Still More on New Mexico’s Bloated Higher Ed System

Martin Salazar of the Albuquerque Journal had a nice story this morning that further buttressed previous Rio Grande Foundation research and writing on the bloat in higher ed in New Mexico. Just search for “higher education” at our blog for even more.

One of the better bits of writing in Salazar’s piece was the following:

New Mexico does a great job of getting students in the doors of colleges and universities. But the state does a lousy job of graduating those students. UNM’s six-year graduation rate, for instance, is 42.7 percent, and that’s one of the better graduation rates posted by a New Mexico university.

Maybe someday we’ll realize that trying to be all things to all people is a recipe for mediocrity and that it doesn’t make sense to build a college and university in everyone’s backyard.

According to Salazar, “The state Board of Finance has asked for a master plan for higher education before approving any new degree programs, and the Higher Education Department is hard at work developing that plan.” This is a start, but it would seem that real cutbacks, not just restraint, is necessary. Hopefully the Legislature and incoming Governor have the stomach to make the tough choices necessary to make higher ed as efficient and cost-effective as possible.

Oh, and just in case you think that money spent on college is always well-spent, check out this story on why college tuition may be “the next bubble” to burst.