Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.26
Liaison Allison Jenks
Submission Date Nov. 30, 2012
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.1

New Mexico State University
PAE-10: Affordability and Access Programs

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 joni newcomer
Mgr. Env. Policy and Sustainability
Facilities and Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have policies and programs in place to make it accessible and affordable to low-income students?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s participation in federal TRIO programs:

The Office of Student Engagement is a program that has existed for at least 20 years. We file for the grant using our staff that are I&G (Institutional and General) and grant-funded positions that support the TRIO-funded students. Peer mentoring and assistance are provided with applications for financial aid and other academic and social support programs as needed.


A brief description of the institution’s policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students?:

Over 73% of our students are on some form of financial aid. CAMP (College Assistance Migrant Program) is a federally funded program that we use for specific populations. We also use Upward Bound, ENLACE (a statewide collaboration of people who represent the voices of under-represented children and families – people who have not traditionally had a say in policy initiatives which have had direct impacts on their communities or their families), and NM MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement), to name a few.


A brief description of the institution’s programs to equip the institution's faculty and staff to better serve students from low-income backgrounds:

Our Student Services Office has created a list of questions and answers that are often asked by parents. This list of Q/A is shared with faculty and staff so they better understand the things that low-income students are dealing with as a family and as a student.

We have a system in place called “Quick Connect” that goes to the Office of Student Engagement who contacts the student when they notice there might be problems during the semester. The faculty is then contacted to support that student on a personal basis.


A brief description of the institution’s programs to prepare students from low-income backgrounds for higher education:

“Red to Green” (also a metaphor of our New Mexico Chile) is for financial literacy and is required for any student getting a loan. It helps students manage their money. This is a program that the students designed themselves with a grant through the Student Success Office!

NMSU uses a New Mexico state program which is a dual-credit program for high school and college-level classes; this is an admission policy. Chicano Programs does classes working with "first generation" competence, to assure that the children that are first generation from Mexico are supported.


A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:

Of our $3M scholarships – 2/3 of this goes to need-based students (required as need-based, so they must be low income).

“Scholar Dollar” is for staff as a challenge of getting scholarships awarded where the staff learns a new programming language. In 2011, we changed to a single on-line application and the information goes to each individual college department for their specific needs.


A brief description of the institution’s programs to guide parents of low-income students through the higher education experience:

Parents have private family sessions. Once a student is through the funnel at a certain level, the parents get the paperwork. A large percentage of our parents are solely Spanish speaking so we have sessions in Spanish. Parents get emails on the advancement of their children's progress through the system.


A brief description of the institution’s targeted outreach to recruit students from low-income backgrounds:

NMSU faculty and staff use various means of communications. We have students and parents on the Navajo reservation with no internet and computer access. Our communications funnel recruits new students from initial meeting all the way down to the actual enrollment as well as training recruiters and front desk staff. We regularly send staff to Albuquerque to sign up students because they can’t get to Las Cruces – this gives them the better classes because they are enrolling early.


A brief description of the institution’s other admissions policies and programs:

See link below


A brief description of the institution’s other financial aid polices or programs:

See link below


A brief description of the institution’s other policies and programs not covered above:

See link below


The website URL where information about programs in each of the areas listed above is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

We are proud that our Red Green program was noted by AASHE in their "Top Ten Schools List" under "Affordability and Access Programs" in February 2012.


We are proud that our Red Green program was noted by AASHE in their "Top Ten Schools List" under "Affordability and Access Programs" in February 2012.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.