Texas A&M Business School Receives Record Gift for New Building

• The Texas A&M Mays Business School landed a $25 million donation to support the construction of a new graduate education building.
• The gift from the Mays Family Foundation is the largest in school history.
• The Mays Business School is aiming to become the nation's preeminent public business school.
• The new building will support increased enrollment and support online master of business administration (MBA) programs.

Texas A&M University wants its Mays Business School to be the best public business school in the country — and a record donation is set to help make that dream a reality.

A record $25 million gift from the Mays Family Foundation will support a new graduate education building in the business school complex, according to a press release.

Having a building dedicated specifically to excellence in graduate education showcases our school's commitment to recruiting the best and brightest graduate students and developing leaders of character who exemplify the Aggie Core Values throughout their careers, Mays Dean Nate Sharp said in the press release.

The new, 82,500-square-foot building will boost the number of graduate enrollments at the school, as well as support Mays' Flex Online master's programs and its new master of business administration (MBA) in engineering program.

The Mays Business School is at the forefront of emerging trends in business education: A growing number of business schools have adopted flexible, online programs, as well as STEM-oriented programs in areas like engineering.

Texas A&M will launch an online MBA program this year, which will be mostly asynchronous and is geared toward working professionals.

The school already offers MBA programs in high-demand tech areas — such as its combined full-time MBA and master of science in analytics program.

The gift is from the Mays Family Foundation. That foundation was created by Lowry Mays, a businessman and school alum who died in 2022, and his wife, Peggy.

Our foundation has a history of using philanthropy as a source of capital to fund projects for all types of nonprofits to generate free cash flow in support of their mission, Mays Family Foundation Chair Kathy Mays Johnson said in the release.

This is a perfect example of that strategy, so it is fitting that the Mays name will be associated with this project, which will be a tipping point for the Mays Business Education Complex.

Business School Building Frenzy

The Mays Business School joins a number of other business schools in revamping, modernizing, or constructing new business buildings.

Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business is also constructing a new building to help accommodate its rapid growth — including a 50% increase in MBA students, a 41% increase in faculty, and a new undergraduate business degree.

The 112,000-square-foot building will feature state-of-the-art classrooms, modern office spaces, and amenities for students.

This new building truly embodies the ambitious spirit of Rice Business, playing a pivotal role as we continue to grow our reputation as a preeminent business program, Rice Business School Dean Peter Rodriguez said in a release.

Giving us additional space to foster an environment of innovation through our classrooms, resources, and course offerings sustains our commitment to attracting talented students and faculty.

Purdue University's Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business recently received $50 million from the Lilly Endowment to help construct a new, 164,000-square-foot building. That building will help accommodate the rapidly expanding school, Dean James Bullard previously told BestColleges.

A common theme in new business schools, in addition to accommodating growing enrollment, is an emphasis on tech and other relevant skill sets.

Western Kentucky University in 2023 broke ground on a 113,000-square-foot home for its Gordon Ford College of Business. That new facility will feature a virtual reality lab, Bloomberg terminals, and a financial success center.

North Carolina Central University, a historically Black university in Durham, opened a $38 million business school building with facilities equipped for artificial intelligence and cybersecurity last year.

That emphasis on tech skills is seen in new buildings constructed across the higher education landscape — from major public institutions like Texas A&M to prestigious private universities like Rice, as well as smaller, regional schools like North Carolina Central University.

The importance of tech skills reflects widespread student demand.