cameron county/matamoros - blue - The University of Texas at ...

UTB-CBIRD Report: “At The Crossroads” Education & Training 64
Figure 4.16. UTB/TSC Program Growth as Measured by Semester Hours
260,000
240,000
220,000
200,000
180,000
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
175,390
177,322
190,569
195,312
30% Increase
205,074
227,984
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002
Source UTB-CBIRD
Semester Hours
While new bachelor and master degrees were added in 2002, program growth
must continue in order to meet student and market needs. New degree
programs attract new students as well as new faculty members, promoting the
diversity of the university community. Inadequate resources have hampered
UTB/TSC’s ability to grow existing programs, develop new programs, and to
accommodate enrollment growth.
Figure 4.17 indicates the enrollment gap that exists in South Texas institutions
of higher education. The gap is the difference between the statewide college
going rate (30%) and the historic college going rate in South Texas (15%). The
low historic rate – which is half the state average – would have been the future
of the region had the State of Texas not invested in UTB/TSC and other border
universities in the 1990’s. Still, there is an unmet need to increase the College
Going Rate of the LRGV population.
UTB/TSC’s goal for enrollment growth is to “close the gap” the difference
between the South Texas College Going Rate and the Statewide College Going
Rate, relative to the projected population growth for the UTB/TSC service area
(including projected changes in migration rates, and the capture of a percentage
of local students who ordinarily leave the area to go to college). By gradually
increasing the college going rate from 15% in 1990, to 30%, and given adequate
resources, UTB/TSC would attain an enrollment of approximately 20,000
students by 2010.
The orange line in Figure 4.17 represents UTB/TSC’s actual enrollment figures
from 1995 to Fall 2003 enrollment of over 10,000. This line indicates the return
in value of the State of Texas has realized from investments in UTB/TSC and that
it is possible to decrease the college going enrollment gap in the Lower Rio
Grande Valley.
Una Region -- Un Futuro
Accelerating the
development of higher
educational opportunities
is required to provide the
knowledge and training to
save yet another South
Texas generation from a
life of poverty and
desperation.