About Us
History
The High School Equivalency Program (HEP) is a federal program funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education. HEP helps migratory and seasonal farmworkers (or children of such workers) who are 16 years of age or older and not currently enrolled in school to obtain the equivalent of a high school diploma and, subsequently, to gain employment or begin postsecondary education or training. The program serves 90 students annually. There are 53 HEP programs across the country in areas with large agricultural communities with three HEP programs in the State of Texas. There is currently only one HEP program in the Rio Grande Valley. At The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, HEP began serving our farm worker community and migrant population in 1972. Today, HEP continues to successfully prepare and graduate students from its program. HEP at UTRGV has graduated thousands of students during its numerous decades of service in the Rio Grande Valley. Through our service in campus, HEP is ideally situated to provide its students with vast amounts of information and a first-hand exposure to campus life.
The UTRGV- HEP primarily provides English and Spanish General Educational Development (GED) instructional services during the day on the Edinburg campus. The project is funded to serve 90 students annually and produce a 70% GED attainment (GPRA 1) and 80% placement rate (GPRA 2).