Texas Tech University - Academic Profile

Academic Profile

By enrollment, Texas Tech is the sixth-largest university in Texas and the largest institution of higher education in the western two-thirds of the state. In the fall 2011 semester, Texas Tech set a record enrollment with 32,327 students. For the 2008/09 enrollment year, most students came from Texas (85.17%), followed by New Mexico, California, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. Altogether, the university has educated students from all 50 US states and over 100 foreign countries. Enrollment has continued to increase in recent years, and growth is on track with a plan to have 40,000 students by the year 2020. From 1927 to 2008, the university awarded 160,007 bachelor's, 30,985 master's, 5,197 doctoral, and 6,477 law degrees. The Princeton Review ranked Texas Tech among the 117 best colleges in the Western United States in its 2009 edition. The 2008 Shanghai Jiao Tong Rankings placed Texas Tech University at 302 worldwide, which tied it with fellow Big 12 schools, Oklahoma and Kansas State, among others. In its 2011 edition, U.S. News & World Report noted the university has a "selective" admissions policy. As a state public university, Texas Tech is subject to Texas House Bill 588, which guarantees Texas high school seniors in the top 10% of their graduating class admission to any public Texas university. In 2007, 17% of incoming freshmen were admitted in this manner. About half of incoming freshmen finished in the top quarter of their graduating classes.

Texas Tech University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university offers 150 bachelor's, 104 master's, and 59 doctoral degree programs. Texas Tech has five satellite campuses located in Texas—in Abilene, Amarillo, Fredericksburg, Highland Lakes, and Junction. Two satellite campuses also are in Europe, located in Quedlinburg, Germany, and Seville, Spain. Additional study-abroad programs are offered in various countries, such as Denmark, England, France, and Italy.

The Office of International Affairs supports and facilitates the international mission of Texas Tech University. It provides services for faculty and students, offers international educational and cultural experiences for the school and community, and contributes to the university's globalization process and its effort to grow as an international educational and research center. The International Cultural Center provides a continual series of conferences, lectures, art exhibitions, and performances.