University of Texas-Pan American, located in Edinburg, Texas, is a comprehensive doctoral degree-granting university. A member of the University of Texas system, it boasts one of the largest enrollments of Hispanic students in the United States. This ethnic diversity, featuring students from both North America and South America, is reflected in the tag “Pan American” attached to the university name. University of Texas-Pan American began as Edinburg College, in 1927. It was a two-year community college governed by the Edinburg School District. In 1933, the college was renamed Edinburg Junior College, which later changed to Edinburg Regional College in 1948, and then Pan American College in 1952. The college attained university status in 1971, and was named Pan American University. In 1989, the university became a member of the University of Texas system, and attained the present name of University of Texas-Pan American. The university, which began with an initial class strength of 200, now enrolls about 16,000 students. The campus occupies 238 acres of land about 60 miles nortwest of Browsville. The university offers associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through its six academic colleges of Arts and Humanities, Business Administration, Education, Health Sciences and Human Services, Liberal and Performing Arts, Science and Engineering, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The University of Texas-Pan American boasts a wide array of comprehensive research programs. It has formed alliances with reputed institutions such as Georgia Tech Research Institute, Tennessee State University, and the U.S. Navy to foster its research programs. Additionally, the university operates the Coastal Studies Laboratory, located on South Padre Island, in Cameron County. The university hosts an annual mega-event called the "Hispanic Engineering, Science, and Technology Week." This event blends education and entertainment to highlight the importance of higher education and science literacy among the South Texas community. Numerous major industrial and business firms participate in this prestigious event to demonstrate the latest innovations and technological developments. The participants also include university students and the local community.