Valley Aggies are growing in number. The Rio Grande Valley may not be ready to be called Aggie Valley, yet, but it’s not because of a lack of growth in numbers.
After the current building begins to be filled on a regular basis, Margo said there are two more building in the planning stages with the drawings “in the books.”
In fact, it’s the numbers at Texas A&M campus in McAllen, inside the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at Tres Lagos in the northwest part of the city that has everyone already talking about expansion.
“We expect to fill this up pretty quick.”
Last year, the new campus welcomed 38 freshmen – the Pioneer Scholars, as they were called - and saw that number spike to 156 freshmen this year, with more than 200 projected for next year. Rick Margo has bigger visions for the center and the McAllen campus which, as he puts it, is “attached at the hip with Texas A&M College Station.”
The McAllen campus provides a way for students who want to be an Aggie to attend school without having to make the long trek to College Station. It works both ways too – if a student decides he or she wants to stop traveling to College Station, they can transfer and finish their degree, as long as it is one of the ones offered, at the local campus. Students not only study from the Rio Grande Valley at the McAllen campus but they come from all over the southern part of the state including Corpus Christi, Del Rio, the Coastal Bend area, Laredo and Eagle Pass, among other areas.
“We are full-fledged Texas A&M. Students can earn their degree here – or here and there – and they can get their ring here and everything,” said Margo, director for the center since March, after a brief span as interim director. “The only difference between here (McAllen) and there (College Station) is 375 miles.” There are five different degrees students can earn at the McAllen campus, two in engineering and one each in public health, bio-medical science and food systems industry management. “These are the degrees that are needed in the Valley right now,” Margo said. “In the future we will have more, as we fill out this building – and that will happen fairly quickly. For now, these are the degrees and the type of workforce that we need here in the Valley to continue growing.” As director of operations, oversees facilities, coordinates with municipal and contracted services, and facilitates appropriate coordination with central university services for prospective student recruitment and community partnership and outreach. “When I came in, it was like ‘we have a building, we want to start classes,’” Margo said. “This was before the building was ready. Now, go get students and get them enrolled.”
Rick Margo
VAMOS Board Treasurer “It’s always just an option,” Margo said. “If they want to be living next to Kyle Field (home of the Aggies football team) or in the dorm rooms. The one thing everyone needs to know is that this campus is not a stepping stone – this is Texas A&M.”
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