Forbes ranks NMSU as one of America’s Top Colleges in 2015

Forbes ranks NMSU as one of America’s Top Colleges in 2015 DATE: 10/05/2015 WRITER: Tiffany Acosta, 575-646-3929, tfrank@nmsu.edu CONTACT: Judy Bosland, 575-646-6131, jbosland@nmsu.edu New Mexico State University has been recognized as one of America’s Top Colleges in 2015 by Forbes. On the list of 650 institutions, NMSU ranked 417th overall and 92nd in the South, which are improvements of 25 spots nationally and 12 spots regionally from a year ago. For the eighth year, Forbes and Washington, D.C.-based Center for College Affordability and Productivity joined to create a return on investment-focused ranking structure. Forbes and CCAP utilized five weighted categories to calculate the rankings: student satisfaction (25 percent), post-graduate success (32.5 percent), student debt (25 percent), four-year graduation rate (7.5 percent) and academic success (10 percent). For more details on ranking methodology, visit http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/. Additionally this year, NMSU was named as a top tier university on the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges for 2016 National Universities rankings. NMSU was listed at 114th on the Washington Monthly National Universities rankings for 2015. Washington Monthly ranks institutions based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility, which includes recruiting and graduating low-income students, research and service. In a Brookings Institute report, NMSU ranked in the top 10 percent for value-added mid-career salary. NMSU is listed at 89th of 863 institutions for value added mid-career earnings. Value added is the difference between a college’s predicted and actual student economic outcomes, as defined in the report. In January, NMSU received a 2015 Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for its institutional commitment to serving communities across New Mexico. NMSU is the only institution in the state and is one of 361 colleges and universities in the country to carry the Community Engagement Classification. - 30 -