Texas A&M University – Texarkana (A&M–Texarkana) is a public university in Texarkana, Texas. It is part of the Texas A&M University System. Students who reside in Oklahoma and Arkansas attend at in-state tuition rates, and historically 30 percent of the student body is from Arkansas. Louisiana residents who reside in a parish that borders Texas may also attend at in-state tuition rates. History A&M–Texarkana first opened with 323 students in 1971 as East Texas State University Center at Texarkana, an upper-level branch of the main East Texas State University (ETSU) in Commerce, Texas. It originally shared a campus with local community college Texarkana College and "was established to provide third and fourth year college instruction for people residing in an isolated region." The university received separate accreditation in 1980, and when ETSU joined the Texas A&M System as Texas A&M University–Commerce in September 1996, the Texarkana branch became a separate institution and was renamed to Texas A&M University–Texarkana. The university became a four-year college with graduate programs in 2010, moving to its new and current campus near Bringle Lake Park. In the late 2010s, the university received large funding grants from the state legislature, including $32 million worth of building construction in 2016, supported by State Representative Gary VanDeaver and Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus, and a 2019 $3.6 million funding addition for new academic programs, including support from VanDeaver and State Senator Bryan Hughes. As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the university transitioned to online classes for the spring 2020 semester and donated test kits to local hospitals. Academics A&M–Texarkana is a member of the Texas A&M University System and is governed by its Board of Regents. The university's current president is Dr. Emily Cutrer, and provost Dr. Melinda Arnold is the academic head. A&M–Texarkana is organized into two academic colleges which both offer undergraduate and graduate programs, the College of Arts, Sciences and Education and the College of Business, Engineering and Technology. Combined, the colleges provide 18 undergraduate majors, 20 master's degree programs, and several Extended Education and Community Development programs (for certifications without a degree). In 2013, A&M–Texarkana and Northeast Texas Community College signed a matriculation agreement between their bachelor and associate nursing programs, respectively, followed by a dual admissions agreement between A&M-Texarkana and Texarkana College in 2014, and one between A&M–Texarkana and Paris Junior College in 2015. The College