UTEP Awards Scholarships to Students in Chihuahua
UTEP has awarded $20,000 scholarships to two incoming freshmen from Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico. These scholarships, which are funded by multiple donations and endowments, will help the students pursue their academic careers at UTEP, about four-and-a-half hours from their hometown.
“One of our most important priorities for the 2022-23 academic year has been to raise awareness about the admissions process and academic scholarship requirements for students in northern Mexico,” said Dania Brandford-Calvo, Ph.D., associate dean of students for international student and scholar global initiatives. “Through in-person visits, virtual information sessions and recruitment fairs, this year UTEP has been able to increase the number of Mexican students benefiting from some kind of scholarship.”
In addition to the scholarships awarded to students from Chihuahua, in 2023, UTEP awarded 113 scholarships in Mexico worth a total of $304,143.
Luis Campos Avalos and Priscila Garnica, both future engineers, each received a scholarship to help cover the cost of tuition and room and board at UTEP. In addition, nine students from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, received UTEP scholarships of various amounts. These students were honored at a scholar’s lunch, which was held in both English and Spanish, on June 2, 2023.
Avalos, who hopes to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, is honored to have been chosen as a scholarship recipient.
“I used to believe that studying in the United States, as a Mexican student, was unachievable,” Avalos said. “However, my expectations changed when UTEP's team came to a college fair at my high school. At a conference, I got to know the University better, immediately falling in love with it. I found out about the variety of scholarships that UTEP has to offer.”
As a future aerospace engineering major, Avalos is also excited to attend a university that has partnerships with organizations like NASA, which will help him make connections and gain experience in the industry.
Garnica, who plans to major in mechanical engineering, is grateful for the opportunities she’ll receive as a UTEP student.
“I feel very happy and proud of myself and all of the people who supported me to make this possible, but mostly I feel grateful for the opportunity that I was given so I can pursue an [academic] career at UTEP,” Garnica said. “What excites me is all the new experiences I can have at UTEP and the people I'm going to meet.”
To be considered for the scholarship for students from Chihuahua, high school seniors must be ranked in the top 10 at their schools, have a GPA between 9.0 and 10.0 (according to the Mexican grading system) and write an academic essay.
UTEP is ranked No. 2 in the U.S. for the number of Mexican nationals enrolled as undergraduates, according to an Open Doors survey.
“UTEP is very happy to welcome them,” said German Lopez Sanchez, manager of international student recruitment with the Office of International Programs and Study Abroad. “We think it is very special to have students from Chihuahua City.”
For more information about international student recruitment, please visit www.utep.edu/student-affairs/oipsa/.
Last Updated on July 19, 2023 at 12:00 AM | Originally published July 19, 2023
By Julia Hettiger UTEP Marketing and Communications
