Texas A&M University to restrict undergrad enrollment growth following ‘massive’ increases

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Texas A&M University to restrict undergrad enrollment growth following ‘massive’ increases

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Texas A&M University is pausing undergraduate enrollment growth on its main campus following a decade of “massive” increases, President Mark Welsh III said in a campus message Thursday. 

The plan would hold new undergraduate students at 15,000 at its flagship College Station campus for five to seven years. Texas A&M’s other campuses, as well as online and graduate programs, will be allowed to grow at modest rates.

During the pause, Texas A&M plans to expand its infrastructure and invest in heavily used student services, Welsh said. The public university also plans to spend $3 million annually over five years on salaries and benefits for new faculty.

Texas A&M is facing a problem many institutions around the U.S. would probably like to have: steep enrollment growth. 

Welsh noted that the student body has grown 30% over the past 10 years, which, he added, “is more than double the average of all other public universities in the state.” 

In fall 2023, Texas A&M’s College Station campus enrollment stood at

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, up 11.6% from five years prior, according to federal data. Between 2013 and 2023, the university added nearly 18,000 new students, according to a university

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released with Welsh’s message.

Texas A&M has “absorbed much of the impact of this growth over the last 10 years,” but it “cannot continue to do that,” Welsh said. “We must right-size our university in the near-term to ensure we maintain an incredible education and experience for our students over the long-term.”

For many, the term “rightsize” is a euphemism for cutting. But in Texas A&M’s case, the university needs to grow its infrastructure to catch up with its expanding student body. 

In recommending the enrollment growth pause, the capacity study pointed to deficiencies in student support infrastructure — including on-campus housing, dining and study spaces — as well as an increasing faculty-to-student ratio. 

Then there are the more practical logistics of operating a university, such as parking and transportation. 

The capacity study noted that campuswide parking needs next year are expected to be above capacity. Moreover, roughly one-third of the bus fleet is older than its first-year students.

In response, Texas A&M plans to add eight to 12 new buses and separate lanes for bicycles and electric mobility devices, Welsh said. It will also potentially switch to later class times on its fast-growing West campus.

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The study recommended that during the yearslong growth pause, the university add spaces for housing, dining, recreation, study, parking, and classrooms and academic support.

It also recommended adding 140 to 160 new tenured and tenure-track faculty at a cost of $5 million annually.

Welsh said he would take the enrollment plan to Texas A&M system’s board of regents “in the near future.”

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