Texas State University regents approved Thursday a more than 22,000-square-foot expansion for the San Marcos campus's LBJ Student Center. The $31 million project will be paid for through Texas State University System revenue bonds, according to a news release. The expansion will include a new main entry lobby, an additional ballroom, an upgraded welcome center with an office suite for alumni relations, conference rooms, meeting spaces, shared spaces for informal student gatherings, study spaces and a new multicultural area. The original LBJ Student Center opened in 1998, when the university enrolled 21,000 students. In fall 2017, 38,694 students had enrolled, and the university saw its largest freshman class ever. Last fall, regents approved a 10-year master plan based on a 1.5 percent annual undergraduate student growth and a 3 percent annual graduate student growth. The master plan includes an additional 1.25 million square feet of academic space, 500 new beds, 200 new dining seats and 2,000 new parking spaces in the coming years. The board of regents approved the design of the building's expansion at its quarterly meeting in Beaumont. The news release said construction would begin this spring and be substantially completed in two years.