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UT Arlington is planning to build a 51-acre campus in west Fort Worth.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved a plan to purchase the property in Walsh Ranch through the Permanent University Fund.
The first phase of UTA West is expected to open as early as fall 2028, according to university officials. At its completion the campus will serve more than 10,000 students.
The expansion aligns with transformative growth taking place in the west.
“The western part of the metroplex has an ever-growing population, a plethora of student talent, and a wide breadth of opportunity for explosive economic advancement,” said UTA President Jennifer Cowley in a statement. “UTA has long been a top supplier of talent to companies across Fort Worth, and this expansion will allow UTA to broaden its impact across our region.”
Walsh, a 7,200-acre development in west Fort Worth where Interstate 20 and Interstate 30 meet, is one of the largest developments underway in the country within minutes of a major city center.
Developers expect that 80,000 people will one day reside between Walsh and the nearby Veale Ranch. In projections generated by the North Central Texas Council of governments, southwest Fort Worth is expected to grow by 90,000 in the developments around the Chisholm Trail Parkway by 2045. Moreover, Parker County's population has boomed to close to 150,000, up from 82,000 in 2000. Weatherford alone has grown to 40,000, up from 19,000 in 2000.
UTA’s announcement is the latest by universities reacting to those projections.
Tarleton State University opened a campus off the Chisholm Trail Parkway in southwest Fort Worth in 2019. The university expects to serve 6,000 students by 2030.
Texas A&M-Fort Worth’s campus downtown is under construction. It will open its Law and Education Building first quarter 2026. Its budget was increased last year because of greater than expected demand. The Texas A&M University System’s Board of Regents last week authorized system leaders to begin the design of the second building for the downtown research campus, the Research & Innovation Building A.
The building could cost up to $260 million, including 150,000 gross-square-feet of offices and lab space for the Texas A&M System at an estimated cost of $150 million. The remainder would be for private sector partners as well as parking that could be used by campus tenants and the public.
UT System
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A third building is planned.
TCU’s Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine opened in 2019. Its new medical school building in the Hospital District will open next month.
UTA alumni make a $22.7 billion economic impact on the region, according to the school. With 41,000 students, it is one of the largest universities in the state. The university reached Tier 1 status as a research university in 2021.
Once a part of the Texas A&M system, the then Arlington State College joined the UT system in 1965 when administrators at A&M resisted expansion of the school.
UTA’s new campus will expand the university’s footprint in Fort Worth.
In 1986, the UTA Research Institute (UTARI) was established in east Fort Worth. Today, the facility conducts $16 million annually in research focused on advanced controls and sensors, airborne computing networks, automation and intelligent systems, bio-signal processing, biomedical technologies, and predictive performance.
In 2007, the UTA Fort Worth Center was established in downtown Fort Worth. The center, focused on serving working professionals by connecting education with careers, offers high-quality academic programs that meet the needs of students and the 21st-century workforce.
In 2023, the UTA Institute of Urban Studies, the principal research center for the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs, opened at UTA’s Fort Worth Center. The Institute’s mandated mission is to conduct research and provide technical assistance to city and county governments, governmental agencies, and nonprofit organizations and to offer education and teaching opportunities to individuals either already in or contemplating public service careers.
“UTA West represents a transformative investment in our community’s future,” said Robert Allen, CEO Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership. “By aligning educational resources with the region’s economic needs, UTA is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping a skilled workforce capable of meeting the demands of 21st-century industries.”
Said J.B Milliken, chancellor of the UT System: “Years from now when we look back at major milestones in the life of the Fort Worth region and UT Arlington’s history, this new campus will rise to be among the top. As cities prepare for rapid growth, the presence of great universities contributes immensely to their vibrant transformation, and we applaud the very special relationship between UT Arlington and Fort Worth as they plan for the future in such an insightful and strategic way.”
