There are a dozen colleges and universities in New Mexico, including nine public colleges, two private non-profit schools, and one private for-profit option.
While costs vary widely depending on a college’s size and how it’s funded, the average New Mexico college charged $7,980 in tuition for the 2021-22 school year.
Students in the U.S. received $14,800 on average in financial aid for the 2020-21 school year to cover expenses such as housing, tuition, food, and textbooks.
This list features some of the best brick-and-mortar schools in New Mexico. Each school featured is a nonprofit, accredited institution — either public or private — with a high standard of academic quality for post-secondary institutions. We included liberal arts colleges and research universities as well as small, midsize, and large institutions. Next, we compared this comprehensive list to a list of aggregated college rankings from reputable publications like the U.S. News & World Report among others to simplify a student’s college search. We pored through these rankings so students don’t have to.
The colleges on our list are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a reputable organization that examines the objectives, quality, and overall effectiveness of education programs in the central United States.
We evaluated each school on tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, and reputation as well as the student resources provided for on-campus students. Then we calculated the Intelligent Score on a scale of 0 to 100. Read more about our ranking methodology.
When deciding where to attend school, prospective students should consider whether the state they pursue their education has job opportunities for them after they graduate. In New Mexico, nearly 180,000 people work in government jobs, making it the largest industry in the state. Other top industries include education and health services; trade, transportation, and utilities; professional and business services; and goods-producing.
Within these industries, there are numerous fast-growing careers for those with bachelor’s degrees. Between 2020 and 2030, the careers that are projected to experience the most growth for this education level include fine artists, producers and directors, and museum technicians and conservators.
New Mexico has several large employers that provide job opportunities after graduation. Some of the largest employers include Sandia Corporation, Presbyterian Hospital, Albuquerque Police Department, TriCore Reference Laboratories, and the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
The majority of New Mexico students receive financial aid to help fund their education. We’ve put together a list of resources that provide information on need- and merit-based scholarships, grants, and student loans.