AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — House and Senate lawmakers have given a boost to creating a new, unified campus for the University of Texas System in the Rio Grande Valley, including a medical school.
In separate votes Wednesday, the House and Senate higher education committees approved bills merging Texas-Pan-American in Edinburg and Texas-Brownsville into a single university. Those bills now to go the full House and Senate for consideration.
A key element to the plan is the medical school, which could bring hundreds of doctors to South Texas where they are desperately needed.
Texas system regents have already committed $100 million to the project, but the merger still needs legislative approval. The university would have a predicted enrollment of about 28,000.
