New Mexico State University data shows enrollment is up. Here’s a break down.
The fall 2023 census report for New Mexico State University confirmed notable enrollment gains across the university system.
Preliminary data released in September estimated a 3% increase systemwide from fall 2022, or a student enrollment of 21,210. The census report showed there was actually a 2.8% increase or 21,797 students.
University leadership attributed the rise in student enrollment to the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship which was started under the Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishman administration in 2020.
Renay Scott, the university’s vice president for student success, said in a Sept. 6. news release that the scholarship has helped alleviate some financial burden for students.
“The Opportunity Scholarship has improved retention, because it makes financing college predictable,” Scott said in the release. “We’ve seen fewer students with outstanding balances and our students have less loan debt. Going to college is a full-time job for most students, and the Opportunity Scholarship has taken the pressure off for a lot of students who would otherwise have to take time off to save for tuition costs.”
The university has also poured resources into efforts to retain current students by improving student experience, providing personal devices to first-year incoming students through Aggie Launch Pad and offering campus tutoring and career ready services. The Sept. 6 release said these initiatives were also contributing factors to increased enrollment.
Here’s a breakdown of where NMSU saw two strong areas of growth.
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Las Cruces campus sees pre-pandemic enrollment levels
Incoming first-year students enrolled at the university in higher numbers in 2023 compared to the last five years. These numbers indicate that student enrollment could be bouncing back after the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed how students enrolled in college.
In 2019, roughly 2,182 freshmen were enrolled at the Las Cruces campus in comparison to fall 2023 where 2,391 students were enrolled, a 10% increase over the four-year period.
For a year-to-year comparison, the 2023 report showed that 2,328 freshmen were enrolled in fall 2022 versus 2,391 students in fall 2023, only a 2.2% increase.
Among those gains, the report also showed that retention of continuing students was also up, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. For fall 2023, 7,935 undergrad students had returned to campus compared to 7,888 undergrad students in fall 2019. The highest number of returning undergraduates over the last four years was in fall 2020 with 8,036 undergrad students but it was followed by a steep decline the following year.
Part of those retention efforts have been credited to the N.M. Opportunity Scholarship program as Scott noted earlier. Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez said in a March 2023 news release that this program has helped retain students because they can focus on their studies rather than how to pay for school amid rising costs.
“We knew that the Opportunity Scholarship would be a game changer for higher education in New Mexico and the overwhelming number of New Mexicans taking advantage of the program demonstrates that removing financial barriers is a deciding factor in whether New Mexicans continue their education,” Rodriguez said in the release.
NMSU community colleges see bump in enrollment
Despite national college enrollments on the decline, NMSU’s community colleges saw a boost for the start of the 2023 school year.
“There was severe enrollment loss at the NMSU community colleges during the pandemic,” said Monica Torres, chancellor of NMSU community colleges in a Sept. 6 news release.
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“It was heartbreaking to see so many community college students lose valuable educational opportunities to the circumstances COVID dropped in our collective laps. As students and families' experiences recovered – and continue to recover – from those very challenging conditions, the NMSU community colleges are now experiencing enrollment gains. That is good news for our students and our communities.”
NMSU Alamogordo saw the highest increase in enrollment among NMSU community colleges with a 5.5% increase or 1,088 total students. That college had1,032 total students enrolled.
Doña Ana Community College was the runner-up with a 2.8% increase or 187 new students to its 6,662 total last year. NMSU Grants saw a 1.1% increase bringing its fall 2023 total enrollment to 834 students.
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This data highlights a larger picture of increased enrollment across community colleges nationally. A spring 2023 report released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that community colleges had slightly increased enrollments by 0.5% from 2022 which wasn’t apparent in past years. The center aggregates data from all colleges and universities throughout the country to compile its reporting.
“Community college enrollment grew slightly this spring after large declines in the previous two years. A growing number of younger students, primarily dual enrolled high school students and freshmen contributed to the uptick,” the report stated.
Like Scott, Torres credited the community college enrollment increases to expanded scholarships and student success resources
Ernesto Cisneros is a reporting fellow with the UNM/NM Local News Fund program. He covers education for the Sun-News and can be reached at ECisneros@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter at @_ernestcisneros.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSU fall 2023 enrollment is up
