FORT WORTH-- Texas A&M University's long quest for a law school isn't just a dream anymore.
That ambition moves closer to reality today with an announcement that the university plans to buy Texas Wesleyan's School of Law for about $25 million -- a move that would bring a public law institution to Fort Worth.The end result will be an institution to be called the Texas A&M School of Law at Texas Wesleyan University."It's exactly what we have been looking for -- a world-class law school in Fort Worth," said Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp. Texas Wesleyan Law School has 674 students.Texas Wesleyan President Frederick G. Slabach said the aim is to work together to build a top tier law school in North Texas.Texas Wesleyan University Board of Trustees have approved a letter of intent that enables the Fort Worth private school and Texas A&M University to enter into a partnership. The Texas A&M Board of Regents is expected to meet later this week to take up the proposed agreement.If approved, it would be one of two public law schools in North Texas. The University of North Texas System is scheduled to open a law school in Dallas in the fall of 2014 in the Old Municipal Building in downtown Dallas to be called the UNT at Dallas College of Law. Recruiting of students won't start until fall 2013.Texas A&M will acquire ownership and operational control of the law school, Sharp said. It is unclear when the transition will be complete.Lease agreementUnder the agreement, all faculty and staff of the law school will become employees of Texas A&M University. Texas Wesleyan retains ownership and control of the law school building and four city blocks of land at the downtown Fort Worth campus.TWU will lease the facilities to Texas A&M for $2.5 million a year throughout a 40-year lease agreement, Sharp said.The influx of dollars will help TWU invest in programs and revitalization plans, Slabach said.But key to this plan was the fact that Sharp wanted to create "a true collaborative partnership," that includes two joint programs - a Juris Doctor/Texas Wesleyan MBA program and a Texas Wesleyan undergraduate/law school "three plus three" program, Slabach said. The latter program would allow students to graduate with an undergraduate degree and a law degree within six years."This is very, very important to us," Slabach said.The law school will be part of Texas A&M University and overseen by president R. Bowen Loftin.Loftin and Slabach will appoint a Strategic Partnership Academic Coordinating Council to advise them on additional academic efforts for the universities.Sharp ideaSlabach said Sharp reached out to TWU with the idea for a partnership"In creating the Texas A&M University School of Law at Texas Wesleyan University, we are finally expanding the A&M brand into the field of law with a focus on emerging fields that require a growing expertise," Sharp said in a news release.Tuition and official transition dates for the school have yet to be worked out, said Sharp, adding that the project will also need approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the American Bar Association.Sharp and Slabach said there are examples of similar projects in other parts of the nation, including a partnership between Penn State and the Dickinson School of Law.A Texas A&M law school has been a long ambition of many Aggie supporters, Sharp said. Indeed, the question has resulted in headlines for Texas A&M throughout the years. Last November, Fernando Trevino, Jr., who was listed as a nonvoting member of the Board of Regents in a Battalion report, told student senators that a law school was "long overdue" for Texas A&M.Diane Smith, (817) 390-7675Twitter: @dianestar