Texas Woman’s University (TWU) recently broke ground on a new $107 million health sciences center in Denton. The 136,000-square-foot facility will sit on seven acres adjacent to the TWU campus. It will serve students in health care who are studying nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy, and it will focus especially on preparing healthcare workers who will serve rural areas, where healthcare services are sparse. This can be a great opportunity right here in Denton County (and elsewhere in North Central Texas) for residents to acquire the higher education needed to become a registered nurse (RN) or other healthcare professional.
The new facility should be completed in the summer of 2025, and it is expected to open for the fall 2025 semester. The facility will contain classrooms, laboratories, a teaching kitchen, collaborative workspaces, and it will have adjacent outdoor clinic sites. TWU plans to be able to graduate 30 percent more nurses and other healthcare professionals after the new Health Sciences Center comes onstream. TWU Chancellor Carine Feyten recently said, “This new facility will bring students and faculty from different professional perspectives together in spaces, labs, and clinics specifically designed for collaboration and team building.”
Currently colleges and other schools in Texas are not able to train enough nurses to keep up with the growing demand. Thousands of well qualified applicants are turned away each semester simply because of a bottleneck problem; current RN programs are at maximum capacity for colleges’ faculties, staffs, classrooms, etc.
This new facility’s construction coincides with the public phase of a historic $125 million campaign called the Big Dream. The campaign will conclude with the university’s 125th anniversary celebration in 2026. Stacie McDavid, chair of the TWU System’s Board of Regents, said, “Indeed, we are dreaming big, and our aim is to provide more healthcare opportunities for Texans, and to keep the state thriving and prosperous.”
