Office for Youth Engagement Initiative Expands Through New Texas A&M System Partnership
The Office for Youth Engagement expands LevelUp Texas to three communities, reaching K-8 students and families with early college and career pathways.
A group of Dallas middle school students visit the Texas A&M Engineering Academy to learn about how engineers are involved in robotics and programming including programming and operating robots in movies.
Texas A&M University, Office for Youth Engagement
The Office for Youth Engagement (OYE) is expanding its reach across three Texas communities through new partnership with The Texas A&M University System.
Through the Texas Rural Education Collaborative (TREC), OYE’s youth education initiative LevelUp Texas will expand to serve additional communities in partnership with Texas A&M University-Texarkana, East Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M University-Victoria. The initiative focuses on helping K-8 students and their families explore college and career pathways earlier in their educational journey.
The expansion reflects a coordinated System effort to strengthen the pipeline from early education to postsecondary success, particularly in rural and underserved regions.
“Across The Texas A&M University System, we take seriously our responsibility to serve every part of this state,” said Robert L. Albritton, chairman of the Board of Regents. “That means meeting students where they are and making sure they can see a clear path forward. This work is about access, opportunity and building stronger communities across Texas.”
Established in 2023 by the Office of the Provost, OYE and LevelUp Texas connects students’ interests and strengths to future educational and career pathways through hands-on learning, family engagement and early exposure to college environments.
Currently, LevelUp Texas serves about 35,000 students per year across more than 20 school districts in Dallas, Houston and the Brazos Valley.
“Students can only aspire to what they have seen or heard about,” said Stephanie Burns, director of OYE. “LevelUp Texas represents a powerful way for higher education to partner with schools and communities to bring college and career conversations to students earlier.”
What began as a campus-based initiative is now being scaled across the System through TREC, a place-based model that brings together universities, school districts and community partners to improve long-term student outcomes.
“Students do not suddenly decide their future in high school,” said Glenn Hegar, chancellor of The Texas A&M System. “That sense of possibility starts much earlier. If we want young people to see a path to Texas A&M, we have to show them what that path looks like and how to get there. This effort helps build that pipeline, from early curiosity to real opportunity, and it allows us to reach more students and families across Texas.”
Through this expansion, LevelUp Texas will serve as the early college awareness and readiness component of TREC, complementing broader System efforts to strengthen workforce development and regional economic vitality.
Hiring and regional planning efforts and underway, with programming expected to launch in the coming months.
Learn more about LevelUp Texas.
