The University of Texas at El Paso was founded in 1914, and has been a leader in higher education ever since. Amongst other achievements, the University of Texas at El Paso has been known for breaking color barriers and embracing minorities. In 1966, when the school was still named Texas Western College, the university took a groundbreaking step in collegiate athletics when it started five African-American players in the NCAA basketball championship game - a story that was recently adapted to the screen in the 2006 movie, "Glory Road."

That's not all either. Currently, the University of Texas at El Paso is the nation's only major research university to have a predominantly Mexican-American student body. In fact, 72 percent of students are Hispanic, while 10 percent are Mexican nationals. The University of Texas at El Paso's College of Engineering has been declared the top graduate engineering school for Hispanics, while the university is third in the nation for awarding Hispanics with undergraduate degrees.