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$196 million in PUF Dollars Awarded for New Valley University of Texas Medical School and University
- Updated: November 15, 2013
AUSTIN – University of Texas Regents approved $196 million in new expenditures Thursday for the fast-track development of University of Texas campuses and a medical school in the Rio Grande Valley.
A total of $72 million in energy-generated Permanent University Fund allocations for the Cameron County campus of the new Rio Grande Valley university will be used for new instructional facilities and for costs to the UT System for acquiring facilities from Texas Southmost College due to the recent separation.
“The UT System has come through in a big way to immediately jumpstart our new university and medical school,” said State Rep. Rene Oliveira, House sponsor of the bill creating the new school. “Getting into the PUF has allowed our students to be the direct beneficiaries of the revenues coming from the Texas oil and gas boom. This demonstrates what can happen when we work together with a united vision.”
Of the PUF funds directed to the Cameron County campus, $54 million will be used to fund a 140,000 gross-square-foot academic building. The remaining $18 million will be used to pay for some UT System costs associated with the acquisition of facilities in the separation between UT Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
Because of the UTB and TSC split, the UTB campus currently can serve only 3,400 students. With its current enrollment at over 8,600, the campus has leased space to manage the difference. Construction of the new academic building will begin to reduce pressure for leased classroom space.
Of the PUF allocation for the UT-South Texas Project, $70 million will be used for a new science building in Hidalgo County, to be built on the existing U T-Pan American campus, for the new university. An additional $54 million will be used to construct a new building for a Regional Academic Health Center medical education facility adjacent to the UT-Pan American campus.
During this year’s legislative session, legislation that would have directed millions of dollars to university campuses statewide, including the Rio Grande Valley, failed in the session’s final days. Thursday’s action, Oliveira said, will dramatically speed up operational capacity for the new university and medical school, allowing them to grow faster than anticipated.
