Admissions & selectivity
The University of Texas at El Paso Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at UTEP?
UTEP’s reported acceptance rate is 99.9%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 99.9%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
The University of Texas at El Paso admitted 99.9% of applicants. The median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size) sits well below that figure.
What SAT and ACT scores do UTEP students report?
Enrolled students who submitted SAT scores at The University of Texas at El Paso show a middle-half range from 860 to 1,080. Among those who submitted ACT scores, the middle half falls between 17 and 22.
These figures describe the enrolled class, not a set of minimum requirements. Applicants can look to the 860 and 1,080 SAT range, or the 17 and 22 ACT range, as a benchmark for the academic profile of recent entering students.
The university admits nearly all applicants, so the score ranges reflect who chooses to enroll rather than a threshold for entry.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at UTEP. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
- Approximate lower endpoint
- 860
- Approximate upper endpoint
- 1080
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.
- 25th percentile
- 17
- 75th percentile
- 22
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at UTEP?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 61.6%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 43.2%
- First-year retention
- 78.9%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
The University of Texas at El Paso admits 99.9% of applicants, a rate that reflects its broad-access mission. For context, the median admission rate is 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
Pell Grants reach 61.6% of undergraduates, and an estimated 43.2% of students enter as transfers or part-time students. The university enrolled 21,005 undergraduates, a composition that suggests a broad-access institution serving many students who begin elsewhere.
Pell-eligible and transfer applicants should confirm how their credits align with their intended major. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 2,350 degree-seeking transfer applicants, admitted 2,219, and enrolled 1,593.
The first-year retention rate is 78.9%, and the six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 50.2%. Both sit below the peer medians of 83.1% and 65.0% for comparable institutions.
The Pell completion rate is 42.9%, which is below the overall rate by 7.3 percentage points. Enrolled students can expect an institution where many peers balance work and family responsibilities alongside coursework, and where finishing a degree often takes longer than the traditional timeline.
The university's strongest is mobility, and its outcomes reflect a student body that starts further from the finish line.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.