Regents approve 2025-2035 Master Plan for Texas State

The Texas State University System Board of Regents approved a new Master Plan for Texas State University during its quarterly meeting May 1 in San Marcos that will guide development, growth and renewal through the year 2035.

The goal of the Master Plan, prepared by the firm Page/ of Austin, is to chart a course to cement TXST’s place as one of the most beautiful college campuses in America. It was developed over the course of 18 months, based on scores of meetings and feedback from more than 5,000 students, faculty, staff and community members. 

The plan encompasses the main San Marcos Campus as well as the Round Rock Campus and five other university properties. This blueprint for the future identifies projects over the next 10 years that will support the university’s projected growth to more than 50,000 students by 2033. The plan’s key themes include Student Success & Experience; Academic Excellence; Discovery & Research; Community & Connectivity; and Stewardship of Resources. 

San Marcos

The plan for San Marcos focuses on how to weave the campus together with new outdoor green spaces, accessible pedestrian amenities and marquee destinations to create an unrivaled sense of place. The result is a strategy that relies equally on renewing existing facilities as it does on building new. The master plan proposes 30 new facilities and more than 20 green space projects to meet the university’s projected needs through the year 2035. 

The STEM neighborhood on the west side of the San Marcos Campus is already experiencing growth. Richard A. Castro Hall, which will host 1,000 beds for students, is on track to open in fall 2025. The Math and Computer Science Classroom building is currently under construction and expected to be ready during the 2026-27 school year. A proposed Integrated Science & Discovery Building, which will round out this neighborhood, has been identified as the university’s next highest need in order to support TXST’s growing research enterprise. This strategic growth, coupled with green space and pedestrian improvements, will make these newest additions feel as if they have always been an integral part of TXST.

The Hilltop neighborhood will see new construction beginning July 2025 with Hilltop Phase II. The existing Alamito and Cibolo Halls, which included 1,000 beds and opened in fall 2024, will be joined by two additional residence halls with 1,500 beds combined, along with a new 550-seat dining hall and a new large green space that will be the heart of this residential neighborhood which sits between the Alkek Library and the LBJ Student Center. 

The Master Plan also examined existing space, identifying 22 facilities—14 of which are academic buildings—for full renovation, including Chemistry, Derrick Hall, Evans Liberal Arts, Flowers, Math & Computer Science, Supple Science and Taylor-Murphy. 

TXST’s Water Treasures: Spring Lake and the San Marcos River

For the first time ever, the plan provides a comprehensive vision for elevating and managing TXST’s surface water assets in a way that celebrates them as one of the university’s greatest features. This includes Spring Lake, which is the headwaters of the San Marcos River; Sewell Park, through which the river runs before merging with the Guadalupe River and flowing to the coast; and Weissmuller Spring, which feeds the former federal fish hatchery ponds surrounding the J.C. Kellam Academic Building. These contiguous assts will be redeveloped into world-class natural areas, leaning into TXST’s legacy of environmental stewardship and leading research on freshwater issues.

Under the plan, Spring Lake and Sewell Park would connect to the Great Springs Project, a 100-mile trail network connecting the four great springs between Austin and San Antonio. A new Welcome Center, improved and expanded nature trails and the renovation of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment would more closely align the land with the ongoing mission of environmental stewardship and education. Sewell Park would see the elevation of Aquarena Drive bridge where it crosses the river and the addition of dedicated pedestrian crossings under the bridge linking all of these water treasures with the existing San Marcos River trails. Combined, these efforts dramatically improve safety and create a breathtaking river walk experience. 

Round Rock

TXST’s overall enrollment is expected to grow 25% over the coming decade. The expansion of the Round Rock Campus, located in one of the country’s fastest-growing counties, is essential to accommodating much of that long-term growth. The master plan aligns Round Rock development with student population growth, outlining four stages of expansion as enrollment increases up to 10,000 students over the coming decade. The completion of Esperanza Hall academic building, currently under construction, will enable the campus to handle up to 6,000 students. Plans for the future addition of a Life Sciences building, along with three more academic buildings and two residence halls, would increase capacity to 10,000 students. The Round Rock Campus footprint has room to grow and accommodate as many as 15,000 students in the more distant future.

Another possibility identified in the plan is for the Round Rock Campus to host the entire TXST online program in the future. Centering the university’s distance learning efforts at Round Rock dovetails with TXST’s growing strategy to reach out to students where they are across the state. Co-enrollment and guaranteed transfer agreements are allowing students to remain closer to home while taking all the classes needed to complete a TXST degree in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and elsewhere across the state.

Find out more and view the full plan at facilities.txst.edu/pdc/masterplan.html.