New Mexico’s educational system and an analysis of the state’s aid for low-income students is the focal point of a newly released report by the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI).
“It is an interesting state to learn from because of its long-standing commitment to higher education,” said Dr. Virginia R. Hunter, author of the report and research analyst at Research for Action. “New Mexico has worked hard to maintain access and affordability for students compared to other states, provides a wide range of scholarship opportunities and overall shows a high level of commitment to higher education.”
However, in the report, “Embracing Diversity To Build A Better Future: Minority Serving Institutions In New Mexico” Hunter argues that the state is at a “cross-roads where it can choose to distribute higher education resources broadly or really target resources to students who need them most.”
Dr. Marybeth Gasmen, executive director of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity & Justice at Rutgers and a member of the research team, said that the state of New Mexico demonstrates the changes occurring in terms of race and ethnicity within the United States.
According to the report, 48 percent of New Mexico’s population identifies as Hispanic or Latinx and nine percent identifies as American Indian.
To help serve low-income students, New Mexico developed several financial aid programs including the lottery scholarship, bridge scholarship, student incentive grant program and the graduate scholarship.
However, the report found that the state’s financial aid is not always offered “to the students who need it the most.” There is controversy associated with the lottery scholarship because it is based on merit rather than need.
