The University of Houston System (UHS) has strengthened its efforts to extend higher education access to one of the state's most underserved regions.

UHS signed a leasing contract with Lone Star College (LSC) that will help bring academic programs from UH and UH-Downtown to the northwest Houston metropolitan area. Through this five-year agreement, LSC will provide UHS with 41,500 sq. feet of instructional space at LSC-University Park (20414 State Highway 249).

This space will include 15 classrooms and an enrollment services center for academic advising, recruiting and instructional support. UHS will fund the initial build-out of the space, including furniture, facilities and equipment at a cost of $2.3 million. Rent for the first three years of the agreement is fixed at $674,375 annually. 

At the conclusion of this contract, UHS will have an option to renew the agreement for another five years.

Both undergraduate and graduate curriculum will be offered at LSC-University Park. Programs and classes include:

University of Houston

• Bachelor of Arts - Communications
• Bachelor of Science - Consumer Science and Merchandising
• Bachelor of Science - Logistics and Supply Chain Technology
• Bachelor of Science - Organizational Leadership and Supervision
• Master of Science - Human Resource Development
• Master of Science - Technology Project Management
• Certificate in Accountancy
• Global Business minor
• Selected courses in natural sciences, engineering and hotel and restaurant management

University of Houston-Downtown

• Bachelor of Arts - Humanities
• Bachelor of Arts - Math with Secondary Teacher Certification in Business, Natural Sciences or
• Social Studies
• Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science - Social Sciences
• Bachelor of Arts and Applied Science - Safety Management
• Bachelor of Business Administration - Accounting
• Bachelor of Business Administration - Finance
• Bachelor of Business Administration - Computer Information Systems
• Bachelor of Business Administration - General Business
• Bachelor of Business Administration - Management
• Bachelor of Arts and Applied Science - Criminal Justice
• Bachelor of Science - Criminal Justice
• Bachelor of Science - Biological and Physical Sciences with Secondary Teacher Certification
• Master of Arts - Teaching
• Master of Science - Criminal Justice
• Bachelor of Arts - Interdisciplinary Studies, Teaching Certification (Early Childhood through Grade Six Generalist)
• Bachelor of Arts -Interdisciplinary Studies, Teaching Certification (Early Childhood through Grade Six Bilingual Generalist)
• Bachelor of Arts - Interdisciplinary Studies, Teaching Certification (Grades Four through Eight Generalist)
• Bachelor of Arts - Interdisciplinary Studies, Teaching Certification (Grades Four through Eight Bilingual Generalist)

UHD will showcase its academic offerings at LSC-University Park during open house from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 29. Visitors will learn more about UHD's degree programs, meet faculty and staff and explore financial aid options.  For more information, contact Louis Evans at evansl@uhd.edu or 217-221-2766.

The UH System is among the university systems and higher education institutions that have agreed to the "Principles and Procedures for Developing Higher Education in Northwest Houston." This agreement provides guidelines for establishing upper-division and graduate programs in the region to serve the needs of students transferring from the region's community colleges, including Lone Star College and Houston Community College. The Texas A&M System, Texas State System and Texas Southern University also have committed their support to these guidelines.

The northwest region of the Houston metropolitan area is among the largest underserved regions in the state relative to access to baccalaureate and master's degrees offered by senior-level institutions. More than 1.5 million people live in the region with about 250,000 enrolled in regional school districts.

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