Texas State Technical College is building a new campus in Seguin to train more manufacturing workers for a region where factories can't hire fast enough. The future main campus will sit on 133 acres at the intersection of Highway 46 and Cordova Road, and it's expected to offer instruction in advanced manufacturing, industrial studies, transportation, construction, healthcare, and digital information and cybersecurity.
The push traces back to a legislative fix passed during the 88th Legislature. Texas House Bill 4997, signed into law in 2023, authorized TSTC officials to operate between Comal and Guadalupe counties and allowed the college to provide programming without first waiting on a local community college district to pass on the opportunity, according to Community Impact. Before that change, state law gave districts like Alamo Colleges right of first refusal over new technical programs in their territory, a barrier the Seguin Economic Development Corporation says had kept TSTC out of the area.
Seguin's director of economic development, Alora Wachholz, said TSTC would not have been eligible to operate near the New Braunfels airport or build a future Seguin campus without the collaborative work that went into passing the bill, per the same account from Community Impact. Wachholz also said campus construction is expected to begin within the next couple of years, though the timeline depends on funding availability.
A 133-Acre Deal Years in the Making
The Seguin Economic Development Corporation and TSTC acquired the 133-acre tract at Highway 46 and Cordova Road in August 2025. Community Impact reports the purchase price at $7.4 million, while the Seguin Gazette has reported the acquisition at approximately $8.2 million; both accounts agree the land came from the Urban family, who had owned the agricultural parcel for generations. The economic development corporation will convey the property to TSTC around the time construction begins, per the same Community Impact report.
Once built, the new campus will consist of flexible manufacturing space spread across a multi-building layout. TSTC New Braunfels campus provost Mike Anderson said the campus will look like the job itself, according to Community Impact's report — a design philosophy meant to mirror the shop floors and production lines graduates will eventually work on.
Why Manufacturers Are Watching Closely
The manufacturing industry in the region has seen increased demand for workers, and the new campus will expand access to technical training benefiting manufacturers throughout the area, including New Braunfels, Community Impact reports. That demand isn't just local color. The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte reported that up to 3.8 million additional manufacturing employees could be needed nationwide between 2024 and 2033, per their 2024 report cited by Community Impact.
One of the region's biggest employers, Aumovio — previously known as Continental Autonomous Mobility U.S. — is expanding its New Braunfels manufacturing facility by 65,000 square feet. The expansion followed approval of two Chapter 380 economic incentive agreements from the city and its economic development corporation. Michele Boggs, senior vice president of economic development for the Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, has been tracking the growth alongside the campus plans, according to Community Impact.
Building on an Existing Track Record
TSTC's New Braunfels campus didn't start from scratch. It began operating through the Texas Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education program, known as TX FAME, whose Lone Star Chapter launched its inaugural cohort in August 2023 at the Central Texas Technology Center. The Seguin Today reported that the program's first 10 students graduated in May 2025 with Associate of Applied Science degrees in Advanced Manufacturing Technology, backed by employer sponsors including Caterpillar, CMC Steel Texas, Alamo Group Inc., Cavco Homes, Continental/Aumovio, H-E-B and Republic Plastics.
TSTC also broadened its interim course lineup at the Central Texas Technology Center on FM 758 in September 2024, adding certificate programs in Structural Welding and Industrial Systems Mechanic with an electrical specialization, according to the Seguin Economic Development Corporation. The welding classes reportedly drew 45 students in their first week. More recently, TSTC's New Braunfels campus and the TX FAME Lone Star Chapter earned national recognition as a top-quality assurance-accredited chapter at the FAME National Conference in Jacksonville, Florida in July 2026, according to Texas State Technical College.
A Funding Model Built on Wages, Not Property Taxes
Unlike traditional community colleges, TSTC receives no local property tax revenue. Instead it operates under a 100% outcomes-based “returned value” funding model established by the Texas Legislature in 2013, which ties state operating appropriations directly to five-year post-graduation wage growth tracked by the Texas Workforce Commission, according to the Cicero Institute. That structure helps explain why Seguin's economic development corporation, rather than a local tax base, is fronting land purchases for the new campus.
The stakes extend beyond one campus. A February 2025 workforce report by policy organization Texas 2036 found that 54% of Texas jobs require postsecondary education or technical credentials, while only 45% of Texas workers currently hold those qualifications. The same report noted that TSTC's lack of property tax support requires non-traditional capital financing strategies, a gap the Seguin land deal and similar local partnerships are meant to help close.
Regional Growth Reshapes the Corridor
The Highway 46 corridor connecting Seguin and New Braunfels has been reshaping fast. Seguin's population reached approximately 38,789 residents by July 2024, a 7.4% year-over-year growth rate, alongside a housing pipeline of more than 17,000 planned residential units across 27 subdivisions, per the Seguin Economic Development Corporation.
Other higher-education players are shifting too. Northeast Lakeview College, part of the Alamo Colleges District, is opening its own campus on Sundance Parkway in New Braunfels this fall, leaving behind the shared Central Texas Technology Center facility where TSTC first got its footing, according to Community Impact Newspaper's earlier reporting. Statewide, voters and lawmakers evaluated an $850 million funding proposition in late 2025 aimed at modernizing facilities, labs and equipment across TSTC's 11 campuses, per the Seguin Gazette — a broader capital push that could eventually touch the Seguin project as it moves from land acquisition toward construction.
