Seven UT System Programs among Nation’s Best for Hispanics, Magazine says

AUSTIN – Graduate and professional schools at University of Texas System institutions this year accounted for one-fourth of the top schools in the country for Latinos, according to Hispanic Business magazine.

In its annual guide to the nation’s top graduate and professional schools for Hispanics, which hit newsstands in September, Hispanic Business cited UT System institutions 10 times in its top 10 lists for the best law, medical, business and engineering schools.

“It is always gratifying to be recognized as leaders, and we are proud of our efforts to foster diverse student populations at each of our campuses,” Interim Chancellor Kenneth I. Shine said. “Ultimately, Texas and the rest of the country will benefit as these students graduate and become the doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers and business leaders of tomorrow.”

Two professional programs, UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business and the medical school at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, took the top spot in those respective categories.

Three other UT System health institutions – the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio (No. 4), the UT Health Science Center at Houston (No. 5) and the UT Medical Branch at Galveston (No. 7) – were recognized in the top 10 for their medical schools; and two other UT System institutions – UT El Paso’s College of Business Administration (No. 6) and UT San Antonio’s College of Business (No. 9) – landed on the list of top 10 business schools.

Among the top 10 engineering schools for Hispanics were UT El Paso’s College of Engineering (No. 4) and UT Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering (No. 8). Also, UT Austin’s School of Law was recognized as the No. 7 school in that category.

Besides Hispanic enrollment and percentage of Latino students enrolled, the magazine considered several other factors in compiling its top 10 lists, including outreach, availability of student organizations, academic support and recruitment.

The UT System is one of the nation’s largest higher education systems, with nine academic campuses and six health institutions. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $11.5 billion (FY 2009) including $2.5 billion in research funded by federal, state, local and private sources. Student enrollment exceeded 194,000 in the 2007 academic year. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually. With more than 81,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.