“Elgin is a growing area, and ACC’s Master Plan calls for building a campus that will expand access to higher education and training opportunities in the community,” says Dr. Stephen B. Kinslow, ACC president/CEO. “Acquiring land now is a good investment for the future.”

ACC's Elgin site location

The land includes two parcels totaling 98 acres adjacent to U.S. Highway 290 and County Line Road, with frontage on both roadways. Information about the selling price is not available at this time in order to preserve taxpayers’ bargaining position in other land purchases currently under negotiation. ACC will release the purchase price at a later date.

ACC has pledged to build a comprehensive campus in Elgin ISD upon a successful annexation election. Per Board Policy A-3, the college is prohibited from using ACC taxpayer funds to subsidize the construction of a campus outside the taxing district.  A committee of Elgin ISD residents – led by local businessman David Glass and Dr. Bill Satterfield, DVM – is currently collecting signatures in an effort to put annexation into the ACC taxing district on the ballot this November.

“ACC’s land-banking strategy is a forward-looking effort to acquire potential campus sites within the college’s 7,000-square mile, 8-county service area,” says Dr. Kinslow. “Changing demographics as well as increasing demand for workforce degrees and certificates are driving dramatic enrollment increases.”  

Spring 2010 marks the fourth consecutive semester of record enrollment college-wide, with more than 41,000 credit students. Since spring 2008, ACC has grown by more than 8,600 students. That two-year growth is greater than the total enrollment of some area universities.

ACC engages in a Master Plan process to strategically manage growth and change, ensuring all operations reflect the institution’s purpose and mission of expanding access to higher education across Central Texas as well as increasing student success.

“Joining the district would bring lower-cost tuition and additional programs and services specifically designed to meet Elgin’s needs and enhance its economic development strategy,” Kinslow says.

If the Elgin ISD citizen committee secures the signatures of 5 percent of registered voters, the issue will go on the ballot this November. Only Elgin ISD voters would be eligible to vote in that election. Should the measure pass, Elgin ISD residents would immediately receive the reduced, in-district tuition rate of $42 per credit hour, compared with the out-of-district rate of $150 per hour (effective fall 2010). Elgin ISD homeowners would also begin paying a property tax currently set $0.0946 tax per $100 valuation (with a standard $5,000 homestead exemption plus a $105,000 exemption for seniors and homeowners with disabilities).

The college expects to be able to complete construction of the first phase of an Elgin campus in 2014, if the annexation effort is successful this November.

The existing ACC District includes the Austin, Leander, Manor, Del Valle, and Round Rock school districts, as well as the city of Austin. In addition to Elgin ISD, four other communities in the college’s service area are considering joining the ACC District: Bastrop ISD, McDade ISD, Hays CISD, and San Marcos CISD.