UTEP enrollment almost back to pre-pandemic levels, university says

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- UTEP is celebrating record enrollment for the third year in a row. A spokesperson explained that the number of first-time, freshman students this semester is 3,918, a new record. That is a 2% jump over last year's number.

The total number of UTEP students just crossed 25,000, while the number of engineering students just passed 5,000 and the number of people enrolled in a doctoral program just reached an all-time high of 918, too.

The last time the university passed the 25,000 student mark was before the pandemic, the spokesperson explained Thursday afternoon.

"The University has also seen a boost in persistence – the percentage of students who continue their studies from one semester to the next," the spokesperson explained in a news release Thursday. "Undergraduate spring-to-fall persistence is up 1.4% from last year, reaching 85.7%. This figure is an all time high for the institution."

The university credits its jump in enrollment to the engineering college, which just enrolled 8% more students this year than it did last year. This is the first semester that engineering enrollment has surpassed 5,000, UTEP says.

UTEP also says there are 17% more students pursuing a Master's Degree this year than there were in Fall 2023.