Education
Texas State University unveiled a major expansion in June to transform its Round Rock campus into a more traditional college campus, with a goal of growing student enrollment to 10,000 by 2030. The plan would add seven buildings to the existing three across the campus’s 101 acres, including academic halls and student housing. The campus reached an enrollment of 2,193 students this spring—a 21% increase compared to spring 2024—driven by the campus’s rst-ever freshman class admitted last fall. Julie Lessiter, TXST’s vice president of the Round Rock campus, said a combination of growth in Williamson County and the absence of universities o ering freshman through graduate options in the area has the site “perfectly positioned to be the Texas State northern frontier.” TXST Round Rock plans for growth
Growth phases TXST Round Rock’s plan is based on student enrollment milestones.
NATURE PAVILION
NEW CHILLER TOWERS
PAVILION CAFE
NEW UTILITY PLANT
6,000 total students A Esperanza Hall: 81,600 sq. ft. B Life sciences: 80,000 sq. ft. 7,500 total students C Academic: 145,000 sq. ft. D Housing: 200 beds
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FUTURE PARKING GARAGE
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10,000 total students E Housing: 200 beds
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F Academic: 105,000 sq. ft. G Academic: 105,000 sq. ft.
15,000 total students H Future academic quad
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SOURCE: TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY IMPACT
Increased investment Austin’s life sciences sector has regularly drawn hundreds of millions of dollars in private funding. 2019 $239.5M 2020 $402.8M 2021
Zooming in
sophomore at the Round Rock campus. Also in the works is a life sciences incuba- tor—a collaboration between TXST, Round Rock Chamber and design rm Concept Companies—to tap into the area’s growing market. Mayor Craig Morgan said the incubator could help Round Rock become more competitive. “I think that would encourage more companies that may want to actually relocate to Central Texas—more particularly, Round Rock,” he said.
At 81,600 square feet, Esperanza Hall, con- struction on which began in November 2024, will be three-stories tall and feature research labs for science and engineering. Part of the expansion’s rst phase, the building will allow students to take lab courses in person. “Being a campus [predominantly] for nursing and those health professions, labs would be very critical and bene cial for freshmen and sophomores to go on,” said Maryssa Burilson, a
$1.06B
$437.2M
2022 2023 2024 2025*
$600.1M
$164.3M
$507.9M
*AS OF JUNE SOURCES: AVISON YOUNG TECHNOLOGIES, CRUNCHBASE COMMUNITY IMPACT
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COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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