Education

The High Ground is a dynamically resourced region—no surprise considering this region produces a lion’s share of oil, wind and solar energy. However, there’s one more vital energizing resource critical to the High Ground’s success: Leading educational assets that spur economic and professional success even as they enrich the High Ground’s quality of life. And while they transform the lives of residents, High Ground’s higher education assets also empower industry while stimulating local and regional economies.

We don’t just think bigger in the High Ground. We think smarter.

High Ground community colleges: Multi-mission assets for diverse stakeholders.

Graduating career-ready students, providing custom industrial training, offering strategic avenues for workers to upskill or retrain for changing market conditions—the High Ground’s five community colleges are key to the region’s nonstop performance.

High Ground Universities: Paths to performance and leadership

High Ground universities have always been trail-blazers, from the early 20^th century when world-renowned artist Georgia O’Keefe taught art at West Texas A&M to today’s world-class research and innovation ongoing at institutions across the region. Recognized nationally for both academic quality and workplace excellence, these institutions are stepping up to the challenge and opportunities of tomorrow.

Angelo State University: With an enrollment approaching 11,000, ASU offers more than 100 undergraduate and 34 graduate degrees through six colleges spread across the second largest campus in the Texas Tech University System. A great place to launch a career, recognized for its academic excellence as a “best college” by both Princeton Review and U.S. News, ASU is also a great place to pursue a career, named by the Chronicle of Higher Education as a “best college to work for.”

Texas Tech University:  A Carnegie R1 research university with an endowment of over $1 billion and enrollment of more than 40,000, Texas Tech University excels in both quality and quantity of programs. Along with more than 150 undergraduate degrees, the University provides the highest caliber professional training at its law school, medical school, school for health sciences and a new school for veterinary medicine. With National Academy of Science members on staff, Texas Tech is famously rigorous. It is also creative and free-thinking; the Innovation Hub at Research Park is jumpstarting new developments through public-private collaboration. Texas Tech satellite campuses are located in Abilene and Amarillo.

University of Texas Permian Basin. UTPB serves an enrollment of more than 7,600 with 35 undergraduate degree programs and 18 graduate degrees in five schools and colleges. A member of the University of Texas system, the university operates a satellite campus in Midland in addition to its main campus in Odessa.

West Texas A&M. Founded in 1920, WATM has grown to an enrollment of more than 10,000, offering 60 undergraduate degrees, 38 master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees from six colleges and two schools. WATM is also vibrant cultural asset: Acclaimed artist Georgia O’Keefe once headed up the art department at WTAM, and today the University is home to one of the Southwest’s premier art collections and to the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.