New Mexico
State University-Main Campus
Public Research University in Las Cruces, NM. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $39,067.
Students who entered New Mexico State University-Main Campus reach a median of $39,067 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 55%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $17,095 in debt — in line with the national norm. On economic mobility, 3.2% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 89% of applicants are accepted. With 13,095 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. About 21% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below cover the middle 50% of the enrolled students who submitted a score — not the whole class, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 450–570 | 1,627 (68%) |
| SAT Math | 420–540 | |
| ACT Composite | 17–24 | 440 (18%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at New Mexico State University-Main Campus →Academics
Completion is middling: 55% finish inside six years. Retention of 73% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Retention drops to 4% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. The student-faculty ratio is 16:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 11,561 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $10,719 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $6,648 at $0–30k against $14,049 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid reaches 80% of students at an average of $14,510. 21% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 2,366 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $6,648 |
| $30–48k | $7,424 |
| $48–75k | $9,861 |
| $75–110k | $13,146 |
| $110k+ | $14,049 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,410 of these 11,561 students, totalling $12,777,686 — an average of $5,302 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Dona Ana County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)