Reach Higher New Mexico

Not sure where to begin? We can help!

To get started let's answer a few questions. Do any of these apply to you within the last 18 months?

  • I graduated from high school
  • I completed a high school equivalency credential
  • I was honorably discharged from the military

Yes No

It looks like you are considered a recent high school graduate.

The Lottery Scholarship, New Mexico’s first tuition-free college program, covers 100% of tuition for recent New Mexico high school graduates.

Click here to learn more about scholarship options for you!
Do you plan on enrolling in a for-credit certificate, two-year, or four-year program at a public college or university in New Mexico?

Yes No

New Mexico state scholarship programs can only be used at public colleges or universities in New Mexico.

New Mexico state scholarship programs can only be used toward for-credit certificate and degree programs at one of the 29 participating public colleges and universities in the state.

Click here to view participating schools.
Do any of these apply to you?
  • I have already earned a bachelor's degree
  • I have 160 credit hours or more on my transcript from previous college attendance

Yes No

The New Mexico Lottery and Opportunity Scholarships are for students who have not yet earned a bachelor's degree and who have fewer than 160 credit hours on their transcript.

However, we encourage you to explore our loan-for-service and loan repayment plans:

It looks like you are considered a returning adult student.

The Opportunity Scholarship makes it possible for you to pursue a college degree or career training certificate, even if you are starting college for the first time later in life, or going back after many years.

Click here to learn more about scholarship options for you!

New Mexico Is the First State To Implement Free College Education

Source: BELatina In a country known for putting its students in debt before they can become professionally active, what the state of New Mexico is doing is unprecedented. The state government passed a law for its public university students to receive tuition-free...

New Mexico boosts its free college program, at least for now

Source: AP News SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Even after failing a test that set her back a semester, Maribel Rodriguez will be heading back to nursing school next spring with a generous new state scholarship that abandons eligibility criteria to help more working adults get...

3 Good Things: Sniff test, winds of change and free college

Source: Los Angeles Times Stop and smell the peaches It turns out that as much as history, culture and language may separate people around the world, we all have similar ideas about what smells good or bad. Whether researchers ask hunter-gatherers, fishers or farmers,...

New Mexico offers free tuition at public colleges and universities

Source: WBUR The Biden administration recently announced that federal student loan payments will be deferred again. But what if you didn't have to worry about the ballooning price of college tuition, and you never accumulated student debt in the first place? In New...

Our View: Farmington: New brain-drain hub?

Source: The Durango Herald Free college tuition for Native students means more educated, skilled labor landing in NM Ute Mountain Utes, Southern Utes and Navajo on reservations bordering New Mexico are eligible for free college tuition and fees in New Mexico under...

New Mexico implements free college education statewide

Source: The Washington Examiner New Mexico passed a law to ensure that its public university students will receive tuition free of charge, effective July 1. Residents who enroll in at least six credits can work toward their certificate, associate degree, or bachelor's...

Free college didn’t die with federal inaction. It moved.

Source: Higher Ed Dive Free college's momentum shifted from the federal level to state and local programs, signaling the movement's durability. How will it change institutions? When first lady Jill Biden stood before attendees at the Community College National...

New Mexico Raises the Bar

Source: Inside Higher ED Free community college done right. I’m a little late to this story, but it’s worth it. The state of New Mexico has announced the most comprehensive free community college program in the country. It’s better than I had dared to hope...

Simplicity Matters For Free College

Source: Forbes The free college movement continues to move forward even as it has been left out of the President’s budget request for 2023, much to the disappointment of advocates who want to see a robust federal-state partnership supporting access to public higher...