The following sections on freshman admission apply to citizens and permanent  residents of the United States. International students should refer to the section on INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ADMISSION for their admission requirements.

First-time freshmen applicants may qualify for automatic admission, may be subject to review,or, in certain cases, may qualify for provisional admission.

Documents Required:

1. UTEP application
2. official SAT, ACT, GED, TOEFL, or PAA scores, as appropriate
3. final, official high school transcript indicating adequate high school preparation, rank, and graduation date.

Tests:

1. Graduates of U. S. High Schools: All first-time freshmen who graduated from high school within the past five years are required to take the SAT of ACT for admission.
2. Freshmen who graduated from U.S. high schools over five years ago are not required to take an admissions test. 

Applicants who received a high school equivalency certificate are eligible for admission if they have an average standard score of 45 or higher on the GED. A minimum SAT score of 920 or a minimum ACT score of 20 is required of applicants whose high school class would have graduated within the past 5 years and who pass the English version of the GED. All applicants passing the Spanish version of the GED must submit scores of 1,000 or higher on the PAA. Applicants who meet the Spanish GED and PAA requirements are admitted into the bilingual Inter-American Science and Humanities Program.

Category I: Freshmen who rank in the top half of their class or who score a minimum of 920 on the SAT or a 20 composite on the ACT are automatically admitted to UTEP upon application and submission of the appropriate admission documents. This policy includes admission of graduates of an accredited Texas high school who graduated in the top 25% of their high school class, as described in Chapter 51 of the Texas Education Code.

Category II: Freshman applicants who are residents of Texas and who do not qualify under Category I are eligible for participation in the START Program described below.

Reviewed Admission

Documents Required: Application; academic documents available; test scores, if applicable; letter of petition, if requested.

Freshmen applicants who do not meet the requirements for automatic admission, for admission into the START Program or whose individual circumstances are highly unusual with respect to their academic credentials will be reviewed on an individual basis. This review gives primary consideration to the applicant's high school, with regard to the types of courses taken and the grades earned in specific courses. Performance on standardized tests is also considered. Applicants may submit additional material for consideration in evaluating their potential for success at UTEP. Such material can document, for example, the applicant's work experiences and achievements, extracurricular and community activities, strengths and talents that might not be apparent from the academic record, and experiences in surmounting obstacles to their further pursuit of higher education. Letters of recommendation from high school teachers, counselors, supervisors, and activity leaders are also appropriate.

The decision resulting from the individual review of each application will be one of the following:

1. to approve admission without condition, or
2. to approve conditional admission, which requires students to take preliminary or concurrent course work to strengthen their academic foundation in preparation for the regular UTEP curriculum, or
3. to deny admission.

Residents of Texas who do not meet the requirements for Category I admission are eligible for provisional admission through the University's START Program. START students must attend Orientation, must be advised by the Academic Advising Center, must select their classes from a list of prescribed university courses, and must take a free, non-credit study skills course.

During the first semester at UTEP, a START student must complete at least 9 semester hours with a minimum grade of C in each course selected from at least two of the following areas: English, Mathematics, Natural Science, Foreign Language, or Liberal Arts (Anthropology, Art, Communication, History, Music, Psychology, Sociology, or Theatre Arts). A minimum cumulativegrade point average of 2.0 must also be maintained. Once these requirements have been met, the student becomes fully admitted to the University and may change majors.

If the student does not clear provisional admission during the first semester but has at least a 1.5 overall GPA, an additional START semester will be allowed to clear the conditions of admission.

Students who do not satisfy the conditions of their provisional admission have two options if they wish to re-enroll at UTEP:

1. apply for readmission and reinstatement by the Dean of Liberal Arts after at least 2 calendar years have elapsed since the end of the last period of attendance, or
2. apply for readmission after attending another college or university where a minimum of 12 semester hours of college -level work with grades of "C" or better in each course were earned while a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA was maintained.

Under extenuating circumstances, an ineligible START student may petition for reinstatement through the Academic Advising Center.