SEGUIN, Texas – The Seguin Economic Development Corporation has acquired 133 acres of land to serve as the new site of Texas State Technical College (TSTC).
The new campus is expected to bring thousands of trade and manufacturing jobs to the greater San Antonio area.
“Seguin makes up almost 14% of the total manufacturing jobs in the entire San Antonio region,” said City Manager Steve Parker. “So, we’re a major player in this endeavor, and we worked really hard to make sure this comes to fruition”.
TSTC prioritizes helping students obtain certifications or degrees in fields such as building construction, manufacturing, HVAC, automation, industrial systems, welding and more.
Students typically complete degree programs in two years or less and receive a full tuition refund if they do not receive a job offer within six months of graduation.
“TSTC is the Texas cheat code,” says New Braunfels campus Provost Mike Anderson. “We work solely with industry; we reverse engineer everything from industry. So we look at what industry actually needs, we look (at) what their jobs are, what those skills are, and then we actually build our programs around what those needs are”.
Parker says that the Seguin area is booming, with seven new people moving to the city every day. He believes that growth can be achieved without the need for high-paying jobs, provided one does not attend a four-year university or incur expensive student loans.
“We’re a relatively poor community, but that trend has been changing over the last five years significantly, and we’re very proud of that. There’s been almost a 25% increase in income levels over the last five years, and that’s what changes people’s lives,” he said.
“One in three jobs in Seguin are actually tied to the manufacturing industry. And we continue to see interest from not only existing manufacturers in Seguin looking to want to expand their operations, but from new manufacturers that want to come in and establish themselves within our region as well,” said Seguin EDC Executive Director Josh Schneuker. Schneuker says with rapid expansion in town, neighbors will need high-paying jobs to vitalize the local economy while making Seguin a desirable place to live. “It can always be difficult in a rapidly growing community,“ he said. ”There’s a lot of development coming in, and you know, there’s always going to be mixed opinions on the development. But everything that I’ve seen related to this project and the announcement we made with the land acquisition and our plans for the property has been overwhelmingly positive".
While an exact timeline of plans is still being finalized, Seguin and TSTC anticipate that their campus will be fully built and operational within the next three to five years.
If you’d like to see a full breakdown of tuition costs, you can visit either of these two links here.