New Mexico is in a better place with college enrollment than it was last spring.
Last school year, the state’s fall headcount reached its lowest point in an over 10-year period, and in the spring semester there were about 85,400 students in New Mexico public colleges and universities.
But this spring semester saw that number grow by over 5,000 students — roughly 6% — to 90,700, according to the state Higher Education Department, an increase the department secretary and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham attribute to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship.
“We knew that the Opportunity Scholarship would be a game changer for higher education in New Mexico,” Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez said in a news release. “The overwhelming number of New Mexicans taking advantage of this program demonstrates that removing financial barriers is a deciding factor in whether (they) continue their education.”
This spring’s improvement does come with a catch. There are about 14,000 fewer New Mexico college students from just a few months ago — but that drop from the fall semester is to be expected, according to the higher-ed department.
“Fall cohorts are typically larger than spring cohorts,” department spokeswoman Stephanie Montoya wrote in an email to the Journal, adding that there are a few explanations for that, “including the fact that students graduate each semester.”
That argument holds true at least for the school year before, when enrollment dropped by almost 15,000 between the fall and spring semesters.
This past fall marked the first time New Mexico saw an enrollment rebound from a previous year in a decade, although the state’s fall totals were still far below what they were 10 years ago. National Education Association-New Mexico President Mary Parr-Sánchez said that turning college enrollment around was a “great” thing for education in the state overall.
“Increased college enrollment numbers mean that there’s going to be better outcomes for students. The kids living in New Mexico — hopefully they will stay in New Mexico,” she told the Journal. “I think there’s probably better transitions from high school into college for students.”
The Opportunity Scholarship, according to the higher-ed department’s website, covers tuition and other fees for New Mexico residents at public colleges and universities with state funds.
While over 36,000 students received the Opportunity Scholarship during the fall semester, according to the release, Montoya said that current numbers won’t be known for another few weeks.
