The University of New Mexico has been recognized in an Excelencia in Education report as a top 20 producer of Hispanic bachelor’s degrees in education.
The report, “Finding your Workforce: Latino Talent in Education,” says the top 25 institutions reviewed meet the nation’s economic needs by intentionally serving Latino students and producing Latino talent. It lists UNM as 18th nationally in producing Hispanic education graduates at the bachelor’s level during the 2019-2020 academic year and New Mexico State University as 22nd.
“Our state has a huge need for teachers from backgrounds that represent their students, and that has been a strong mission for both our college and the university, so this is a testament to the hard work we have done to ensure that we can have the folks from New Mexico be represented within the teaching profession,” said Kristopher Goodrich, UNM College of Education & Human Sciences (COEHS) dean.
Jay Parkes, UNM COEHS associate dean of students, believes the university sits on this list for several reasons, such as UNM’s longstanding commitment to Hispanic communities and through the college’s teacher residency partnerships, a collaboration that won a national award in 2022.
In recent years he says there’s also been a big emphasis on reaching other parts of the state to bring in diverse talent, which he believes has helped.
“In the last five years, the college has been focusing on moving teacher preparation, especially outside of Albuquerque,” Parkes said. “How can we reach communities that aren’t an easy driving distance to UNM’s main campus, and how do we connect with high school students in those communities?”