August 26, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
UNM Sees Record Enrollment
By Martin Salazar, Journal Staff WriterThe University of New Mexico kicked off its fall semester Monday with a record number of freshmen, including large increases in National Merit and National Hispanic students.
According to UNM, 3,190 freshmen were signed up for classes Monday, a 9.85 percent boost over last year. Main campus enrollment was roughly 24,900, about the same as last year, spokeswoman Karen Wentworth said. The numbers are unofficial. The official census will be Sept. 12.
"I think it's a vote of confidence for the university," said Carmen Brown, who started her job as vice president for enrollment management on Aug. 1. The number of National Merit students jumped from four last year to 15 this year, Wentworth said. The number of National Hispanic students jumped from 10 to 24.
The increase is likely due to a new initiative by President David Schmidly to devote more resources to attracting National Merit, National Hispanic and National Achievement scholars. UNM announced in January it would make full-ride scholarships available to all graduating National Merit semi-finalists in the state, an offer worth around $13,000 a year for four years. The offer was also extended to National Hispanic and National Achievement scholars in the state.
Merit finalists are generally considered to be the top high school students nationwide.
Brown called the increase in National Merit students a significant achievement. "They can go anywhere," she said. "They have choices, and they chose the University of New Mexico."