For the first time in a decade, UNM reports increase in enrollment

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Everyone’s a Lobo – or at least more people are now – as the University of New Mexico reported its first enrollment increase in a decade.

Across all campuses, UNM reported 25,890 students enrolled for fall 2022 – up from 25,441 last fall and 25,571 in fall 2020.

At the main Albuquerque campus, alone, there are 21,982 students enrolled for fall 2022 – up from 21,638 last fall.

“I think the increase is reflective of more students in the state choosing to come to the University of New Mexico,” said Dan Garcia, UNM’s vice president for enrollment management. “We’ve got our third-largest freshman class on record, we’re over 3500 in that class for the first time, since 2013.”

Fall 2022 has seen 3,649 first-year students, which is up from 3,101 last fall and up significantly from 2,586 in fall 2019.

Officials credit the university’s strategic plan as finally making a difference.

“We’re trying to tell the story of a research one university, the flagship university and why their education educational experience is going to be such a great one at UNM,” Garcia said.

They also credit the new Opportunity Scholarship and the longstanding legislative lottery scholarship.

“We have so many students that we’ve awarded this scholarship to, over 11,000 across all of our campuses,” Garcia said. “And it’s hard to deny the impact that the Opportunity Scholarship has made on enrollments this year.”

The goal is to keep those Lobos.

“That’s going to be our continued priority: To make sure that students, once they make the choice to come to UNM, that they’re going to stay and they’re going to persist to graduation,” Garcia said.