University of Texas to Seek $1.9B in Tuition Revenue Bonds

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DALLAS - The University of Texas plans to ask lawmakers for $1.9 billion of revenue bonds in the 2015 session of the state legislature.

Universities across the state received none of the $2.7 billion of tuition revenue bonds requested in the 2013 legislative session. Lawmakers have not approved a tuition revenue bond issue since 2006.

At a board of regents meeting July 10, officials said they need financial support for capital construction across the UT System's 15 campuses.

Since 2006, student enrollment systemwide has grown by more than 27,000, with major increases in the science, technology and engineering classes that require laboratory space, officials said.

The Texas Workforce Commission says the state's higher education institutions need to produce 9,000 new engineers a year over the next decade just to keep up with the state's high-tech engineering needs.

"New classrooms and laboratories to provide the technologically sophisticated education demanded by today's employers is critical to the continued growth and expansion of the Texas economy, particularly in those industries and fields that will keep the state on the cutting edge of innovation and development of new knowledge," said UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa.

The projects at academic institutions include teaching labs, classrooms, lecture halls and office space. Projects also include new construction for the Brownsville and Edinburg campuses of UT Rio Grande Valley, which was authorized during the last legislative session, and, when operational, will include many of the programs and facilities of UT Brownsville and UT Pan American, along with a new School of Medicine, also previously authorized by state lawmakers. The projects at health institutions support teaching, research and administration.

In addition to the requested state funding, each of the projects will be supported from other institutional funds and gifts, Cigarroa said. Those projects are in addition to projects funded through the Permanent University Fund that supports capital projects in the UT and Texas A&M systems.

Regents also approved plans for the Robert B. Rowling Hall, a $172 million, 458,000-square foot building at the Austin campus that will house some programs for UT's McCombs School of Business.

Construction is expected to begin in the fall and be completed in early 2017. Ennead Architects and Jacobs Engineering handled the design of the project and DPR is the construction manager.

The regents also approved creation of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law and Business as part of the McCombs school and the UT School of Law. The center is named for former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a UT Law grad.

The UT Systems bonds carry triple-A ratings from all three rating agencies with stable outlooks.

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