Scholarship aims to attract out-of-state residents
Nonresident program will be offered to high school graduates, GED holders who excelled
In an effort to boost enrollment, Northern New Mexico College in Española is launching a new scholarship program that will offer in-state tuition rates to out-of-state residents who meet certain criteria.
The Bienvenido Non-Resident Scholarship Program, which follows a trend at colleges and universities around the state, will be offered to high-performing high school graduates, as well as students who have earned the equivalency of a diploma, such as a GED certificate.
The goal, college President Rick Bailey said, is to entice out-of-state residents to move to New Mexico to attend classes on campus.
“If this program attracts students from out of state to come to our higher-education institute, that … will make us more financially sufficient and help serve this community better,” Bailey said. “That’s good not just for the college but for the state.”
Students who have earned GED certificates often perform as well at the college as traditional high school graduates and deserve “the same opportunities” for such scholarships, he said.
The college’s governing board unanimously approved the program Friday.
In 2007, schools around New Mexico began offering in-state tuition to out-of-state students from Arizona, Colorado and certain parts of Texas who meet eligibility requirements.
With New Mexico colleges and universities offering some of the most competitive tuition rates in the nation — according to Student Loan Hero, an Austin, Texas-based student loan management company, the state’s average rate for instate students, at $112.77 per credit, is the lowest in the U.S. — the initiative could help draw students from elsewhere.
Vandeen McKenzie, head of the Financial Aid and Services Office at the Las Cruces-based New Mexico State University, said more than 4,300 of the school’s 14,850 students take advantage of a similar scholarship and tuition waiver program there.
“Sometimes it makes tuition cheaper for students to come here than to their in-state colleges,” she said. “It can make a difference.”
McKenzie said out-of-state students do not have to live in New Mexico to take advantage of the offer at NMSU. Some are distance learners enrolled in online classes.
But Bailey said he hopes Northern New Mexico College’s new program does lead students to relocate to the state. Though the campus does not have dormitories for students now, Bailey said, if the program catches on and grows, college leaders could support the idea of campus housing down the line.
Currently, he said, “For students who are coming from outside the [Española] valley, it is a challenge to find housing.”
Northern New Mexico College serves about 1,160 students, including those who attend part time, on a budget of about $26 million.
Full-time resident students pay about $1,630 tuition per semester to attend the college.
About 20 nonresident students currently pay about $6,050 per semester in tuition at the college.
The Bienvenido Non-Resident Scholarship takes effect in the coming school year, which begins Aug. 14. Details should be posted soon on the college’s website, www.nnmc.edu.