2- Pictured on the top right: South Texas College President Dr. Shirley A. Reed and the President of the Instituto Internacional de Estudios Superiores of Reynosa, Rosendo Martínez signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Feb. 7 at STC’s Pecan Campus in McAllen.
3- Pictured on the bottom right: A delegation from the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de San Pedro de las Colonias of the Mexican state of Coahuila visited South Texas College on March 5 and toured the Technology Campus in McAllen. STC Dean of the Division of Business Technology Mario Reyna, right, talks to Universidad Tecnológica de Coahuila President Raúl Martínez Hernández about STC’s Diesel Technology Department.
Texas Border Business
After the South Texas College Board of Trustees approved the reduction of tuition rates for international students, STC began the next step in the process by laying the foundation to achieve its institutional goals of educational attainment, but on a global scale.
“We’re more than willing to work with our neighbors and at the same time let them know that our tuition and fees have been reduced greatly to help improve the well-being of everybody,” said STC Dean of Business and Technology Mario Reyna. “We’re working with international institutions to continue the development of activities of the work force that contribute to a better quality of life for the people in this region, on both sides of the border.”
STC’s new international (non-resident) student rates will go into effect for the 2014-15 academic year. Costs per credit hour depend on the amount of credit hours taken. For example, a full-time international or non-resident student that registers for 12 credit hours in fall 2014 will pay $1,260 instead of the current 2013-14 tuition rate of $2,424, a decrease of almost 50 percent.
“The tuition was also lowered so that it would be more economical for the students to attend STC,” Reyna said. “We believe that having an education where you have dual degrees will be beneficial for citizens of any nation, and we want to be a part of that process.”
“The cultural exchange is going to be significant too because when you have students from various countries as part of your student body, it just helps the learning process,” he added. “It helps expose people to different ways of thinking.”
As a necessary next step in the process of opening the doors to more international students, STC hosted delegations from the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de San Pedro de las Colonias of the Mexican state of Coahuila on March 5 at the Technology Campus and McAllen’s sister city of Irapuato, Mexico, on March 6 at the Nursing and Allied Health Campus.
The delegation from Coahuila expressed the need for more students qualified in technical areas to take advantage of the opportunities that will result from the recent energy reform in Mexico, while Irapuato now has a nursing school that could benefit from a partnership with STC.
“It opens up a lot of prospects for our young people to prepare themselves and be successful in their lives,” said San Pedro de las Colinas Mayor Juan González. “The energy reform is going to give us cheaper energy, but we have to have qualified people to do the work and improve the quality of life of our community.”
Last month, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Feb. 7 between STC and the Instituto Internacional de Estudios Superiores in Reynosa. The MOU commits both institutions to support joint projects, cultural and academic exchanges, exchange of information, experts, instructional materials and other elements considered necessary to reinforce one another’s respective educational capabilities.
“STC and the IIES have found in one another the same level of commitment to our communities,” said IIES President Rosendo Martínez. “We’re thinking about the impact each institution can have on our students if we work together.”
For more information about STC’s non-resident and/or international student tuition rates, call (956) 872-6116. TBB
