New Tarleton State campus could hold 9,000 students, but first they’ll start with 2,500

By 2030, Tarleton State could have 9,000 students attending a flourishing 80-acre campus in south Fort Worth just west of Chisholm Trail Parkway.

That’s the vision in a master plan approved Oct. 19 by the university and the board of regents of its parent, the Texas A&M University System.

A groundbreaking is expected early next year. A three-story, 74,000-square-foot multipurpose education building, sitting at the highest point of the tract, is targeted to open for classes in fall 2019.

The first phase of the plan has allocated almost $41 million for construction and calls for around 2,500 students, according to Tarleton President F. Dominic Dottavio.

“Tarleton has had a presence in Fort Worth for many years,” Dottavio said in a prepared statement. “Using leased facilities up to this point, we have seen an annual growth rate of 10-20 percent in enrollment over the last decade.”

The current Tarleton-Fort Worth campuses sit on Camp Bowie Boulevard in west Fort Worth and near downtown and serve more than 1,900 students, growing at an average clip of 16.5 percent per year since starting classes in 2006. Course offerings have expanded to nursing, criminal justice and more.

The property for the new campus, at the intersection of Chisholm Trail Parkway and Old Granbury Road on the southwest corner, is inside the Rocky Creek Ranch development.

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 10:35 AM with the headline "New Tarleton State campus could hold 9,000 students, but first they’ll start with 2,500."