Building on our Traditions

History and Mission

In the early 1900s, a dedicated group of South Texans pursued a dream to establish a teachers’ college in their region. As a predominately rural community, there were few qualified teachers for their youngest citizens and even fewer opportunities for higher education without traveling great distances.

Tenacious in their pursuit for a college, they worked tirelessly for the school. The Commercial Club of Kingsville led the effort to establish the school in South Texas and its members made trips to Austin to petition legislators and traveled all over to garner support for the cause. In 1925, the dream materialized into a school to train future teachers. In keeping with its close relationship with the citizens of South Texas, local citizens donated land for the school. Kingsville residents opened their homes to students since no dormitories were in place, and faculty members helped build the earliest structures on campus.

The school underwent various name changes as its mission evolved and expanded, and what was affectionately known as A&I eventually became Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The university has always been a destination that is close to home for many students, serving thousands of South Texas families. Since many of our students are the first in their families to attend college, proximity to home has been an important factor in their choice of a university and it remains a factor today.

Eighty years after opening its doors, Texas A&M-Kingsville remains tied to its earliest mission and its tradition of providing students with educational opportunities and service. That mission is to develop well-rounded leaders and critical thinkers who can solve problems in an increasingly complex, dynamic and global society. Located in South Texas, the university is a teaching, research and service institution that provides access to higher education in an ethnically and culturally diverse region of the nation. Texas A&M-Kingsville offers an extensive array of baccalaureate and master's degree programs and selected doctoral and professional degrees in an academically challenging, learner-centered and caring environment where all employees contribute to student success.

Although research has grown extensively at the university, our principal mission was, and remains, educating young people in Texas. Today, degree programs are offered through the colleges of Agriculture and Human Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering and the College of Graduate Studies. The Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy is the latest addition to the university, promising to carry on the A&M-Kingsville tradition of opportunity for the next generation of Javelina students.

Texas A&M-Kingsville is proud to have granted more than 54,000 degrees throughout its history. Enrollment stands at just over 7,000 students. Seventeen percent of students are pursuing master’s degrees and two percent are in doctoral programs. The majority of students come from South Texas, but students from more than 35 states and 43 countries help to create a wonderfully diverse student population. The university employs about 450 faculty, and the nurturing learning environment is kept personal with a 16:1 student to faculty ratio. More than 600 staff members also contribute to the mission and success of the university.

Building on our Traditions

We are proud to offer top-quality academic programs and student organizations that give our graduates a competitive edge in the marketplace, and we must continue offering these opportunities. Our students compete with students from throughout the nation and continue to bring acclaim to the university. Their achievements include:

We also support centers of excellence that are recognized throughout the state, nation and world, and we have plans to add to these programs of distinction through emerging entities such as the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management and our pharmacy program. Examples of some of our excellent programs are:

In order to attract top-quality students and faculty of distinction, maintain our centers of excellence and create new opportunities for our students, we must embark on a proactive campaign for our future. Private support will help assure that we continue to thrive and provide excellent educational opportunities for our students. We are indeed making a difference in Texas, but we need your help in order to prepare for and implement a new chapter of success.

This is our first comprehensive major gifts campaign, and it is designed to ensure that we maintain the quality that has become a tradition at Texas A&M-Kingsville and enhance the programs that we provide. We have named it Building on Our Traditions.