We’re no strangers to the task.

In 1966, UTEP– then named Texas Western College – changed the face of collegiate athletics.  An upstart squad of five African-American players beat Kentucky to win the NCAA basketball championship, breaking the color barrier in college sports. This historical event is depicted in the Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer movie, “Glory Road,” which is to premiere in early 2006.

Today, UTEP continues to break barriers while changing the face of higher education. As a major research university located in the heart of the U.S.-Mexico border, nearly 72 percent of our student body is Hispanic, and another 10 percent are Mexican nationals. The majority are first-generation college students.

We rank third in the nation in awarding undergraduate degrees to Hispanics, and we have been named the top graduate engineering school for Hispanics in the nation. We are the country’s only doctoral research intensive university with a student body that’s predominantly Mexican-American.

UTEP embraces this as our mission – providing access and excellence in higher education.

For many of our students, the road to glory starts here