Aggies whooping it up in McAllen

​​​​​​​​​​McALLEN – Officials with the Texas A&M University Sy​stem, the City of McAllen and Hidalgo County signed a letter of intent Tuesday to expand Texas A&M’s presence in the Rio Grande Valley and create a new institution of higher learning.​​​

​The teaching facility would be built on approximately 100 acres within the 2,571-acre Tres Lago development.

​The city and the county are also offering $10 million toward a teaching facility and $8 million to install utilities and infrastructure. Texas A&M will ​​​seek the necessary approvals to provide academic programs like engineering, engineering technology, biomedical sciences and agriculture and life sciences as well as helping to fund construction costs.

​Courses will be taught by Texas A&M faculty. Graduates will receive Aggie rings.

The facility will open by 2017 with 100 students and expand to 750 students over five years.​