An innovative, state-of-the-art STEM building at UNT Dallas is set to open in late 2025 for the start of the Spring 2026 semester. It will transform the campus and offer a new level of instruction, research and collaboration.
In September 2023, university leaders, healthcare professionals, elected officials, and community partners broke ground on the facility with a celebratory shoveling of dirt that marked a milestone. The building will be the most consequential addition to the UNT Dallas main campus yet, expanding opportunities for current and future students to be trained for significant healthcare careers.
For employers, UNT Dallas graduates will help solve urgent healthcare shortages in our community.
The new $100 million, four-story structure will include 18-20 classrooms, nine teaching labs (biology and chemistry), three research labs, and a large event venue. It will also contain multiple study and work areas, faculty and staff offices, a student STEM center, and a Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP) space with resources for students interested in going to medical school.
“This cutting-edge complex is the next step in UNT Dallas’ long-term plan to expand STEM opportunities for students and bolster the pipeline of highly skilled, career-ready candidates to North Texas employers seeking STEM and healthcare professionals, especially nursing and pharmacy fields,” said UNT Dallas President Dr. Warren von Eschenbach.
The Texas Workforce Commission says these “high-demand, high-wage” occupations are expanding rapidly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says STEM-related healthcare positions pay more than the average American job, and STEM careers are projected to 11% in the next decade.
The STEM building will be green and sustainable, energy efficient and full of windows and natural light to take advantage of the landscaping around it, bringing the outside in. An area behind the structure will become a green space for student gatherings, study and quiet reflection.
Two firms, Stantec and Harrison Kornberg, designed the building to reflect the university’s mission and achieve the STEM project’s goals. They include empowering students by providing upward mobility to a diverse community of learners through STEM education; transforming lives through STEM programs that will improve the vitality of students and their families; and creating a sense of place and belonging, which is student-centered, inclusive, welcoming, accessible and flexible.
UNT Dallas and the new STEM facility will catalyze investment and development in southern Dallas by collaborating with industry partners and local educational and community institutions.
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