EL PASO, Texas — Mining engineering is coming back to the University of Texas at El Paso, a school that started out as a mining college, and the university now has $1 million in federal money to help do it.
The U.S. Department of Energy picked UTEP as one of 16 universities chosen nationwide for its PROSPECT Planning Prize, an award that is part of a federal push to rebuild the workforce that finds and produces critical minerals. The school plans to restart its undergraduate mining engineering degree in fall 2027, and it is already taking applications for the first class.
When the program opens, it will be the only one of its kind in Texas. UTEP expects it to turn out as many as 100 mining engineers a year once it is fully running, with starting pay for graduates projected at $100,000 or more. Federal energy officials figure the country needs about 6,000 new mining engineers over 10 years.
UTEP President Heather Wilson said the nation has leaned on other countries for minerals that go into everything from phones to power lines to fighter jets, and that the university wants to help change that. Engineering dean Kenith Meissner said industry partners should make it possible to offer close to $3 million a year in mining scholarships at full capacity, on top of other aid and housing help.
The degree is a return to the university roots. UTEP first opened its doors in 1913, under the name State School of Mines and Metallurgy. It stopped offering mining engineering in 1964 and graduated its last mining engineer in 1968.
State higher education regulators, through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, have signed off on the new bachelor degree, as has the regional accrediting commission for Southern colleges.
Section: More El Paso TX education news
Filed under: El Paso TX Education News
