Higher education faces mounting pressure from workforce, environmental, and industry needs—pressures traditional classroom models often fail to address in applied disciplines. This session presents an innovative response: a fully integrated agricultural education and wildlife research campus at East Texas A&M University designed for immersive, hands-on learning. Integrating instruction, public engagement, and a National Laboratory for Gamebird Research, the campus positions landscapes, aviaries, arenas, and laboratories as primary learning environments. Students gain direct experience in animal care, habitat management, and applied research tied to real-world ecological challenges. When budget constraints required a reset, the team prioritized high-impact, mission-driven spaces, creating a phased, resilient framework. Attendees will gain strategies to align campus design with workforce outcomes and extend learning beyond the classroom.