New Mexico Higher Education Outcome Report

• Institutions

  23

  50,044 students enrolled

• Graduates / Year

  ~5,536

  Estimated annual completers

• Median Earnings

  2nd pct

  $39,095

  49th of 50 states

• Mobility Score

  93rd pct

  2.7%

  3rd of 46 states

• Talent Retention

  0th pct

  61%

  First-year retention rate

• Value Ratio

  98th pct

  4.9x

  Earnings per net-price dollar

1. 1

   New Mexico graduates earn a median of $39,095 a decade after entry, 20% below the national state average, ranking 49th of 50 states.

2. 2

   Upward mobility is a defining strength: the state's institutions move bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 2.7% rate, in the 93rd percentile nationally.

3. 3

   Degree production is led by Humanities and Healthcare, which together account for 36% of graduates. That diversified mix sets what the state's labor pipeline can supply.

4. 4

   Healthcare shows oversupply pressure: graduate earnings run 23.9% below the national median, suggesting the field produces more graduates than the local market rewards.

5. 5

   On value, New Mexico returns 4.9x earnings per dollar of net price, among the strongest cost-to-outcome efficiency in the country.

6. 6

   The state's strongest mobility engine is New Mexico Junior College, which moves bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 4.3% rate, the highest in New Mexico.

• Earnings vs National

  ▼ -11.3%

  Median graduate earnings in New Mexico are below the national average by 11%.

• Cost vs National

  ▲ -37.3%

  Net price in New Mexico is lower than the national average by 37%.

• Mobility Rate

  ▲ +0.72pp

  Upward mobility rate is 0.7 percentage points above the national average.

• Completion Rate

  ▼ -15.3pp

  New Mexico's graduation rate is 15.3 percentage points below the national average.

• Best Value

  ▲ 574.5x

  Top value school: New Mexico State University-Grants ($39,067 earnings vs $68 net price).

• Low-Income Access

  ▼ 17.6%

  18% of students come from bottom-quintile households, a measure of how open the state's colleges are to low-income students.

Humanities (18% of graduates) and Healthcare (17% of graduates) dominate New Mexico's higher education output. Graduates in the top field earn a weighted average of $43,583.

• Humanities

  18%

  $43,583 avg

• Healthcare

  17%

  $37,883 avg

• Business

  14%

  $40,298 avg

• Social Sciences

  10%

  $42,828 avg

• Education

  8%

  $40,585 avg

New Mexico's highest-ROI degree cluster is Trades (Transportation), where graduates average $38,809 against a net cost of $5,476, a 7.1x return. That's -24.8% vs the national median.

• Transportation

  7.1x
  $38,809 earnings · $5,476 net -24.8% vs natl

• Mechanic & Repair Tech

  6.4x
  $39,290 earnings · $6,109 net -23.8% vs natl

• Culinary & Personal Services

  6.4x
  $37,069 earnings · $5,800 net -28.1% vs natl

• Precision Production

  6.3x
  $40,174 earnings · $6,397 net -22.1% vs natl

• Construction Trades

  6.0x
  $40,267 earnings · $6,679 net -21.9% vs natl

• Mathematics & Statistics

  5.3x
  $47,131 earnings · $8,899 net -8.6% vs natl

Three lenses on New Mexico's talent pipeline: which fields produce the most graduates, which command the highest earnings, and where high-pay demand outruns local supply.

New Mexico's colleges post an average mobility rate of 2.7%, which puts the state in the 93rd percentile nationally. 14% of students arrive from bottom-quintile households, a larger share than most states enroll. Cross-class social connectedness averages 0.88, a proxy for the networks that help graduates convert a degree into mobility.

Healthcare graduates, however, earn 23.9% below the national median, a possible sign the state produces more of these degrees than its labor market absorbs.

• Humanities

  18% of enrollment
  $40,101 -22.2% vs natl

  16 schools

• Healthcare

  17% of enrollment
  $39,267 -23.9% vs natl

  14 schools

• Business

  14% of enrollment
  $40,855 -20.8% vs natl

  14 schools

• Social Sciences

  10% of enrollment
  $40,233 -22% vs natl

  6 schools

• Education

  8% of enrollment
  $40,139 -22.2% vs natl

  12 schools

• Engineering

  7% of enrollment
  $46,560 -9.7% vs natl

  5 schools

New Mexico's higher education system includes 1 research-oriented, 5 specialized, 3 access-oriented, 14 regional institutions. Each group plays a different role in the state's outcomes.

• 🔬

  1

  Research Universities

• 🏛️

  14

  Regional Universities

• 🚀

  3

  Access-Oriented Institutions

• 🎯

  5

  Specialized Institutions

80% of New Mexico's colleges charge under $15K net. Graduates of those schools average $42,238 at 10 years.

• NET PRICE UNDER $15K

  16

  80% of schools

  Avg earnings: $42,238

• NET PRICE $15K–$25K

  2

  10% of schools

  Avg earnings: $45,091

• NET PRICE $25K–$40K

  2

  10% of schools

  Avg earnings: $37,281

Schools ranked by median graduate earnings 10 years after enrolling.

1. 01 New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Socorro, NM $76,489
2. 02 New Mexico Military Institute Roswell, NM $57,410
3. 03 New Mexico Highlands University Las Vegas, NM $45,937
4. 04 University of the Southwest Hobbs, NM $45,389
5. 05 St. John's College Santa Fe, NM $44,985
6. 06 University of New Mexico-Valencia County Campus Los Lunas, NM $44,792
7. 07 University of New Mexico-Taos Campus Ranchos de Taos, NM $44,792
8. 08 University of New Mexico-Gallup Campus Gallup, NM $44,792

What graduates in New Mexico earn relative to what they pay for college.

Every figure on this page is derived from public federal data and read within its regional and economic context. Information Gain Policy →