The University of Houston’s College of Technology is merging with the College of Engineering to increase access to undergraduate and graduate-level programs—and moving to Sugar Land in the process.
UH President Renu Khator said in a February 24 statement to members of the colleges of engineering and technology that the merger process began in March 2022 and was approved by the university this February in a bid to follow suit. universities across the country.
“Most of the top 50 research universities offer their engineering and technology programs under one umbrella,” Khator said in the statement.
According to the statement, the four departments of the College of Technology—construction management, engineering technology, human development and consumer science, and information technology and logistics—will now be housed within the College of Engineering. Most classes and administration will move to the Sugar Land campus, but technology departments will still serve the main UH campus, UH at Sugar Land and UH in Katy as needed.
University officials said the merger will not affect tuition, and the relationships between the College of Engineering as well as federal, state and regional research relationships “will increase as the synergies of the programs grow.”
“The combined Cullen College of Engineering will serve 11,000 students, making it the third largest engineering/technology college in the state and one of the largest in the country,” Khator said.
Along with the merger, UH is also constructing a new $66 million technology building on the Sugar Land campus, Director of Media Relations Chris Stipes said. Of that number, $52.4 million comes from 2021 Capital Construction Assistance Project Funding approved by the Texas Legislature.
An additional $12.6 million came from the UH system, and $1 million was “auxiliary funding,” according to documents presented to the UH board of regents in December.
The project, called “Sugar Land Academic Building No. 2,” is slated to begin construction this summer and be completed by spring 2025.