Online and On-Campus Colleges in NEW MEXICO

The historical roots of New Mexico State University stretch back to the region's territorial days, when two small New Mexico colleges -- Las Cruces College and the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts -- were founded in the late 1880s. Just 35 students were on the rolls when two institutions merged in 1890, but that resulting school went on to occupy a 900-acre campus and educate more than 14,000 students annually.

Seven academic colleges offer courses and degree plans at NMSU, including the oldest Honors College in New Mexico. Undergraduates can choose from close to 100 bachelor's programs, and graduate students have more than 70 degree and certificate programs available.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the most popular destination for undergraduate majors, claiming more than 35 percent of enrolled students in 2017. Engineering, education and business are also among the top areas of study.

Western New Mexico University counts roughly 3,500 degree seekers on its rolls, but the educational opportunity here is anything but small. A diverse array of more than 70 fields of study can be found here, "from accounting to zoology," as the school puts it, and the average class size is 18 students.

The Silver City school also has a place among the top colleges and universities in New Mexico for online programs and courses, offering close to 20 degree plans in the virtual classroom. Online degrees in business administration and education can be earned at the associate, bachelor's or master's level, good news for those who appreciate online courses.

The town of Silver City is community of fewer than 10,000 residents, located near the southern tip of Gila National Forest. Silver City itself is home to numerous art galleries and local events like the Silver City Blues Festival.

Albuquerque is the largest metro area in New Mexico by far, so it stands to reason that the largest student body among New Mexico universities should be found there. Founded in 1889, the University of New Mexico has grown into an institution that serves more than 34,000 students annually.

No fewer than 12 academic colleges and schools are equipped to guide UNM students on their path to graduation, including a few that may not be easy to find at other New Mexico schools. The College of Population Health, for example, focuses on public health issues, and the college of University Libraries and Learning Sciences trains aspiring librarians, archivists and information scholars.

The Albuquerque campus isn't the only location of UNM in the state. Branch campuses in Gallup, Los Alamos, Valencia and Taos work to serve students in other regions of the state.

Student success stands at the forefront of the mission at Eastern New Mexico University, and the institution makes sure to highlight the achievements of its recent graduates. Success stories of ENMU alumni are shared regularly on the institution's website to remind students of the many directions in which their education can take them.

Approximately 6,000 students attend classes at the main Portales campus of ENMU, with around 4,600 of them pursuing undergraduate degrees. The top bachelor's programs here are business administration, nursing, criminal justice and biology.

The wide range of online degree programs available at ENMU qualify it to be mentioned among the top schools in New Mexico for distance learning. More than 35 bachelor's program concentrations and 15 master's degree plans can be taken entirely online. Around a dozen minors are available for online students as well.

Located in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the state's largest mountain range, New Mexico Highlands University has a history that stretches back more than a century. The territorial legislature of New Mexico established the institution as New Mexico Normal School in 1893, but it grew quickly into an accredited university and took its current name in 1941.

NMHU aims to provide affordable education both online and on campus, and the numbers show that it's working. Undergraduate tuition and fees for a full-time, in-state student come to around $6,000 for the year -- nearly $4,000 more affordable than the national annual average of $9,970 for public universities.

Students who like a more intimate campus environment might feel right at home at NMHU. The Las Vegas campus had just over 1,700 students on the rolls in 2016.

The University of Phoenix is a nationwide chain of accredited for-profit institutions that offers degree programs at all academic levels. A brick-and-mortar campus does exist in Albuquerque, but online degree programs make up the bulk of its available academic plans.

Few other online colleges in New Mexico offer an array of online degrees as large as the one at University of Phoenix - New Mexico. More than 40 bachelor's programs, 30 master's degree plans and 10 Associate of Arts (A.A.) programs comprise the catalog here, as well as dozens of certificate programs and close to ten doctorates.

Degrees in business administration and management are the most popular programs system-wide at the University of Phoenix, and the programs offered at the Albuquerque campus reflect this. More than 15 types of Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in business are available as of 2018.

Chances are pretty good that students at Southwest University of the Visual Arts -- a Tucson, Arizona, based school with a campus in New Mexico -- could all know each other's names. The Albuquerque outpost of this private arts college is one of the smallest institutions in the state, with total enrollment of fewer than 300 students.

Perhaps because of that close-knit campus environment, SUVA was one of the best schools in New Mexico in terms of graduation rate. More than eight out of every ten students completed their degrees within six years.

As an arts university, SUVA doesn't offer traditional bachelor's degrees in subjects like business, psychology, math, history or the sciences. Students seeking degrees in animation, advertising, graphic design, photography, landscape architecture or other creative pursuits, however, should be among kindred spirits here.