A Guide to Online Colleges in New Mexico

The 47th state admitted into the union, New Mexico was populated by Native Americans for thousands of years before the Spanish entered the territory at the turn of the 17th century. Since then, the state has seen competing claims from Native American tribes, the French, the Republic of Texas, Mexico, and the Confederate and Union Armies, until admittance in 1912. For much of the 20th century, it remained largely undeveloped, though a major oil discovery in the 1920s brought investments into the state. Of course, during WWII, the first atomic bombs were designed and manufactured at Los Alamos. Since then, military and defense have remained a major part of the economy, including several air force bases. Transportation and logistics have long been important to New Mexico, too — be it via early desert highways, the Southern Pacific Railroad, or today's 2,400 miles of commuter and freight rail. With all this traffic, communities began to hold at the state's major hubs, and colleges and universities followed soon after. Today, over a half-dozen major public universities are located in New Mexico, in addition to private schools, community colleges, and other two-year professional schools. Keeping pace with trends toward affordability and flexibility across the country, many New Mexico schools are now offering online degrees.

In-state tuition is often applied to public schools offering online programs. Many online programs require some face-to-face time, or more numerous support services at their brick and mortar locations. Intensive study experiences — often on the weekends or in several week long bouts — enable many online students to accelerate their time until graduation. And students looking at online education can drastically expand their educational options if they also look to hybrid degrees (degrees where degrees can be taken partially, or mostly online). Finally, one of the most common stipulations in scholarships is that students be from a certain state or region, often more funds are available to students seeking degrees in-state.

There are 15 public schools in New Mexico that offer online degrees, the largest of which is Eastern New Mexico University, which has 44 bachelors and 12 masters; these include programs in Business, History, Aviation Science, Nursing, Social Work, Criminal Justice, Hospitality Management, Education, Sports Administration, and Information Systems. From there, New Mexico State offers 27 online degrees — 7 bachelors, 17 masters, and 3 doctoral; the NMSU Grants campus offers 20 degrees. The University of New Mexico is the second-largest provider of bachelor's degrees, including a Dental Hygiene track, and Clovis Community College offers the most associates in the state: Behavioral Science, Business, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, and Information Systems, among others.

The University of the Southwest is the sole private school in New Mexico offering online degrees. Three bachelors are available in Business Administration, Psychology, and Criminal Justice; and 7 masters cover an MBA and a number of MEd tracks, including in Early Childhood Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Administration, Educational Diagnostics, Mental Health Counseling, School Counseling, and Special Education. Founded in 1962, Southwest expanded its distance education program to accommodate adult learners and working professionals. Flexible courses typically take up 10-15 hours of study per week for undergrads and 15-20 for graduate students.

Featured Online Schools

Potential Resident

For a variety of reasons, a student may look to move to the state of their online college program whether specifically required by the program or not — be it for a job, location desirability, school benefits, etc. Different states have different policies, however, and some of them can be rather demanding. Fortunately, New Mexico has fairly straightforward requirements: applicants must be U.S. residents and have lived in the state for the past 12 consecutive months. There are a number of other potential qualifiers as well: the individual is married to a legal resident of NM; dependent has has obtained permanent full‐time employment; member of the U.S. armed forces is stationed in New Mexico; member of of an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo located wholly or partially in NM. For a full list, visit NMSU's admissions page.

The average tuition per-year for a four-year public school in New Mexico for 2015-16 was $6,355, or about $2,800 cheaper than the national average. Its 3% year-over-year change and 13% 5-year change each match the national average. This is great news for New Mexico residents wanting to take advantage of in-state tuition. In fact, New Mexico was second in the country for tuition costs in 2015-16, behind Montana by only $4. Nor do New Mexico's numbers over the last decade indicate any risk for a sudden spike; even during the height of the Great Recession, tuition remained nationally low. Should current trends continue, residents should enjoy highly stable and affordable in-state tuition.

The University of New Mexico's main campus is the central hub for online learning in Greater Albuquerque and among the largest in the state. There are 8 bachelors available Business, Nursing, Communication, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Integrative Studies, Radiologic Sciences, and Dental Hygiene. From there, students can continue with a Master of Dental Hygiene; the university also offers a unique online Master of Public Administration. A short way away in Los Lunas, UNM's Valencia County Campus offers an online Doctor of Nursing. To the west, NMSU's Grant Campus offers 17 masters — in Education, Business, Nursing, and Sociology, among others — and three doctoral tracks.

In Las Cruces, The New Mexico State University's Main Campus offers 27 online degrees, making it the second-largest provider in the state. Of the 7 bachelors include Business concentrations, a BS in Criminal Justice, BS in Education, and BS in Nursing. 17 masters include an MBA, MPA, MS in Industrial Engineering, MA in Agricultural And Extension Education, and MEd concentrations in Curriculum & Instruction, K-12 Administration, Community College and College Administration, and Gifted Learning, among others. In Silver City, Western New Mexico University offers 16 online degrees, including 3 associates (Criminal Justice, Liberal Studies, Human Services), and 6 bachelors and 7 masters in a wide range of fields, like Social Work, Educational Leadership, Occupational Therapy, Teaching, and Business.

The University of New Mexico's Los Alamos Campus offers a Doctor of Nursing with online delivery options, and New Mexico Highlands University, in Las Vegas, offers an RN-BSN and two MBA concentrations. For students willing for occasional commutes to Albuquerque, University of New Mexico's Main Campus is among the largest online education centers in the state, with 8 bachelors and 2 masters in Dental Hygiene and Public Administration. Undergraduate tracks are available in Business Administration, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Nursing, Radiological Sciences, Communication, and Organizational Communication, among others.

The Best Online Colleges in New Mexico

Monitoring the accreditation of a university you are interested in attending is incredibly important. Accreditation ensures your credits can transfer that you can receive Federal financial aid, and most importantly that certain standards of educational quality are during your schooling. The highest accreditation standard for most programs in the United States is provided by regional accreditation agencies. The regional accrediting agency for New Mexico is the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional accrediting agencies responsible for accrediting schools in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Making sure that a University you're hoping to attend is regionally accredited — or accredited by a real and respected accrediting agency — is one of the most important choices you can make in ensuring the quality of your education.

Three Steps for Securing Financial Aid

• Submit your FAFSA.

• Check to see if additional forms are needed at your university of choice.

• Search and apply for private scholarships.

Through the previous three steps most students find themselves offered some sort of federal grant, work study, private grant, scholarship, or stipend.

Great New Mexico Higher Education Resources

Recommended Reading

Ranking

Best Online Ph.D. Programs

January 12, 2024

Ranking

Best Online Master’s Programs of 2024

March 20, 2024

Ranking

Best Online Master’s in Human Resources

October 27, 2023