New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University is a public, land-grant, research university in University Park, New Mexico, United States, in the Las Cruces area. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-grant university in the region. NMSU is a university system, with its main campus in Las Cruces and satellite campuses in Alamogordo, Doña Ana County, and Grants. Through the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, it has centers or programs in all 33 counties in the state.
Initially established as Las Cruces College, NMSU was designated a land-grant college in 1889 and renamed New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts; it received its present name in 1960. NMSU offers over 180 degree programs, including 28 doctoral, 58 master's, and 96 baccalaureate programs. It had approximately 22,711 enrolled in Fall 2024, with a faculty-to-student ratio of roughly 1 to 16. New Mexico State's athletic teams, the Aggies, compete at the NCAA Division I level in Conference USA.
NMSU has a research activity designation of "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production". NMSU is the lead institute for the New Mexico National Space Grant Consortium.
History
Hiram Hadley, an Earlham College-educated teacher from Indiana, founded Las Cruces College. Upon its opening on September 17, 1888, it included an elementary school, a university preparatory school, and a business school; it "was not a college in the contemporary meaning of the word."A year later, the Territorial Assembly of New Mexico provided for the establishment of an agricultural college and agricultural experiment station with the Rodey Act of 1889. It stated: "Said institution is hereby located at or near the town of Las Cruces in the County of Doña Ana, upon a tract of land of not less than one hundred acres." Designated as the land-grant college for New Mexico under the Morrill Act, it was named the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
Las Cruces College merged with the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts and opened on January 21, 1890. It began with 35 students and six faculty members. The college was supposed to graduate its first student in 1893, but the only senior, Sam Steel, was murdered before he was able to receive his diploma. Classes met in the two-room adobe building of Las Cruces College until new buildings were erected on the campus three miles south of Las Cruces. In February 1891, McFie Hall, popularly known as Old Main, opened its doors.
In 1960, to better represent its expanded programs and operations, New Mexico A&M was renamed New Mexico State University.
Organization and administration
Regulated by the New Mexico Constitution, the Regents of New Mexico State University are a corporate body that implements legislation over the control and management of NMSU. The board is made of up five persons appointed by the governor of New Mexico with the consent of the senate.Full-time faculty members number 840, with a staff of 3,113.
Campus
The main campus of New Mexico State University occupies a core of, adjacent to but not within the city limits of Las Cruces. It is located adjacent to Interstate 25, surrounded by desert landscape and greenhouses. The main campus is also bordered by Interstate 10, which is the main east–west interstate highway across the southern part of the United States. To the east of Interstate 25, the campus facilities consist of the President's residence, NMSU Golf Course, the "A" Mountain west slope, and the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. South of University Avenue are Pan American Plaza, 48 acres of horse farm, and the Fabian Garcia Science center, which houses the Chile Pepper Institute's research, teaching and demonstration garden, algal biofuels research equipment, grape vineyards and gazebos, and fields and greenhouses for plant research projects. About six miles south of campus, on 203 acres of land, is the Leyendecker Plant Science Research Center.The Las Cruces campus is home to a nesting population of Swainson's hawks, a raptor species currently protected by federal law. Pedestrians are advised to be careful when walking on Stewart Street, as the birds can be aggressive during nesting season.
The first master plan of the university was to create a "horseshoe", a U-shaped drive, in an open large lawn. At the center was Old Main, the original campus building, originally known as McFie Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1910. The cornerstone and remains of Mcfie Hall stand near the flagpole in the middle of the horseshoe. Today, the horseshoe is the center of campus and is the location of the main administration building, Hadley Hall, which sits at the top of the horseshoe, and other classroom buildings.
NMSU is a land-grant institution with a presence in all 33 counties of New Mexico, a satellite learning center in Albuquerque, 13 research and science centers, distance education opportunities, and five campuses in Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Grants, Doña Ana County, and Las Cruces.
Medical school
, a private medical school, is located on NMSU's main campus. Medical students can utilize the facilities and amenities of NMSU's campus, including on-campus student housing. BCOM began instruction in August 2016 and graduated its first class in May 2020. BCOM and NMSU created a pipeline program whereby qualified NMSU students are guaranteed a seat at the medical school following graduating from NMSU. BCOM is the first osteopathic medical school in New Mexico and just one of two medical schools in the state, the other being in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico.Libraries
NMSU has two major libraries on the main campus, Branson Hall Library and Zuhl Library. Both libraries have a total collection of more than 1 million volumes.Branson Hall Library
Branson Hall Library was built in 1951 and houses texts and resources related to engineering, business, agriculture, science, special collections, maps, government publications, and archives.The New Mexico State University Library, part of the Branson Hall Library, is an official depository for documents produced by United States and State of New Mexico government agencies. The federal government established a system of depositories in 1813 in order to provide government information to the public free of charge. The New Mexico State University Library joined the depository program in 1907.
Zuhl Library
Zuhl Library was built in 1992. The library houses texts and resources related to the arts, humanities, and sciences.Museums and collections
NMSU is home to several museums, collections, and galleries. The NMSU Arthropod Museum, which houses more than 150,000 research and 5,000 teaching specimens, is housed in Skeen Hall. Specimens are used globally for taxonomic research and within the state for community outreach. The University Museum serves the community as a repository and exhibitor of local and regional culture and history. The Klipsch Museum contains materials representing more than 80 years of audio engineering. The Zuhl Collection combines the functions of an art gallery and natural history museum and showcases thousands of specimens of petrified wood, fossils, and minerals.Academics
The NMSU faculty senate consists of 70 elected faculty and has shared governance over academic policies across the NMSU system.NMSU offers a wide variety of programs across multiple disciplines, including agriculture, education, engineering, and the sciences. There are 58 master's degree programs, 96 baccalaureate degree programs, and 28 doctoral programs. Over 4,400 courses are available across 54 academic departments.
In addition to the main campus in Las Cruces, NMSU has community colleges in Alamogordo, Doña Ana County, and Grants, through which it offers academic, vocational/technical, and continuing education programs. In accord with its land-grant mission, the university provides informal, off-campus educational programs through the Cooperative Extension Service. Through a statewide network of nine research facilities, the Agricultural Experiment Station conducts basic and applied research supporting agriculture, natural resources management, environmental quality, and improved quality of life.
NMSU is divided into six colleges and a graduate school:
- College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
- College of Arts and Sciences
- College of Business
- College of Engineering
- College of Health, Education and Social Transformation
- Honors College
- Graduate School
Reputation and rankings
In 2021, NMSU was recognized as one of the top 100 colleges and universities for Hispanics by Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine. A 2017 report by the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics ranked NMSU first for federal funding for science and engineering activities among minority-serving institutions. In 2016, NMSU was among the top ten universities in awarding bachelor's degrees to Hispanics, including for communications technologies/technicians and support services ; agriculture, agriculture operations and related sciences ; hospitality administration/management ; engineering technologies and engineering-related fields ; and education. The school also ranked among the top ten universities in conferring bachelor's degrees to Native Americans and ninth for awarding bachelor's degrees to minorities overall for agriculture, agriculture operations, and related sciences. In 2024, New Mexico State University was ranked 16 in the nation by Washington Monthly for its support of women in STEM fields, particularly in Chemical Engineering.