The future of El Paso’s longtime NPR station could be changing as the University of Texas at El Paso considers a new arrangement with the El Paso Community Foundation to operate KTEP-FM amid the loss of federal funding for public broadcasting.
UTEP and the community foundation have been discussing an agreement that could shift programming, fundraising and day-to-day operations of the 100,000-watt public radio station away from direct university management.
The discussions come as the University of Texas System Board of Regents meets Wednesday and Thursday in Austin. Any significant change in the station’s operating arrangement would require action by the regents, who oversee the UT System and control KTEP’s broadcast license.
The possible restructuring has raised questions about what would happen to KTEP employees, its studios on the UTEP campus, locally produced programming and the station’s longstanding role as a training ground for university students.
One KTEP employee told El Paso Matters in July that workers had received little information about the discussions and did not know whether they would have jobs when the new fiscal year begins Sept. 1.
UTEP officials and El Paso Community Foundation President and CEO Eric Pearson have acknowledged discussions between the organizations. Pearson said the two sides have had intermittent conversations for years.
The talks have taken on greater urgency because of the financial crisis facing public broadcasting nationwide.
Congress approved legislation in 2025 eliminating $1.1 billion in previously approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. The cuts effectively ended the federal support system that for decades helped finance NPR and PBS stations across the country.
For KTEP, the loss is significant.
The station received about $178,300 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 2024, accounting for roughly 23% of its budget. UTEP provided an average of about $401,000 annually in direct and indirect support between 2022 and 2024.
Combined, university and federal support historically accounted for two-thirds or more of KTEP’s funding.
KTEP has increasingly turned to listeners for help. Its spring 2026 fundraising campaign sought $60,000 but raised about $22,475 from 101 donors. A separate UTEP giving-day campaign for KTEP set a $500,000 goal and raised $6,135 from 54 donors.
UTEP currently pays substantial station expenses including salaries, utilities and facilities, while donations and other revenue help pay for programming.
KTEP has deep roots in both UTEP and El Paso.
The station traces its history to 1946, when a campus radio operation began at what was then the Texas College of Mines. It received its FM license in 1950, becoming El Paso’s first FM radio station, and adopted the KTEP call letters following the university’s transition to the University of Texas at El Paso.
KTEP became a charter member of National Public Radio in 1971.
Today, the station broadcasts on 88.5 FM with a 100,000-watt signal reaching audiences across the El Paso region and into portions of New Mexico and northern Mexico. Its schedule combines NPR programs including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” with local journalism, Texas programming, jazz, classical music and locally produced cultural and educational shows.
The station has also provided generations of UTEP students with practical experience in broadcasting and multimedia journalism.
KTEP was historically associated with UTEP’s Department of Communication, but the university moved the station in 2024 under its Division of Marketing and Communications, placing it within the university’s administrative structure rather than an academic department.
That change, combined with the federal funding crisis and discussions with the community foundation, has prompted concern among some supporters about whether KTEP will retain its educational mission and editorial independence.
Former UTEP Department of Communication Chair Richard Pineda told El Paso Matters that the federal funding cuts likely accelerated discussions about changing the station’s management. He said he hopes any agreement preserves a relationship between KTEP, the communication department and UTEP students.
Others see a partnership with the community foundation as a possible way to preserve the station.
Keith Pannell, a retired UTEP chemistry and biochemistry professor who has hosted KTEP’s “Science Studio” for nearly four decades, said he initially had concerns about a possible change but became more optimistic after speaking with people familiar with the discussions.
The El Paso Community Foundation was founded in 1977 and supports charitable, cultural and civic projects throughout the region. Pearson also has a background in broadcast journalism.
Exactly how much control the foundation could assume remains unclear, including whether UTEP would ultimately retain KTEP’s Federal Communications Commission license or whether the relationship would eventually lead to a transfer.
For now, KTEP remains a service of UTEP and continues broadcasting its regular mix of NPR programming, local journalism, music and university-produced shows.
But after more than 75 years as a university-operated public radio station, the combination of disappearing federal support and negotiations between UTEP and the community foundation could produce one of the most significant changes in KTEP’s history.
