Aggies

[ArmyAg97]

I'm kind of torn. Bigger is sometimes better, but the odds are against it. On the other hand - if the traditions can hold I like having as many Ags in the world as possible.

[unclefish]

Well if you look at the population growth of Texas....its either expand current universities or start new ones.

Not a fan of it in general but it is harder than ever to get into the business/engineering schools right now.

More Aggies in the world ain't a bad thing....at least to me.
Maybe they should have expanded Kyle to 150K.

[150class]

What we are at like 55-60k currently?

Seems like to much to me but who knows

Arizona state is at like 70k aren't they?

[Razrbk89]

I had no idea it was that big already. That dwarfs Fayetteville. I think we had 23,000 and that was twice as many as any other school in the state.

[unclefish]

What we are at like 55-60k currently?

Seems like to much to me but who knows

Arizona state is at like 70k aren't they?

Just looked it up...TAMU 58,809 in 2014.
I think it was ~42K when I graduated in '93.

[bdchorn]

Going to be interesting, particularly as UT is going in the opposite direction with a stated hard cap goal of 50,000 students.

I see different ramifications on both sides of the spectrum.

Sports
I've got to believe bigger is better

Academics
I've got to believe smaller is better

[Bigdaddy]

Once again who cares we can't change what is going to happen!!!

[unclefish]

Going to be interesting, particularly as UT is going in the opposite direction with a stated hard cap goal of 50,000 students.

I see different ramifications on both sides of the spectrum.

Sports
I've got to believe bigger is better

Academics
I've got to believe smaller is better

Agree!

Realistically how much more could UT expand...isn't the 40 acres pretty packed already? I've only been on campus a few times many years ago.

[El General]

Agree!

Realistically how much more could UT expand...isn't the 40 acres pretty packed already? I've only been on campus a few times many years ago.

Not much. No room to grow. I guess they could knock down existing buildings and go higher, but I don't see that happening.

[bdchorn]

Agree!

Realistically how much more could UT expand...isn't the 40 acres pretty packed already? I've only been on campus a few times many years ago.

The 40 acres is packed but UT owns land all over the City. They could certainly expand. Right or wrong, they just don't want to.

I'm torn to be honest. On the sports side of things, I don't think UT really gains anything either way. They led all schools in total revenue long before LHN and they still do. That said, you have to have a large alumni pool to feed merchandise sales which goes a long way toward athletics revenue. With a $14.5billion endowment, they don't need $$ but if UT stays at 50,000 and A&M goes to 80,000 there will come a time when A&M is the bigger brand. No way around that IMO.

On the academics side of things, I do feel it de-values the degree. It won't de-value MY degree. I'm a 40 something well into the days where my resume is far more important than my degree, but if UT were to go to 80,000 students I can't imagine a world where their ranking could possibly remain where it is today. As such, the degree wouldn't be quite as prestigious.

Not sure it really matters one way or another to me in the long run. I just find it interesting that two schools that have more in common than many care to admit seem so opposed on this front and it was a big enough issue to get Powers fired and a UT BOR member in some serious hot water.

My guess is that as time goes by you will have kids of generational UT grads going to A&M and vice versa.

[Russ79]

This is an amazing number. When I was there in the mid-70's there were 27,000 students.

[catslayer]

Bigger isn't better. The Spirit of A&M will continue to shrink.

Agreed... Want to keep the feelings strong. Limit it to 30,000 undergrad, focus on growing graduate and research programs.

Sorry I know a LOT, I mean a LOT of Old army aggs and many more throughout the ages. IMO the best time to be a part of it was when the school was between 15,000 and 30,000 undergrads. Big enough to be a big school but not oversized.

I was down there as a student 3 years ago... In my opinion it is WAY to big now.

As far as having trouble getting in BS... Its a state school, it ISNT HARD. If you HALF, and I literally mean HALF WAY tried in high school. Your in.... I wish you they would make it harder to get in.

[30-30]

Its called expansion....

It doesn't matter how widely the town has expanded when 70,000 people are trying to get to campus for their 8:00 AM class...

[TxAg]

Gota outnumber the scientologists.

[Jbonds99]

The town won't support that many students...

College Station is built around TAMU. If enrollment grows the town grows.