A new dimension in graduate education came in 1968 with the establishment of the Federation of North Texas Area Universities. With the guidance of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the federation was founded to expand and enrich the variety of graduate degrees available to residents of the area by sharing the resources of the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University at Denton, and Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Master's and doctoral degree programs have been developed that permit students at one of the three participating institutions to complete a portion of their graduate work at either or both of the other two, although a single institution grants the degree. The University of North Texas grants eight master's and seven doctoral degrees that are part of the federation consortium. In addition, 16 program committees have been formed to encourage cooperative activities between the participating universities.