UNM, CNM freshmen enrollment up amid nationwide decline

For University of New Mexico students Noah Bratcher and Keyon Kamali, there is no singular way to describe what it means to be a freshman.

“I think it definitely means a little growing period — chance to expand your horizons, meet new people,” Kamali said, “understanding that it’s OK to not know everything right now. It’s a four-year-long journey. ... I don’t think you should be ashamed to be a freshman.”

Bratcher said the word “opportunity” comes to mind when he thinks of what it means to be a freshman.

“You have the whole rest of your schooling laid out before you,” he said. “It’s a chance to start and do whatever you want and figure out what you like and don’t like.”

Bratcher and Kamali, roommates at the Redondo Village Apartments and enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts/Medical Doctorate program, are two of many on campus who officials say are part of a statewide enrollment surge for first-time higher education students.

The New Mexico Higher Education Department announced in a news release on Wednesday that enrollment of first-year students at state colleges and universities has risen 9.2%, according to data for the fall semester.

UNM and Central New Mexico Community College officials confirmed they are also seeing freshmen enrollment increases.

UNM’s main campus in Albuquerque saw 3,642 first-year student registrations in fall 2024, surpassing last year’s record-setting 3,611. Those figures are part of a growing five-year trend for freshmen enrollment at the institution.

“I think we have done an exceptionally good job communicating to prospective students and families the value of higher education at UNM; we’ve reworked our communication in-house; we’ve really got a great recruitment team,” Dan Garcia, UNM vice president for enrollment management, said in an interview.

CNM saw a freshmen enrollment increase of 9% this fall compared with 6.7% the same time last year, according to Nireata Seals, the school’s vice president for enrollment management and student success.

“I’m really excited about it,” Seals said in an interview.

While the statewide percentage represents another year-over-year increase, freshmen enrollment nationwide is trending downward, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center — and as the Higher Education Department noted.

Freshman enrollment is down 5% from last fall, with public and private nonprofit four-year institutions seeing the largest declines (8.5% and 6.5%, respectively), the Clearinghouse said.

Higher education is faced with various challenges, including “a shrinking enrollment pipeline of traditional-age students and the continued rapid pace of technological change,” the Clearinghouse said.

HED did not offer reasons in its news release for the national enrollment decline, but Garcia and Seals spoke of “the enrollment cliff,” referring to the peak of graduates expected over the next two years before declining, posing severe challenges to schools at all levels.

“There are a lot of folks who just don’t want to go to school,” Seals said.

Garcia said students “might be questioning the value of higher education” or worrying about how to pay for it. The decline might also be attributed to increased competition among institutions, since most students apply to more than one college or university, he said.

Regarding the freshmen enrollment increase, HED Secretary Stephanie M. Rodriguez said in the news release that the state is “bucking national trends and spreading more opportunity to more young adults.”

“We will continue to make every effort to reach more prospective students and provide more career pathways to New Mexicans,” she said.

Rodriguez attributed the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship, extended to students attending four-year colleges and universities in 2022, as at least one reason for the statewide freshmen enrollment increase.

“We can safely assert the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship, with its inclusive and expansive approach to tuition-free higher education, has made a real difference for thousands of New Mexicans,” she said.

Kamali and Bratcher, who are both on the Opportunity Scholarship, praised the program for helping advance their education.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity scholarship; I think it’s an excellent thing that our state has implemented,” Kamali said. “I think we’ve all seen the statistics on our state’s education levels, and I think the way we move forward and improve our state is through education. What better way to do that by removing the financial burden that a lot of students face when they try to go into higher education.”

Bratcher agreed the scholarship is helpful to students, particularly those in poverty.

“It allows you, if you’re willing to put in the work, a chance to pursue your hopes and dreams and goals in higher education,” he said.

Kamali said he thinks it is great more freshmen are attending UNM because it brings more people with different backgrounds. If school officials work to maintain facilities to accommodate the growing number of students each year, he believes UNM will be successful.

As for the increased statewide trends in enrollment, Bratcher said, “It’s awesome seeing more people go to school.”