Texas State Technical College will offer more automotive classes when its new center opens in fall 2025.

In a nutshell

TSTC broke ground on a roughly $54 million expansion in late November to bring the 80-acre Transportation Center of Excellence to its Rosenberg campus, college officials said.

The college offers technical career training to the Houston region from its 160-acre campus. It receives state funding based upon student job outcomes, making it important for graduates to obtain jobs in the workforce, TSTC Communication Specialist Isaac Dayley said.

The context

The new center will allow the vocational college to grow its diesel equipment technology program and add two new programs—automotive technology as well as auto collision and management technology, Dayley said.

The expansion is driven by the college’s growing enrollment and the workforce demands in the region shown by labor market studies, campus Provost Bryan Bowling said. In the automotive industry specifically, this demand is caused by an aging workforce retiring and a larger need for electric vehicle technicians, he said.

“It is absolutely critical folks understand we’re doing this only because we know this will land a job for customers,” he said. “We do what basically makes our graduates irresistible for our industry partners.”

By the numbers

The Rosenberg campus opened in 2016, and TSTC data shows enrollment has increased to around 700 students in spring 2024. The three program changes will allow TSTC to accept 400-500 more students—up to a 71% enrollment increase, Bowling said.

“If we find that we have students who want more flexibility … and say, ‘We want night courses or weekend courses,’ that may increase that number,” he said.