State legislators are pushing for the University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas to join the Texas A&M System. Pending approval in both the Senate and House, the Houston college may become the System’s twelve campuses.
According to The Texas Tribune, State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-18) said that if the University of Houston-Victoria is absorbed into the System, the school will gain the ability to offer agribusiness and engineering degrees that aren’t available now. The change would boost the university, as Victoria County’s agriculture industry brings in $35 to $55 million dollars annually from cattle, corn, cotton, soybeans, rice and sorghum.
“Texas A&M agribusiness offerings are incredible and known throughout the world so I cannot tell you how beneficial this could be not only for Victoria, but for the state of Texas,” Kolkhorst said in a phone interview with the Tribune.
Legislators proposed a similar bill in 2011, but it failed after the University of Houston System denied to support it.
Because A&M recently capped undergraduate enrollment at 15,000 students, Kolkhorst believes now is an ideal time to offer the Victoria campus as an alternative option for rejected applicants.
Chancellor John Sharp is in full support of this decision, so all that remains is the Legislature.
“We will be extremely happy to welcome the Victoria campus into the Texas A&M University System, if that is what Gov. [Greg] Abbott and the members of the Legislature decide,” Sharp said in a statement to the Tribune.
