Beginning next fall, up to 100 students enrolled at Austin Community College will be eligible to earn an engineering degree from Texas A&M University College of Engineering. On Monday, ACC President and CEO Richard Rhodes announced the partnership between ACC, Texas A&M University and Chevron Corp.—who will fund the operation of the program—at ACC’s Highland campus, 6101 Airport Blvd., Austin. Following a greeting of “Howdy” and a joke about the rivalry between Texas A&M and his alma mater, The University of Texas, Rhodes donned a Texas A&M shirt and thanked Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp for agreeing to partner with ACC. “This is really about opening the doors of opportunity to children,” he said. Here’s how the Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academy at ACC works: Qualified students will be admitted to the Texas A&M University College of Engineering, take preliminary classes at ACC—some of which will be taught by visiting Texas A&M professors—and finish their engineering degrees in College Station. Students will pay ACC tuition their first two years of school and Texas A&M tuition their final two years of school. For Quintin Williams, a Beaumont, Texas, pre-engineering student in his final semester at ACC, his dream of graduating from a high-ranking school like Texas A&M can now become a reality. “This will mean a whole lot to students here,” he said. The demand for engineers in the workforce is projected to rise to 62,000 in 2022, according to a 2012 report by the President’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology. “We were excited to be contacted by Austin Community College to explore an engineering academy partnership and are pleased now to offer ACC students a unique pathway toward a first-rate degree from an engineering college ranked among the top 10 in the world,” Sharp said. “Our goal is to attract the very best students to Texas A&M Engineering, even if circumstances require them to stay close to home for the first two years of college. These students will be Aggies in Austin from day one.”