Proposed UTEP law school gets $5 million matching grant
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The University of Texas at El Paso is one step closer to making legal education more accessible to the Borderland. The Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation established a $5 million grant to support UTEP's efforts to establish a law school -- a major milestone for local aspiring legal professionals.
Wednesday, UTEP announced the grant will contribute one dollar for every dollar donated by the community. If the full $5 million match is secured, the challenge will generate a combined $10 million in support for law school efforts.
Since UTEP announced its goal of establishing a law school, other El Paso organizations and businesses have donated.
In October 2025, the Paul L. Foster Family Foundation established a $5 million matching challenge similar to the one announced Wednesday. In April, law firm Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro, P.C. committed $5 million. The initiative is halfway toward its $20 million startup funding goal.
UTEP is preparing to present it vision for a law school to the Texas Legislature in 2027. The university's efforts follow a study that the legislature funded in 2023.
Members of the El Paso legislative delegation attended: State Senator Cesar Blanco and State Representatives Joe Moody and Vince Perez.
The study estimated that establishing a law school at UTEP would require $20 million in operating support over 20 years. UTEP proposed the legislature fund the building needed for a law school.
"I think we are closer to having a law school at El Paso than even before, and it's because of the generosity of this community and the leaders of this community who said, ' Alright, we can do more together than anybody of us can do alone,'" said UTEP President Heather Wilson.
If approved, UTEP expects to enroll its first law students in 2030 and increase enrollment to 100 new students annually.
UTEP said a law school would fill a shortage of bilingual lawyers to serve people on both sides of the border. Specialized curricula include a focus on contracts, estates, taxation, imports and exports, customs and immigration and international water law.
Additionally, UTEP plans to make an accelerated degree path that would allow some undergraduates to start law school during their fourth year of college. Long-term plans include an evening Master of Laws program for attorneys trained in Mexico who wish to practice in the U.S.
