New Mexico State University

Las Cruces

New Mexico State University prides itself on being accessible to students of all ages and from all cultures and educational backgrounds. The state’s land-grant university, NMSU is a reflection of the Southwest’s vibrant mix of ethnic and cultural communities and, indeed, of the future demographic of the United States. A personalized small-college setting combined with the resources of a large research university allows NMSU to offer curricula designed to encourage student learning and success. Data show that these programs, guided by NMSU’s top-rated and award-winning teachers, help all scholars, no matter their educational background, reach their full potential by the time they graduate. Also key to undergraduate and graduate success at NMSU is the extent to which students can participate in research, extension and community service programs. NMSU’s wide-ranging research investigations touch many areas of human endeavor, with programs focused on water and energy resources, food safety, environmental issues, homeland security, and border health issues. For example, NMSU students and faculty are exploring alternative energy sources, including hydrogen fuel cells, solar energy and wind power. Environmental challenges are the focus of WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development, which sponsors an International Environmental Design Contest that attract students from around the world each spring. Innovative inquiries are focusing on providing clean water to the nation’s communities through desalination, brackish water utilization, and contaminant removal techniques to ensure safe water supplies. Research on desert ecology is conducted at the university’s Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center, and NMSU administers the NSF-funded Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research Project. At the forefront of space exploration efforts for many years, NMSU’s aerospace and astronomy research programs deepen our knowledge of space, communications, and help inform the complex and fascinating possibilities of orbital and suborbital space travel. NMSU operates Apache Point Observatory, home of the Astrophysical Research Consortium’s 3.5-meter telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope. The university’s Physical Science Laboratory operates NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility and launches high-altitude scientific balloons from sites all over the world. In keeping with the land-grant mission, NMSU provides extension and service outreach programs that benefit communities locally, statewide and globally. For instance, university extension programs help small farmers increase crop yields and utilize limited water supplies, while also providing innovative and accessible educational resources for small businesses. NMSU is also actively assisting with homeland security training. And with a long history of delivering education programs to rural areas, NMSU’s experts are now collaborating to help train educators in China in new technologies and innovative programs that will help them meet the educational and information needs of China’s rural populations. NMSU’s extension farming experts are collaborating in the Iraq Agricultural Extension Revitalization (IAER) Project, working with agricultural leaders in Iraq to help that country’s agricultural sector recover from years of war. NMSU is one of only five universities chosen by the federal government to participate. In all its facets, New Mexico State University shines as a place where students have a multitude of possibilities for learning and self-discovery — truly a place to live, learn and thrive.