UTA breaks ground on Maverick Hall
The University of Texas at Arlington has broken ground on Maverick Hall, a $116.2 million state-of-the-art student residence hall on campus designed to meet the needs of its growing student body.
The brand-new student living space comes as UTA sees a notable rise in freshman enrollment and a growing demand for on-campus housing. In fall 2023, UTA enrolled 4,809 first-time-in-college students, eclipsing the fall 2022 numbers by more than 8%.
“This construction project comes at a critical time,” said Jennifer Cowley, UTA president. “Our housing fills up every single year, and with seven years of record-breaking enrollment for new first-time-in-college students, we’re bursting at the seams.”
Maverick Hall will be the University’s largest and tallest residence hall, at 654 beds and five stories. It will have a mix of single- and double-occupancy rooms and will feature contemporary amenities, including versatile learning spaces, dynamic student engagement areas, innovative technology, centralized gathering spots and open kitchens on each floor to encourage connections among students.
Construction on the 206,000-square-foot building is set to finish by summer 2025. UTA has about 10,000 students living on or adjacent to campus and a 99.4% occupancy rate in its residence halls in fall 2023.
Cowley said Maverick Hall “will help us be closer to achieving our strategic goals of enhancing our campus experience and fostering a vibrant learning community that empowers our students to succeed.”
Lowell Davis, UTA vice president for student affairs, said Maverick Hall will not only allow students to make life-long friendships, but also give them an academic boost.
“Students who stay with university housing for four or more years have a greater than 90% graduation rate,” Davis said. “This is a success story that makes us very proud.”
John Hall, UTA vice president for administration and economic development, took time to thank everyone involved in the project and echoed Davis’ sentiments on the impact the new residence hall will have on student life.
“This new building will be home to 654 Mavericks, helping create a sense of belonging to UTA, their academic success and opportunities to create lifelong friendships,” Hall said.
Daniela Pedraja, UTA’s student body president and former Vandergriff Hall resident, shared her experience of living on her own for the first time and how it helped her build her own habits, routines and safe space.
“There's so many experiences that are engraved in my mind from the time I spent living on campus,” Pedraja said. “I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. I cried so much so my tears ran out. I studied so hard the sun started coming up. I learned so much about myself living in an area surrounded by students, staff and all the resources on campus.”
Maverick Hall is the first new residence hall at UTA since neighboring West Hall opened in 2018. It will be the fifth residence hall to open at UTA since 2000.