University Scholars Program in an attempt to retain top local high-school students. The program is an objective academic scholarship based on three tiers. The first tier is high-school graduation standing. The second tier is advanced placement testing. The third tier is standardized testing scores. UTPA guaranteed full tuition funding for any student who meets one of many objective minimum requirements in all three tiers. UTPA's first- to second-year retention rate for full-time students was 71%. UTPA's four-year graduation rate is 13% and the 6-year graduation rate is 36%. The proportion of students who receive some sort of financial aid is 86%. Student life Housing All students under the age of 21 who have earned fewer than 30 credit hours are required to reside on campus unless they are married, a parent, or have a permanent residence within 60 miles of campus. UTPA offers three residence halls and one building of community of on-campus apartments. Troxel Hall and Heritage Hall are the oldest residence halls on campus, and until 2000, were the only residence options for students. Heritage Hall is an all-female residence hall. At the end of 2009, Troxel Hall closed due to low capacity. In 2000 the Bronc Village Apartments were completed on north campus and offered students 1, 2 and 4 bedroom options. In fall 2006, Unity Hall was opened as the first new residence hall in more than 30 years; it has 204 double rooms and is divided into male and female wings. Heritage Hall, Unity Hall and the Bronc Village apartments combined can hold around 800 students Athletics Teams Before the UTRGV merger, the University of Texas–Pan American sponsored eight men's and nine women's teams in NCAA-sanctioned sports. About a year before the merger, the UT System announced that UTRGV would inherit the UTPA athletic program, and the UTPA Broncs officially became the UTRGV Vaqueros on July 1, 2015. Men's intercollegiate sports Baseball Basketball Cross-country Golf Tennis Track and field (indoor and outdoor) Women's intercollegiate sports Basketball Cross-country Golf Soccer Tennis Track and field (indoor and outdoor) Volleyball The University of Texas–Pan American competed in the NCAA Division I, in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC); UTRGV has maintained UTPA's WAC membership. It is one of five schools in the University of Texas System that compete in Division I. The other UT institutions that do so are Austin, El Paso, San Antonio, and Arlington. Alumni Pablo Almaguer: