Finalist

The UTEP MBA program is the largest AACSB-Accredited producer Latino MBAs in the country. Over 62% of the students in the program are Latino. Today, the MBA program serves a diverse population of over 400 students from more than 20 countries. The student enrollment has grown by over 60%. Our Latino MBA graduates increased from 27 in 2005 to 78 in 2009. Our MBA students, many of whom are bilingual and bicultural, are now sought after by Fortune 500 companies who are interested in targeting the Latino market and/or further diversifying their workforce. The UTEP MBA program is a catalyst for the professional careers of our students/graduates as well as the economic potential of our region. In addition, the MBA program has become a feeder of PhD students in the International Business PhD program at UTEP (6 Latino MBA graduates are PhD candidates).

Since 1997, the Department has provided summer research opportunities to 25 Latinos until 2010 - two more students are coming in summer 2011. Eleven (11) of them have gone to graduate school to pursue advanced degrees and three (3) went to graduate school. At the graduate level, the Department has seen 20 students entering our Chemistry program; five have obtained the Masters degree and one more is expected this year; 10 have obtained the PhD degree and four (4) more should be granted within the next 2-3 years.  At the graduate level, 12 (10 PhDs and 4 Masters) advanced degrees have been granted since 1999. Five (5) more (one Masters and 4 PhDs) are expected within the next 2-3 yrs. It is important to note that all students who have entered our graduate program have obtained an advanced degree. This is a dramatic contrast to no representation at all in 1993! At the undergraduate level, about 56% (14 out of 25) of the Latino students who participated in the summer experience have gone to advanced careers (11 to grad school, 3 med school).

The UTSA Ph.D. in English is only 10 years old but has a strong record of graduating Latina/o Ph.D. students: of the total 13 doctorates awarded thus far by the program, 54%, were to Latina/o students, and presently 40% of our total of 30 students enrolled are Latina/o. For 2011-2012, 4 students received either a Ford Pre-dissertation Fellowship or honorable mention in one year by a highly competitive forum.   The Doctoral Program in English contributes to the mission and strategic directions of our University by emphasizing Latina/o literatures, including the cultural and literary production of U. S.-based Latina/os, strengthens the University's role as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, and fills a need at the local, state, and national levels. We have placed our graduates in tenure-track jobs in Latina/o studies both in Texas and around the country. Our graduates are already having a significant impact on the field through scholarly publications, conference participation and teaching. In early April, there were no less than four of our Ph.D. graduates who are now assistant professors and presenting papers at the NACCS conference in Pasadena, California.

In Fall 2000, the retention rate for first year students at the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) was 60%. In Fall 2003, it had increased to 65%.  The retention rate for the entire entering freshman cohort has steadily increased since Fall 2000 as follows: Fall 2000 = 60% Fall 2001 = 65% Fall 2002 = 65% Fall 2003 = 65% Fall 2004 = 68% (first year of implementation of UNIV 1301) Fall 2005 = 73% Fall 2006 = 68% Fall 2007 = 72% Fall 2008 = 74% Fall 2009 = 73%. The retention rate for first-time, full-time entering freshmen at UTPA has increased by 12 percentage points since Fall 2000, the greatest increase of all institutions of higher education in Texas. While it would not be accurate to state that all of the increase has been as a result of implementation of UNIV 1301, the data indicates that success of students in this course has contributed significantly to the overall retention rate.