A new educational space could help strengthen the health care and science workforce in North Texas.
UNT Dallas’ 120,220-square-foot STEM building on its campus in southern Dallas will expand capacity to train students going into medical and health care fields. The university said the new building and programs will help address workforce shortages in Dallas and beyond.
“It's going to enable us really to enhance our science offerings and our [pre-health] programs,” UNT Dallas President Warren von Eschenbach said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday.
Von Eschenbach said the university is partnering with UNT Health in Fort Worth to bring several new pre-health professional programs to the campus – including a dual degree program where a student can receive a degree in nursing and public health at the same time.
Jessica Alvarez, assistant dean for student success in health professions at UNT Dallas, said the school was already connecting students – the majority of whom are first-generation college students -- to health care careers, but the new space means new opportunities.
“This campus really does a great job with it being literally housed in the middle of a community,” Alvarez said. “Having these advanced spaces and buildings and a student being like, ‘Wow, where I come from, I don't have these types of things,’ I think is really unique in that and being able to not have to venture too far to have everything you need.”
The building was unveiled in the midst of conversations about how changes to certain degree programs will affect the health care industry and workforce. The federal tax and spending bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump in July, limits the amount of federal student loans people earning “professional degrees” can borrow.
Because programs like medicine, dentistry and optometry require additional schooling, the student loan cap for those programs is much higher. However, in addition to lower loan caps, the U.S. Department of Education recently announced a technical and regulatory decision that would remove several degrees from the list of professional programs – including nursing.
Alverez said people are concerned about the impact this could have on the workforce – but she said UNT Dallas and UNT Health leadership are doing their best to support students.
“Students who are pursuing nursing who I have met with so far, they want to do it because they want to help their families,” Alvarez said. “They want to do this profession because they want to help people that look like them, and that's never going to change.”
Teneisha Howard, president of the Metroplex Black Nurses Association in Dallas – a chapter of the National Black Nurses Association – said UNT Dallas’ investment in these programs will help students who may be affected by the recent federal changes.
“This gives [first generation students] an ability to come out, have their bachelors degree…get it in a shorter time, and then be able to get into a hospital or workforce or other places that we're really needed for nursing and other healthcare professions,” Howard said.
About two thirds of UNT Dallas students are first generation. UNT faculty also note that many are local, meaning they’re more likely to stay in the area after graduation.
Texas continues to have one of the largest nursing shortages in the country. By 2027, the state could face a deficit of more than 50,000 registered nurses, which can lead to loss of services and decreases in quality of care.
Howard said without places like UNT Dallas investing in their communities, the workforce shortage in healthcare is only going to get worse – leading to sicker patients and worse mortality rates.
“It's going to mean so much to the community,” Howard said. “This is going to be a place that…[high school students] know they can come to and then immediately get into school and continue on into a profession. Something that they can continue to grow in a career, support their family, but also give back and support their community.”
Abigail Ruhman is KERA’s health reporter. Got a tip? Email Abigail at aruhman@kera.org.
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