Dear Alum,

The University of North Texas is expanding! Our university took an historic step in creating a partnership with the City of Frisco to bring the excellence and innovation of UNT to the people, communities and businesses of Frisco and Collin County through what ultimately will be a 100-acre branch campus designed to serve at least 5,000 students.

We've been serving Collin County students since 2010 and in 2016 expanded into Frisco at the request of a city desiring convenient access to a high-quality UNT education. Our Frisco enrollment continues to grow and we are focused on creating flexible, seamless degree programs that are responsive to student needs. The first such program – our Consumer Experience Management Program – will be offered in Fall 2019 at Hall Park in Frisco as the first degree available in two years without prerequisites for students who are Texas Core Complete. The programs designed and implemented in Frisco can inform the work we do at the flagship in Denton, too.

The faculty, staff and administration are in the process of defining our programs and plans for Frisco, the second fastest-growing city in the nation. We do know the programs offered in Frisco will be built with partnerships as a central driving force.

We will continue to offer programs at Hall Park, and in Spring 2019 we will expand operations at Inspire Park, a 50,000-square-foot building on 4.8 acres adjacent to the new land that will be developed. UNT's Inspire Park will allow research and education collaboration with community and industry partners.

The first phase of construction on the new land, located at the southwest corner of Preston Road and Panther Creek Parkway, will begin no later than March 2022. A masterplan to conceptualize the development of the initial 50 acres will begin right away in partnership with the City of Frisco and the Frisco Economic and Community Development Corporation Boards.

This is a bold – and some might say audacious – move, but still one that we know our university is more than capable of making a success. It's reminiscent of the idea that our founding father J.C. Chilton had more than 125 years ago when he set out to launch a school in Denton, partnering with area business leaders to open above a hardware store on the downtown square. UNT took that same can-do spirit to Frisco, and just as the Denton community embraced our vision, Frisco is embracing our vision for Collin County now.

We'll continue to create something extraordinary that preserves the deep values we have, but presents them in ways that inspire and move our students forward, while better supporting and serving the region − and ensuring that the employers of the region come to us before they go anywhere else.

The addition of a branch campus in Frisco will make every UNT degree more valuable, and is one of the many ways that the University of North Texas will continue to be the university for North Texas.

UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
@UNTPrez