texas a&m university and south texas college launched the texas a&m engineering academy at south texas college and will enroll the first cohort of students in fall 2023we continue to work with our outstanding community college partners across texas to offer students a unique path to earn an engineering degree said texas a&m university system chancellor john sharp now students in south texas have the opportunity to start their college career closer to home for the first couple of years while being part of one of the best engineering schools in the country in this innovative co-enrollment partnership qualified students will be admitted to the texas a&m college of engineering complete the first two years of math science and core curriculum coursework at south texas college and have the unique opportunity to enroll in engineering courses taught by texas a&m faculty on the south texas college campus after two years students transition to texas a&m to pursue one of 22 majors within the college of engineering and finish their engineering degreesim excited about the creation of our newest engineering academy and the opportunities it provides for students in south texas said dr john e hurtado interim vice chancellor and dean of engineering at texas a&m it is always important to offer students an affordable premier education we look forward to welcoming our first cohort to the aggie family this fallstudents will save an estimated $4 600 in tuition and fees each semester they are enrolled in an engineering academy before transitioning to texas a&m to complete their degree the program will accept applications for fall 2023 through june 15south texas college president dr ricardo j solis said this evolving partnership with texas a&m means greater opportunities for students in the rio grande valleywe have great talent in our region; talent that is being recognized state and nationwide solis said our job is to ensure that this talent is fostered and students are given opportunities to excel through partnerships like this one with texas a&m through this initiative qualified valley students accepted into this engineering academy will have the opportunity to gain guaranteed admission into one of the most competitive engineering colleges in the country were excited about this partnership and what it means for our students and our communities current texas a&m industrial and systems engineering student alan cortez a mcallen texas native sees the benefits that the engineering academy program will bring to the rio grande valleythe opportunity to stay home and complete my first two years at an engineering academy would have saved two years worth of rent and other tuition expenses while receiving the same quality education and staying connected with my family cortez said i am so excited for texas a&m and south texas colleges new engineering academy partnership to start and i am confident that many aspiring engineers in the valley will benefit from this opportunity to graduate from texas a&m with an engineering degree at a more affordable costby offering opportunities like the engineering academies texas a&m can better serve texans this innovative co-enrollment partnership was developed to address the states growing need for engineers in texas the projected need for engineers in the workforce is 51 000 by 2028 to meet this need universities and two-year colleges must work together to bridge the gap and attract and retain students who are interested in stem fields visit the engineering academy program for more information about how to apply and additional details