CS Factsheet

Research

The department's research efforts are broad, but can be roughly categorized in terms of five strengths: Computer Science Theory and its Applications, Software Engineering, High-Performance Computing, Human-Computer Interaction, and Computer Security. The department has a tradition of collaborative research across research groups, across departments, and with outside organizations. In recent years our work has received support from the NSF, DARPA, DoE, USCGS, ARL, NASA, IBM, and TI, among other sources.

Graduate Programs

The department offers the Ph.D. in Computer Science, and also the Ph.D. in Computer Engineering in partnership with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The department offers a Master of Science in Computer Science, a rigorous two-year program. All students are required to do either a project or a thesis, with most selecting the thesis option.
The department also offers an interdisciplinary degree of Master of Science in Information Technology (in cooperation with the College of Business Administration), a Masters in Software Engineering, and a Graduate Certificate in Cyber-Security.

Undergraduate Program

The department offers an ABET-accredited Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. The program includes engineering fundamentals, an introductory sequence focusing on programming, a core covering essential computer science knowledge, and a broad choice of electives in specialized areas. Cooperative learning techniques are stressed throughout. The capstone is a highly-structured two-semester intensive sequence in Software Engineering, in which students work in teams of four on a project for an external client. The department has a policy of involving students outside the classroom, based on the Affinity Model of Gates et al.

Faculty

There are 14 full time faculty, all of whom have a Ph.D.

Students

The department has about 300 undergraduates, 80 Masters students, and 25 doctoral students. The department welcomes foreign students: currently the largest contingents are from Mexico and India, others have come from Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Jordan, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Tanzania, Brazil, and Columbia, among others. The ACM Student Chapter organizes many technical, social, and outreach events, and there is a chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the Computer Science honor society.

Facilities and Budget

The department currently occupies about 30,000 square feet in the Computer Science building, renovated to purpose in 1992. It will be moving into the new Chemistry and Computer Science building in early 2012. There are five instructional laboratories, running Windows, Solaris, and Linux, including the open lab, the networking lab and the software engineering lab. There are seven fully-equipped research laboratories, including several high performance computers and clusters. Two full-time staff provide system administration and network support. The university library has electronic subscriptions to virtually all computer science journals. The annual department budget is about $1.3 million and external funding has averaged over $3 million per year over the last five years.

The University and the Region

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a Carnegie Doctoral/Research-Intensive University. Founded in 1914 as a mining school, the University currently enrolls over 21,000 students. UTEP is part of the University of Texas System. El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, its sister city across the river in Mexico, are the center of a unique bicultural region.

Costs

Thanks to state support and to its location in an affordable community, UT El Paso is one of the most financially accessible research institutions in the country. Undergraduate tuition and fees are about $5,000 for 9 months (details) ; and total expenses for an out-of-state graduate student are estimated to be about $19,000 (breakdown), although many students live on much less.

More Information

UTEP Facts: Quick Guide

last update: May 2011