Southeast New
Mexico College
Public Community College in Carlsbad, NM. Six-year graduation rate 20%.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 20% — below national average
Academics
Only 20% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential. Retention is weak: only 49% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. At 12:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a public community college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 426 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $4,917 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $5,147 at $0–30k, $6,956 at $75–110k. Grant aid reaches 56% of students at an average of $4,060. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 5% of students.
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 · 45 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 | $5,147 |
| $30–48k | $6,466 |
| $48–75k | $6,176 |
| $75–110k | $6,956 |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 20 of these 426 students, totalling $127,549 — an average of $6,377 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Eddy 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)