UTEP Again Ranked a Top Ten University in 2014 by Washington Monthly
August 26, 2014
Photo courtesy of UTEP.
#1 for Third Consecutive Year in Social Mobility Category
The University of Texas at El Paso is ranked among Washington Monthly magazine's Top 10 national universities in 2014, for the second consecutive year.
This 2014 ranking places UTEP in the company of Stanford, the University of California-Berkeley, Texas A&M, the University of Washington-Seattle and Harvard, and validates UTEP's continued success in blazing a unique trail in higher education, achieving its commitment to both access and excellence.
Most impressively, for a third consecutive year, UTEP was ranked #1 among all U.S. universities in Washington Monthly's social mobility category, which seeks to measure universities' success in outperforming predictions for the graduation of first-generation and low-income students.
More than 60% of UTEP graduates are the first in their families to earn a bachelor's degree, and one-third report a family income of $20,000 or less. UTEP's success in recruiting, retaining and graduating these students demonstrates that talent crosses gender, ethnic and socioeconomic boundaries, and that an investment in a UTEP degree yields high returns, both for students from a broad range of backgrounds and U.S. global competitiveness in the 21st century.
"UTEP's success in achieving both affordability and high quality in our unique border setting requires a deep commitment by all UTEP faculty and staff, and the support of UTEP's alumni and friends," said UTEP President Diana Natalicio. "That commitment ensures that students who aspire to achieve the American Dream have not only the opportunity to pursue it, but to participate in enriched educational experiences that will prepare them upon graduation to compete successfully with their peers from across the globe."
Washington Monthly magazine rates schools based on their contribution to the public in three broad categories: social mobility, research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and doctoral graduates) and service (encouraging students to give something back to their region and nation).
"All of us at UTEP are very proud of our 2014 ranking in Washington Monthly," President Natalicio continued. "UTEP continues to be ranked among the Top 10 universities nationally, and we captured the #1 spot in social mobility for a third year in succession. We have stayed true to our mission of access, affordability and excellence, and we are energized by our transformational role in the lives of our graduates and their families, and in the human and economic development of the U.S.-Mexico border region we serve."
UTEP offers 70 bachelor's, 76 master's and 20 doctoral degree programs. The University currently ranks as the largest producer of Mexican-American STEM graduates in the nation, third among all U.S. universities in awarding bachelor's degrees to Hispanics, and among the top 10 in preparing Hispanic students for success in completing doctoral degrees. It also is the No. 1 producer of female doctoral degree recipients in engineering. UTEP's Law School Preparation Institute and premed program send a large number of graduates to top law and medical schools, and UTEP graduates are competitively recruited by major employers across the globe.
UTEP boasts the lowest net price among all research universities in the U.S. and holds its own among institutions that historically have been placed at the top of traditional college rankings. UTEP not only redefines public higher education regionally and throughout Texas; with these top rankings, UTEP can confidently say its impact is strongly validated across the nation.
