Private for-profit · Community college
Southwest University at El Paso
El Paso, Texas · Large city
- 0%
- Transfer rate
- $16,906
- Avg net price
- 59%
- Grad / completion
- $29,648
- Median earnings
Southwest University at El Paso is a private for-profit associate-granting institution in El Paso, Texas (large city setting), enrolling 2,073 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.
About El Paso, Texas
El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The El Paso region has had human settlement for thousands of years, as evidenced by Folsom points from hunter-gatherers found at Hueco Tanks. This suggests 10,000 to 12,000 years of human habitation. The earliest known cultures in the region were maize farmers. The culture of El Paso, Texas is influenced heavily by the mixing of American and Mexican cultures, due to the city's position on the U.S. Mexico border, its large Chicano population, and its history as part of Hispanic America and Mexico. (Wikipedia)
- Setting
- Large city
- Highest degree offered
- Bachelor's
- Nearest big city
- 5 miles to El Paso, TX
- To the ocean
- 365 miles
- Nearest airport
- 3 miles to El Paso (ELP) · major hub
How Southwest University at El Paso compares
Higher than 48% · #143 of 253 in Texas
Higher than 31%
Higher than 30% · #134 of 206 in Texas
Cheaper than 44% · #115 cheapest of 252 in Texas
Lower than 6%
Lower than 29%
Larger than 82%
Percentiles compare Southwest University at El Paso with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in Texas.
Student body
Undergraduate vs. graduate
- Undergraduate2,07397%
- Graduate573%
Undergraduates by gender
- Women1,25060%
- Men82340%
Undergraduates by race / ethnicity
- White6.4%
- Black6.3%
- Hispanic87%
- Asian0.7%
Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.
By the numbers
- Undergraduate enrollment
- 2,073
- Graduate enrollment
- 57
- Student–faculty ratio
- 20 : 1
- Pell Grant recipients
- 82%
- First-generation students
- 51%
- Students over 25
- 59%
- Median family income
- $16,246
- Avg faculty salary (academic year)
- $35,640
Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.
Cost
- In-state tuition
- $16,000
- Room & board
- —
- Books & supplies
- $1,400
- Total cost of attendance
- $23,987
- Average net price
- $16,906
Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.
Outcomes
- Graduated (within 6 years)
- 59%
- Graduated on time (4 years)
- 51%
- First-year retention
- 64%
- Transferred to another college
- 0%
- Median earnings, 6 years after entry
- $29,611
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry
- $29,648
- Median debt at graduation
- $20,000
- Students with federal loans
- 76%
- Paying down their loans (1 year in)
- 16%
About 8% of students who finish here need more than four years — each extra year adds roughly another year of tuition and living costs.
Graduating on time
By student background (4 years)
When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.
Campus life & athletics
- On-campus housing
- No
- Application fee
- Free
Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.
Campus safety
- Safety grade
- A
- Reported offenses per 1,000 students
- 0.0 / year
- Violent offenses (2022–2024)
- 0
- Property offenses (2022–2024)
- 0
On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (2,130 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.
What you'll actually pay, by family income
Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.
College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.
Four-year (or more) true cost
Net price for your family's income, projected across the time it actually takes students here to graduate.
$16,569/year × about 4.2 years — most students here don't finish in exactly four, and each extra term adds cost. A planning estimate from net-price and graduation-timing data, not a bill.
Does the school pay you to attend?
Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.
Modest institutional aid: 1% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $7,951. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.
Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 678 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.
Is it worth it?
A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.
- Median earnings (10 years)
- $29,648
- Typical debt at graduation
- $20,000
- Debt vs. one year's pay
- 67%
- Out-earn a HS grad
- 26%
Typical debt would take roughly 6.7 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.
The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.
Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.
The pay gap here
Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.
Men out-earn women by $3,630 (13%) a decade out.
Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.
Campus climate
- Summer high
- 97°F
- Winter low
- 34°F
- Annual rain
- 8.8″
- Annual snow
- 2.8″
Average temperature
HighLowAverage precipitation (inches)
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, EL Paso Intl AP, TX US station (2.7 mi from campus).
What Southwest University at El Paso graduates study — and earn
Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.
Colleges similar to Southwest University at El Paso
Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Southwest University at El Paso side by side →
Miller-Motte College-STVT-San Antonio
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- Transfer
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The College of Health Care Professions-Fort Worth
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Southern Careers Institute-Brownsville
Brownsville, Texas · Midsize city · 2 mi to Brownsville
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The College of Health Care Professions-Northwest
Houston, Texas · Large city · 9 mi to Houston
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Southern Careers Institute-Austin
Austin, Texas · Large city · 4 mi to Austin
- Students
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- Tuition
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Colleges near Southwest University at El Paso
Texas Tech University Health Scienes Center El Paso
El Paso, TX · Public · Bachelor's · 242 students
Pima Medical Institute-El Paso
El Paso, TX · Private for-profit · Certificate · 617 students
El Paso Community College
El Paso, TX · Public · Associate · 24,214 students
Tri-State Cosmetology Institute
El Paso, TX · Private for-profit · Certificate · 126 students
The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, TX · Public · Bachelor's · 21,005 students
Western Technical College
El Paso, TX · Private for-profit · Associate · 600 students
Milan Institute of Cosmetology-El Paso
El Paso, TX · Private for-profit · Certificate · 448 students
CET-El Paso
El Paso, TX · Private nonprofit · Certificate · 67 students
Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.













