University of Texas--Pan American is a public institution that was founded in 1927. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 16,966, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 331 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. University of Texas--Pan American's ranking in the 2014 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities (West), 75.

The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) is the 10th largest university in the state and the 5th largest in the UT System. UTPA is second in the nation in the number of bachelor's degrees and fifth in the number of master's degrees awarded to Hispanics. The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education lists UTPA among its Top 100 best U.S. colleges for Hispanics. UTPA has the only Physician Assistant Studies Program in Texas outside a medical school.