Information on the Branches
New Mexico’s branch community colleges, with a commitment to access and an open-door admissions policy, have
become the colleges of choice for many of New Mexico college students.  

Branch Community College Facts  
  • Branch community colleges account for 17.4% of total enrollment for all higher education institutions in New
    Mexico.
  • $1,166 is the average cost for resident undergraduate tuition and fees for branch community colleges.  
  • Average Instruction-and-General expenditure budgeted for branch community colleges was $8,126.  


Fall 2006 Enrollments by Institution (Credit Enrollment):  



























Accomplishments of Branch Community Colleges:

The following highlights the significant accomplishments of the branch community colleges during the 2006-2007
academic year.
   

Adult Basic Education (ABE):  
  • 65% of ABE students completed 12 or more instructional hours which is 2% higher than the overall state
    community college average.  
  • 45% of ABE students with a goal of earning a GED, which is 6% higher than the state community college
    average.  
  • 57% of ABE students achieved their goal of transferring to postsecondary university or community college.  This
    is 14% above the state community college average.  
  • Branch college ABE programs are clearly meeting their goals through supportive educational programs and
    personal assistance.  

Dual Credit Enrollment:  
  • Branch colleges provided dual credit coursework for 2,991 students throughout New Mexico. This is an increase
    of 189 students over last academic year.  
  • Enrollment for dual credit programs has increased every year since 1998.  

Economic Development:  
  • Branch community colleges have taken an active leadership role in local economic development initiatives
    partnering with over 31 different businesses and industries.

Hosted Four Year Programs:  
  • Branch colleges continue to broaden access for local citizens by partnering with state supported universities.
    Bachelor and Master degree programs are offered at branch campuses through distance education programs
    sponsored by ENMU, NMSU, and UNM.

New Mexico Career Clusters:  
  • Branch colleges offer a total of 339 academic and career technical education programs as classified through
    the New Mexico Career Clusters.  

New Mexico Small Business Development Centers (SBDC):  
  • Branch community colleges proudly support and host SBDC Centers. Since 1992 over 13,500 jobs have been
    created through the efforts of the Small Business Development Centers.  

Non-Credit Work Related Courses:
  • Branch colleges experienced an increase of 1,177 students enrolled in college non-credit classes compared to
    2005 enrollment figures.  
  • Branch colleges contracted with an additional 51 new businesses and agencies offering workforce or
    customized training classes during 2006-2007.  

Performance Measures:  
  • There has been steady improvement among new branch college students  transferring or obtaining a degree
    credential (after three years), having received a degree or certificate, transferred, became transfer ready, or are
    still enrolled.  There has been a 2.3% increase in branch college student achievement over the past three years
    (52.2% to 54.5%).   
  • Since 2003, there has been an annualized increase of branch community college graduates placed in jobs in
    New Mexico.  The branch college average in 2003 was 65.9% and has increased to 67.8% in 2007.  
  • There was a 3.2% increase in Fall 2006 branch college students enrolled as full-time, first-time, degree-
    seeking students who subsequently  enrolled during the following Spring 2007 term.  The branch college
    statewide persistence average was 75.1%.   

Service to the Community:  
  • Branch colleges offer over 57 different services and activities through special projects or courses (i.e. weekly
    courses, events, programs, services, and workshops) that enriched the community and residents living within
    the college service area.

On-line and Web-Based Instruction:  
  • 5,201 students enrolled in on-line and web-based classes at all participating branch campuses during the
    2007 academic year. This figure represents an increase of 1,012 students compared to the 2005-2006
    academic year.      

Student Characteristics:  

  • 62% (13,278) of branch community college students are female.  
  • 38% (8,107) of branch community college students are male.  
  • The average age of first time freshman (Fall 2006) for branch colleges was 24.  
  • The average age of all branch community college students (Fall 2006) is 30.  
  • 89% of branch community college students are residents of New Mexico.    
  • The average cost for resident tuition and fees was $1,012.

A majority of community college students work, have family responsibilities, and need financial assistance to cover
educational costs.  Community colleges provide a variety of quality educational programs and supportive services that
enhance the quality of life for the communities and individuals they serve.  In addition to credit classes, community
colleges provide significant services through non-credit offerings that serve and additional 90,000 New Mexicans.  
These programs will be detailed throughout this report and include:   
  • Adult Basic Education  
  • Business assistance  
  • Continuing education  
  • Personal enrichment  

Ethnicity Profile:  

In response to the Accountability in Government Act, student access and success is one of the community college’s
performance-based measures. The following information represents the branch community college ethnicity profile.  

Hispanic:  44% (9,331)  
White:  31% (6,629)  
Native American:  14% (2,973)  
Black:  2% (413)  
Asian:  1% (229)  
Other:  8% (1,661)  
Insitution:  
Headcount
ENMU Roswell
3,864  
ENMU Ruidoso  
850  
NMSU Alamogordo  
1,990
NMSU Carlsbad  
1,223  
NMSU Dona Ana
7,160  
NMSU Grants  
750  
UNM Gallup
2,748  
UNM Los Alamos  
793  
UNM Taos  
1,353  
UNM Valencia  
1,636  
Total:  
22,367