UTA West launches with new Willow Park storefront
The University of Texas at Arlington officially opened a UTA West storefront in Willow Park on Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the next phase of a transformative project for the fast-growing west Fort Worth region.
The new storefront will serve as a hub for community engagement, providing prospective students and families access to admissions, advising, financial aid and other essential services as construction of the UTA West campus begins. It will also function as a home base for outreach efforts, stakeholder collaborations and updates on the multiphase construction process.
The ribbon-cutting event featured remarks by UTA President Jennifer Cowley and Parker County Commissioner Mike Hale, followed by a public open house.
“This may look like a simple storefront, but don’t let its size fool you,” Cowley said. “We’re planting roots here because we believe in your future. It’s a bold declaration of our commitment to Parker County and west Fort Worth. It’s our way of saying, loud and clear: We’re here, we’re ready, and we’re in it for the long haul.”
In April, UTA broke ground on the new campus, which will span 51 acres within the Walsh Ranch development on the border of west Fort Worth and Parker County near Aledo—an area experiencing rapid population growth and increasing demand for education and workforce development.
“As someone who earned my degree from UTA while raising a family here in Parker County, the idea of bringing UTA closer to home lit a fire in me. I saw the opportunities it would create for our kids, our schools, and our community,” said Parker County Commissioner Mike Hale. “And now, seeing UTA at the gateway to Parker County—on what I believe is one of the most premier sites in the region—I couldn’t imagine a better partner.”
UTA West will house cutting-edge academic and research facilities designed to bring together students, faculty and industry leaders to drive innovation and workforce readiness.
“This space is more than an office—it’s an open invitation,” Cowley said “A place where people can walk in, grab a cup of coffee, learn what UTA West has to offer, and start imagining how your students, your families, and your businesses can grow with us.”
By fostering collaboration in high-demand fields, the campus will play a critical role in producing a highly skilled homegrown workforce to support the region’s continued growth. Strategically located near the intersection of interstates 20 and 30, UTA West is poised to become a key educational and research hub for the rapidly expanding North Texas economy.
UTA West is projected to welcome its inaugural class in fall 2028. Designed to grow alongside the region, UTA West will expand to meet the area’s rising demand for higher education. From 2020 to 2024, Parker County’s population grew by 19.4%, making it the third-fastest growing county in Texas, while Fort Worth remains one of the fastest growing cities in the country.
As a Carnegie R1 institution, UTA ranks among the top 5% of research universities in the nation. Developing UTA West underscores the University’s commitment to expanding access to high-quality education and driving economic development in the region, while also strengthening UTA’s decades-long partnership with Fort Worth.
That partnership began in 1986 with the establishment of the UTA Research Institute in east Fort Worth. Today, the institute conducts $16 million annually in research areas such as advanced controls and sensors, airborne computing networks, automation and intelligent systems, bio-signal processing, biomedical technologies and predictive performance.
In 2007, the UTA Fort Worth Center opened in downtown Fort Worth to serve working professionals by connecting education with career advancement through high-quality academic programs tailored to 21st-century workforce needs.
In 2023, the UTA Institute of Urban Studies—the principal research center for the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs—opened at the Fort Worth Center. The institute conducts research, provides technical assistance to local governments and nonprofit organizations, and offers education and teaching for individuals pursuing or advancing careers in public service.
With UTA West now taking shape, the University is poised to build on its legacy of research excellence and educational access, strengthening the future of North Texas for generations to come.
About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
Celebrating its 130th anniversary in 2025, The University of Texas at Arlington is a growing public research university in the heart of the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. With a student body of over 41,000, UTA is the second-largest institution in the University of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation’s top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 280,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond.