UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT BROWNSVILLE. The University of Texas at Brownsville, located on the grounds of Fort Brown, was first established as Pan American University–Brownsville in 1973. In 1972 the Texas Southmost College board of trustees took bids from Texas A&I University and Pan American University for the establishment of a four-year program in Brownsville, and on January 15, 1973, the offer made by Pan American was accepted. The extension program was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board^qv in May 1973. Classes at Pan American University–Brownsville commenced in the fall of that year, when the school had an enrollment of 262 undergraduates and 130 graduates in fifty-five classes. It offered three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. In the fall of 1977 Pan American University–Brownsville became a separate entity governed by Pan American University regents but was funded by the state. In the 1980s, while Pan American University was making plans to merge with the University of Texas System,^qv the administration of Pan American University–Brownsville attempted to gain autonomy for their school; however, on May 26, 1989, it became part of the UT System as the University of Texas–Pan American–Brownsville. In September 1991 the name was changed to the University of Texas at Brownsville and the school began a partnership with Texas Southmost College. UT Brownsville became a four-year institution in the fall of 1998. Enrollment in the fall of 2000 was 10,271 with a faculty of 449. Juliet V. García was president.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Austin American-Statesman, October 19, 1987. Milo Kearney, ed., A Brief History of Education in Brownsville and Matamoros (University of Texas–Pan American–Brownsville, 1989). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Alicia A. Garza