Texas A&M University - Texarkana

Texas A&M University–Texarkana opened in 1971 as the East Texas State University Center at Texarkana with an enrollment of 323 students. By fall 1974 the enrollment had increased to 615. TAMU–Texarkana holds accreditations and memberships with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Texas Education Agency, as well as numerous other professional associations. The school is on the campus of Texarkana College, the local community college. It was established to provide third and fourth year college instruction for people residing in an isolated region. Increased attention is given to adults and other nontraditional students. The majority of the student body in 1999 was part-time female students with an average age of thirty-two. The school is a commuter-based campus. There are two academic divisions: the college of arts and sciences and education, and the college of business administration and behavioral sciences. The faculty numbers thirty-two full-time and thirty-five adjunct members. Seven undergraduate and eleven graduate degrees are conferred. In 1978 the A. M. and Welma Aikin Learning Center was constructed. A new library was built in 1983. In 1985 the university established a Center for Professional Development. In June of 1991 a total of 4,976 people had received degrees from TAMU–Texarkana. The school was transferred to the Texas A&M University System in 1995 and renamed Texas A&M University–Texarkana. In the fall of 1999 enrollment at TAMU–Texarkana was 1,153. The president of the university in 2001 was Stephen R. Hensley.