A rendering of the future UTA West Campus in far west Fort Worth
FortWorth
Plans for University of Texas at Arlington’s new west Fort Worth campus are coming into focus after the UT System Board approved funding and the campus’ first building.
UTA West, which will be in west Fort Worth near Parker County off Interstate 30, was first announced by the UT System in August 2024. Construction broke ground a year later, and the site is expected to open to students for the fall 2028 semester, according to the university.
Dignitaries and officials break ground on the new UTA West campus on Thursday, April 3, 2025. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com
The UT System board approved more than $150 million for the campus’ first building during its February meeting.
UTA West leaders hope the campus can provide a top-of-the-line higher education experience for those who live in west Fort Worth and Parker County. Options in the region are slim, said Wayne Atchley, UTA’s vice president for regional campuses in an interview with the Star-Telegram.
“Expansion in Fort Worth is moving significantly west,” Atchley said. “When you look at the educational opportunities out there, there wasn’t a higher ed presence within a quick drive and accessible to a lot of people. So putting something in the region to serve those people, that made a lot of sense.”
UTA West’s campus, when fully built, will be 51 acres divided between two parcels of land. Development is already underway on the north parcel, which has direct frontage to I-30. The initial campus will be a single building, which will include classrooms, labs, a student center, library and a cafe.
A master plan of what UTA West leaders hope the campus eventually turns into is not yet available. Leaders are discussing what the campus will look like, and how big it could become, by the time it is completed in a few decades, Atchley said.
A birds eye view rendering of the future UTA West Campus in far west Fort Worth. FortWorth
“We are going to grow as we need to,” Atchley said. “As enrollment grows and as the area and the community grows, we will grow. The first building is really to plant the flag and say that ‘we’re here,’ and it will offer a comprehensive mix of classes and programs from UTA while also offering some that are unique to just this campus.”
Campus leaders are working on deciding an exact program mix, which areas of study will be a priority and exactly what degrees UTA West will offer. All degrees earned from the UTA West campus will be University of Texas at Arlington degrees, and not degrees unique to UTA West. Texas A&M Fort Worth, which is expected to open to students this fall, is using a similar system by giving students in Fort Worth access to an A&M College Station degree.
UTA West leaders are working closely with Weatherford College and Tarrant County college to decide which areas of study are most necessary for UTA West. Atchley said the goal is to be highly responsive to industry demands.
“I don’t want to put programs out there that nobody wants,” Atchley said. “We’re not just going to put something out there as a placeholder. All the programs are being really deliberately looked at so that they have an immediate impact, on day one, with growing the workforce that’s needed in that region.”
UTA West has a “structured growth” plan in place as it expands in the years following its fall 2028 opening. Leaders hope to start with a robust enrollment total from day one, but exact growth will be driven by the need of the programming the campus offers.
UTA President Jennifer Cowley speaks during the ground breaking for the new UTA West campus on Thursday, April 3, 2025. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com
The first building that was approved by the UT System board is designed to handle thousands of students. If enrollment and demand grows, leaders will then decide how to expand with additional buildings.
“We haven’t started on that first building yet so that’ll all be part of that master plan, which hasn’t been nailed down just yet,” Atchley said. “But our rollout will be structured in terms of additional buildings on the campus as enrollment dictates.”
UTA West joins a growing list of universities and subcampuses either already in Fort Worth or planning a campus in the city in upcoming months and years. Texas A&M Fort Worth will open this fall, while Tarleton State and Tarrant County College already have campuses in the city. UTA already operates UTA Fort Worth downtown.
But UTA West represents the first major Texas university to deliberately choose the growing west Fort Worth as an area of expansion. UT leaders hope it gives the system the inside track before the area sees an even bigger population boom.
“Research shows that most people don’t want to go more than 16 or 18 miles from home [for college],” Atchley said. “Those that do end up going further away. So putting something in their neighborhood, in the region to serve, that’s what we wanted to do.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Samuel O’Neal is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram covering higher education and local news in Fort Worth. He joined the team in December 2025 after previously working as a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He graduated from Temple University, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the school’s student paper, The Temple News.