in our region would most benefit from our support? How can we use our strengths to support the growth and development of our region? And what are the gaps that we can fill?鈥�
The answers to those questions eventually led officials to the prairie west of Fort Worth. Once the land is purchased, Cowley and her team will finalize the campus master plan and begin infrastructure and site development.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 just really fun to get to be part of the economic development of this part of the region, and really to help make sure that the talented students that are moving to this area have a great institution they can call home,鈥� said Cowley, who is excited to put her urban planning experience to the test. She previously worked in local government in Amarillo and College Station, but her passion extends outside of her career path. She grew up playing SimCity and loves to construct Lego mini cities with her family.
Urban planners execute ideas for what the city can become decades later. Cowley said she can鈥檛 wait to see the area鈥檚 transformation in 30 years 鈥� and how UTA played a crucial role.
Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with . Contact her at shomial.ahmad@fortworthreport.org.
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