A $100 million facility being built at the University of North Texas at Dallas will support largely first-generation and minority students who want to work in the medical field.
When it opens for the spring 2026 semester, the 130,000-square-foot, four-story building will include up to 20 classrooms, nine teaching labs and three research labs. University and political leaders broke ground on the facility last week.
“Most of our students are local and … first-generation. We’re already sending some of them to medical and dental school, but this facility would accelerate that trend and supply more health care professionals into these high-need fields,” UNT Dallas president Bob Mong said.
UNT Dallas now confers bachelor’s degrees in majors like biology, chemistry, public health, mathematics and information technology.
Since 2017, the number of biology majors has soared by more than 2,000% and public health majors rose by 1,800%, said provost Betty Stewart. Starting this fall, 502 students were enrolled in the programs — or 16.4% of UNT Dallas’ total undergraduate enrollment.
Stewart said the new building could potentially double enrollment and support as many as 8,000 students.
The university is also looking into adding health care-related academic programs.
“Our sister institution, the University of North Texas Health Science Center [in Fort Worth] is starting a nursing program. We are working closely with them to recruit students into their program,” Mong said, “So it’s likely that when this building opens … we will have some nursing training on our campus.”
UNT Dallas is conducting a market analysis to see what new academic programs would be in highest demand, Stewart said. “We are looking at supporting our health care partners in the area like Methodist Hospital.”
Funding from the Texas Legislature
The project is being funded entirely by revenue bonds approved by the Texas Legislature in 2021.
“There are 37 public four-year universities in Texas and only four of them received $100 million or more in the 87th session,” Mong said.
UNT Dallas stood out in its request for state funding because the new facility is geared to training students who will work in health care in the metro area rather than on research, he said.
Increasing health care worker diversity
According to Mong, 85% of UNT Dallas’ students are racial minorities. The campus is also diverse in terms of socioeconomics, with most students funding their education through Pell Grants or state grants, he said.
Mong said the state’s investment will make it easier for the institution to raise money from donors to support other programs to help underserved students who want to work in the health care industry.
The new building will have a student STEM center and a space with resources and advising for students applying to the Joint Admission Medical Program, a program that helps low-income Texans prepare for the Medical College Admission Test and apply to medical school.
Lauren Herrera is a UNT Dallas biology major and chemistry minor who plans to attend medical school in the future.
“Since I’ve been here, the university has helped me so much, even though the STEM center is just one single room [right now]. It’ll be crazy to see how much they can help other people with a whole building,” Herrera said.
Mong said the new building will also help to expand UNT Dallas’ early college high school programs that allow students from Sunset High School in Oak Cliff to earn associate’s degrees in public health.
Impacting the local economy
In addition to classrooms, new laboratories and resource centers, the building will have a large event venue and some vacant space on its top floor to accommodate new equipment as science and medical education evolve. The $100 million investment also covers upgrades to UNT Dallas’ four existing laboratories.
The new facility is expected to spur other investment in southern Dallas. Two mixed-use developments, University Hills and Rivulet, are already in the works nearby.
“Dallas south of Interstate 30 is so vast, and yet it’s only contributing about 19% to the city’s tax base,” Mong said, “Our university is going to play a big role in helping stimulate economic development here.”
Stewart said the building will give students opportunities while also helping to solve a shortage of health care workers in North Texas.
“We want to prepare our students to have meaningful and productive careers in STEM fields,” she said, “We also feel that the building will help our health care employers fill their staffing needs.”
