By M. Victoria Moreno
Pulse Staff Reporter
Texas A&M University at San Antonio has expanded and is now a four-year university.
Located right off of 410 and Zarzamora, students who are looking at heading off to a university now have an option to attend a four-year university close to home. TAMUSA has always had a goal of bringing a higher level of education to the underserved South Side of San Antonio.
Since TAMUSA’s beginnings, it has had very close ties with Palo Alto. Before opening up its own campus, TAMUSA was hosted on PAC’s campus. In the fall of 2000, TAMUSA opened up higher level classes on the PAC campus until the first piece of their own campus was completed in 2011. Their main campus building opened with more than 3,500 students.
In the fall of 2015, TAMUSA had 4,573 students enrolled, according to Jennifer L. Haft, chief of staff and director of presidential operations at TAMUSA. For the fall of 2016, 5,511 students enrolled, a 21 percent increase.
Just like TAMUSA, enrollment here at Palo Alto has also grown. Last fall, there were 8,671 students enrolled according to Interim Director of Advising Michael Ximenez. The preliminary count of students enrolled this fall is 9,110, a 5 percent increase.
The idea of a four-year university is intriguing; however, some students find it is more practical and cost-effective to start their path at their local community college.
By attending classes at PAC, students further their education for a fraction of the price they would pay at a four-year university. Classes taken at PAC transfer to TAMUSA, making the transition from a community college to a senior-level institution easy.
By taking classes at the community college, students can receive one-on-one time and resources from professors that they might not get at the university level.
TAMUSA is looking to continue to expand their horizons even more in the coming years with the addition of dormitories and other student conveniences. Right now students from over 30 countries are studying or have graduated from TAMUSA.
TAMUSA invites students this Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, to come out and see what campus life and clubs are about with food, music and fun, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Profits from this event support TAMUSA’s student clubs and organizations.
pacpulse.com 