Skip to main content

UTEP Ranked Among Top Schools for Hispanics

Last Updated on August 29, 2019 at 12:00 AM

Originally published August 29, 2019

By UC Staff

UTEP Communications

The University of Texas at El Paso is ranked highly in four categories of a national publication’s list of top colleges and universities for Hispanics.

UTEP was ranked No. 5 for total Hispanic enrollment among four-year schools and No. 8 for total Hispanic graduate degrees granted by Hispanic Outlook on Education, a monthly magazine that presents a Hispanic perspective on education news. Photo: UTEP Communications
UTEP was ranked No. 5 for total Hispanic enrollment among four-year schools and No. 8 for total Hispanic graduate degrees granted by Hispanic Outlook on Education, a monthly magazine that presents a Hispanic perspective on education news. The University also was ranked in the top 10 for the number of degrees awarded to Hispanic students in two majors: bilingual, multilingual or multicultural education (No. 1), and parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies (No. 9). Photo: UTEP Communications

The Hispanic Outlook on Education, a monthly magazine that presents a Hispanic perspective on education news, published its annual Top 100 Colleges and Universities for Hispanics rankings Aug. 26, 2019.

UTEP was ranked No. 5 for total Hispanic enrollment among four-year schools and No. 8 for total Hispanic graduate degrees granted.

The University also was ranked in the top 10 for the number of degrees awarded to Hispanic students in two majors: bilingual, multilingual or multicultural education (No. 1), and parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies (No. 9).

“Serving Latino students is central to all that we do as a regional university, and rankings such as these recently announced by the Hispanic Outlook on Education magazine give us great pride,” said Gary Edens, Ed.D., UTEP’s vice president for student affairs. “More importantly, they reaffirm our commitment to serving all students with a dream of pursuing a higher education.”

Hispanic students made up 80 percent of UTEP’s enrollment in 2017, the year on which the rankings were based. Of the 25,078 students who enrolled at UTEP that year, 20,108 were Hispanic.

In December 2018, UTEP became one of two predominately Hispanic universities in the United States to receive the R1 designation by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

The Hispanic Outlook on Education rankings were based on 2017 data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

“It’s wonderful to see the continuing growth in UTEP’s enrollment and academic excellence,” Edens said. “Our recent recognition as a top tier R1 university is strong validation that UTEP’s mission of access and excellence is working and can serve as a model for other institutions across the United States.”

Stephen Crites, Ph.D., dean of the UTEP Graduate School, said research illustrates that diversity is critical for making scientific, cultural and civic advances. 

“Our integration and knowledge of the Latinx community in El Paso allows us to take a leading role in driving innovation as evident by our recognition as a top research university in the country according to the Carnegie Classification system,” he said. “More importantly, our close ties with the Latinx community help us to provide our students with the training and skills that will allow them to enter the workforce and make meaningful contributions to our region and society. The diversity and experiences that they take with them as graduates will be vital in helping to make important advances in the future.”

UTEP awarded 1,164 graduate degrees in 2017. Of those, 700 degrees, or 60 percent, went to Hispanic students.