Area Near Ellington Airport On The Short List

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University has reportedly narrowed its list of potential sites for a third residential campus to two, with one of them being a location near Houston's Ellington Airport (KEFD).

ERAU President John Johnson will tour the Ellington area Tuesday, according to the Houston Chronicle. Houston Airport System director Mario Diaz told the paper that the university would be a "real benefit" to the city. Economic development leaders said they would be "extremely aggressive" in selling the Houston area to the school.

ERAU's main campus in Daytona, FL, has about 5,000 students, while its Prescott, AZ campus adds 1,700 to the school's roster. It also has agreements for instruction at more than 170 other educational institutions in the U.S. and abroad with a total enrollment of over 34,000, according to its website.

EARU's central region dean Mark Friend told the Chronicle that it has outgrown its two existing campuses, and is actively seeking a site for the third. The other site under consideration is in Rockford, IL, northwest of Chicago.

The school's plans call for a 60,000 square foot academic center with classrooms, labs and housing as well as a hangar. ERAU officials say the new campus could expect to be home to 1,000 to 2,000 students within five years.

FMI: www.fly2houston.com/EllingtonHome, www.erau.edu