Once again, it looks as though Dallas County will have to wait a little longer for its own first public four-year university.

University of North Texas officials are recommending that their Dallas campus not become a free-standing institution, independent of the main Denton campus, until fall 2010.

UNT’s Board of Regents is expected to approve the delay when it meets Thursday. It would be the second delay in three years.

The first time around, UNT officials pushed the opening date back from 2007 to 2009 because fewer students than was expected enrolled.

Now, officials say they want an extra year just to get everything in order, including the hiring of more professors and addition of more degree programs.

“We simply need time to get all of the things done that have to be done,” said John Ellis Price, UNT Dallas’ vice provost.

The Dallas campus opened its first permanent building last year in southeast Oak Cliff. Current enrollment stands at 766 full-time students.

The campus needs to hit the 1,000 mark to become independent and offer its own degrees. School leaders say they expect to hit that enrollment target this fall.

Still, some higher-education experts question the push for new colleges that are smaller than many secondary schools.

“Building a new campus ought to be a last resort rather than a first resort because it’s so expensive,” said Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonprofit group in California.

Running that new campus isn’t cheap, either, especially when it’s tiny.

Think economies of scale: No matter the size, every college needs a president, an admissions office, a registrar, a bookstore and a health clinic.

Administrative costs alone run nearly twice as high at smaller campuses, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: $2,600 per student at small campuses versus $1,400 for larger ones.

The coordinating board recommends that campuses enroll 3,500 full-time students for four years before they become independent.

But the Legislature has the final say, and State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has successfully pushed to lower the threshold for UNT Dallas twice.

Other lawmakers have successfully backed the same enrollment breaks for Texas A&M satellite campuses in San Antonio and Killeen.

Meanwhile, the coordinating board plans to review its rules for new campuses this year.

“If the Legislature doesn’t like the policy, it would be much better to tell the coordinating board to review it,” Callan said. “But just to make exceptions based on local political interest — at the end of the day you’re not going to have a very cost-effective higher education system.”

Many Dallas civic leaders and lawmakers have supported UNT’s efforts to open a campus in Dallas — especially in an area with many minority residents and low college enrollment rates.

UNT Dallas has taken several steps to boost enrollment. While students at the Denton campus will pay more tuition next year, Dallas campus students won’t — officials figured the stable price would help it grow.

The school is also offering scholarships of up to $2,500 to eligible students who take a full load of daytime classes.

“I think they’re showing great wisdom in realizing you can’t just open a campus overnight,” said David Gardner, a deputy commissioner at the coordinating board. “They want to do it the right way, obviously.”

UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson said the Dallas campus is in a good situation, with enrollment rising each year.

A state plan called “Closing the Gaps” calls for enrolling an extra 630,000 college students, including more minorities, by 2015.

“We are really helping the state of Texas close the gaps,” he said, “and that’s more important than the year we run the flag up the flagpole.”