Big changes are coming to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg.

The university is making plans to build a new residence hall. They say it's to give students more options for on-campus housing.

With the addition of a marching band, a drill team and new programs in the athletic department, this new residence is for new students that UTRGV expects to add in the coming years.

It is the first new university residence hall on the UTRGV campus in Edinburg in the past 20 years. At the beginning of May, the UTRGV Board of Directors approved the construction of the hall.

According to UTRGV Student Affairs Vice President Maggie Hinojosa, the new residence will help with the increased demand of providing rooms for students who want and need to live on campus.

"When a student is right there, can go to the library, go to class, they don't have to worry about driving to campus and parking it makes a difference not just being involved outside the classroom but more importantly what is happening from an academic perspective," Hinojosa said.

The new residence will have five floors, 550 beds and a new university dining room with a capacity of 500 students.

There will be options for one or two bedrooms, study rooms and rooms specifically for community activities.

Once the new hall is built, UTRGV in Edinburg and Brownsville will have more than 1,700 rooms available for students.

Construction for the new residence hall is expected to start in July.