New Mexico ranking · Clery-reported enrollment 2024

The Largest Universities in New Mexico

Every New Mexico college and university that reports an enrolment to the U.S. Department of Education, ranked biggest first. Total enrolment counts online and distance students, so an institution with a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

23,124
Largest in New Mexico
41
Institutions reporting
921
Median New Mexico institution
#40
of 51 states by enrolment

University of New Mexico-Main Campus is the largest institution in New Mexico with 23,124 students

According to U.S. Department of Education campus-safety enrollment filings for 2024, University of New Mexico-Main Campus leads New Mexico at 23,124 students, and the five largest hold 62.2% of state enrollment. This list covers all 41 reporting institutions. Totals include online learners, so a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

Largest in New Mexico
23,124
Institutions reporting
41
State students in top 5
62.2%
Median New Mexico institution
921

New Mexico in one line

University of New Mexico-Main Campus is the largest institution in New Mexico with 23,124 students, about 25x the 921 of the median institution in the state. 62.2% of every student in the state is enrolled at just these five institutions, so New Mexico's higher education is concentrated at the top.

23,124
students at University of New Mexico-Main Campus
62.2%
of state students, in the top 5
115,066
students enrolled across New Mexico
46
the #41 cutoff

Enrollment is total students reported in the OPE campus-safety disclosure for 2024, including online and distance learners. IPEDS supplies institution location and sector. The incident column is reported on-campus Clery Act incidents per 1,000 enrolled students.

Size joined to safety

Among the 12 mid-to-large campuses on this New Mexico size list, 8 report below the 1.58 national median incident rate per 1,000, 0 also rank in the national safest-50, and the list averages 2.66 against that 1.58 median (University of New Mexico-Main Campus itself reports 11.42).

12
mid-to-large campuses on this list
8
below 1.58 national median /1k
0
also in national safest-50
11.42
University of New Mexico-Main Campus rate /1k

Incident rates are on-campus Clery Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports per 1,000 enrolled students for campuses with enrollment ≥ 2,000 and a national safety rank. A lower rate is not a personal safety verdict, reporting culture and online enrollment dilute raw counts. See /rankings/safest-campuses for the size-fair national list.

What this ranking shows about New Mexico

New Mexico ranks 40th by total enrolment among the states and DC, so even its largest institutions are modest against national leaders. 28 of the 41 institutions reporting enrolment here are public, an unusually public-heavy sector, so the top of this list is largely a map of the state's public systems.

Ranking by total enrolment puts institutions with large online programmes above institutions with larger physical campuses, because a virtual student body is not limited by classrooms or housing. A list of the biggest campuses by students physically present would order differently, and neither list is more correct, because they answer different questions. Enrolment here is the total headcount an institution reported to the federal OPE reporting cohort, which counts undergraduate and graduate students together and makes no distinction between full-time and part-time study. A university with a very large part-time or continuing-education population can therefore outrank one with more students on campus on any given weekday.

The incident-rate column is here because institution size changes how a raw incident count should be read, not because a larger university is more or less safe. Two institutions with the same number of reported incidents are not comparable if one enrols five times as many students, so the column expresses incidents per thousand enrolled. A rate still reflects reporting practice as much as underlying risk: an institution that encourages reporting and investigates thoroughly can record more incidents than one that does neither, and that is the opposite of what a naive reading suggests. Institutions where most students study online show diluted rates, because the denominator counts students who never set foot on a campus. Read the column as context for the size ranking, never as a safety verdict, and see our methodology for how both figures are assembled. For the same institutions ranked by cost rather than size, see the cheapest colleges rankings, or browse every institution we hold a record for.

Comparing states? See the 50 largest universities in the US, or this state's campus safety profile.

Every reporting institution in New Mexico is listed below. Here is how their enrollments spread:

New Mexico enrollment distribution

Clery-reported enrollment · 41 New Mexico institutions · 2024

46 Top 100% higher than 0% of 41 New Mexico institutions

Show national distribution 0–3,000: 33 New Mexico institutions (80%). This entry sits in this band. 3,000–6,000: 3 New Mexico institutions (7%). Above this entry. 6,000–9,000: 2 New Mexico institutions (5%). Above this entry. 9,000–12,000: 0 New Mexico institutions (0%). Above this entry. 12,000–15,000: 0 New Mexico institutions (0%). Above this entry. 15,000–18,000: 1 New Mexico institutions (2%). Above this entry. 18,000–21,000: 1 New Mexico institutions (2%). Above this entry. 21,000–24,000: 1 New Mexico institutions (2%). Above this entry. Smallest on list 0 24,000 every New Mexico institution, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more New Mexico institutions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey · 2024

All 41 ranked institutions in New Mexico

5
San Juan College Farmington, NM · Public
Enrollment
6,452
Incidents /1k
0.78
30
St. John's College Santa Fe, NM · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
467
Incidents /1k
4.28
# Institution EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM · Public 23,124 100% of the leader · rank #1 11.42
2 Central New Mexico Community College Albuquerque, NM · Public 19,342 84% of the leader · rank #2 1.55
3 New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM · Public 15,408 67% of the leader · rank #3 3.96
4 New Mexico State University-Dona Ana Las Cruces, NM · Public 7,200 31% of the leader · rank #4 8.61
5 San Juan College Farmington, NM · Public 6,452 28% of the leader · rank #5 0.78
6 Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus Portales, NM · Public 5,725 25% of the leader · rank #6 0.35
7 Santa Fe Community College Santa Fe, NM · Public 4,469 19% of the leader · rank #7 0.00
8 Western New Mexico University Silver City, NM · Public 3,531 15% of the leader · rank #8 0.85
9 New Mexico Highlands University Las Vegas, NM · Public 2,704 12% of the leader · rank #9 1.11
10 Clovis Community College Clovis, NM · Public 2,342 10% of the leader · rank #10 0.43
11 New Mexico Junior College Hobbs, NM · Public 2,235 10% of the leader · rank #11 0.00
12 Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell Campus Roswell, NM · Public 2,082 9% of the leader · rank #12 2.88
13 Navajo Technical University Crownpoint, NM · Public 1,704 7% of the leader · rank #13 1.17
14 University of New Mexico-Gallup Campus Gallup, NM · Public 1,687 7% of the leader · rank #14 2.37
15 New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Socorro, NM · Public 1,622 7% of the leader · rank #15 5.55
16 Southeast New Mexico College Carlsbad, NM · Public 1,431 6% of the leader · rank #16 0.00
17 Northern New Mexico College Espanola, NM · Public 1,425 6% of the leader · rank #17 3.51
18 New Mexico State University-Alamogordo Alamogordo, NM · Public 1,152 5% of the leader · rank #18 0.00
19 University of the Southwest Hobbs, NM · Private nonprofit 1,130 5% of the leader · rank #19 0.00
20 Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development Santa Fe, NM · Public 947 4% of the leader · rank #20 1.06
21 University of New Mexico-Valencia County Campus Los Lunas, NM · Public 921 4% of the leader · rank #21 1.09
22 University of New Mexico-Taos Campus Ranchos De Taos, NM · Public 896 4% of the leader · rank #22 1.12
23 Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine Las Cruces, NM · Private for-profit 841 4% of the leader · rank #23 103.45
24 Eastern New Mexico University Ruidoso Branch Community College Ruidoso, NM · Public 773 4% of the leader · rank #24 0.00
25 New Mexico State University-Grants Grants, NM · Public 754 4% of the leader · rank #25 0.00
26 Luna Community College Las Vegas, NM · Public 743 4% of the leader · rank #26 0.00
27 Mesalands Community College Tucumcari, NM · Public 563 4% of the leader · rank #27 0.00
28 Pima Medical Institute-Albuquerque Albuquerque, NM · Private for-profit 562 4% of the leader · rank #28 0.00
29 Brookline College-Albuquerque Albuquerque, NM · Private for-profit 560 4% of the leader · rank #29 0.00
30 St. John's College Santa Fe, NM · Private nonprofit 467 4% of the leader · rank #30 4.28
31 New Mexico Military Institute Roswell, NM · Public 463 4% of the leader · rank #31 2.16
32 Carrington College-Albuquerque Albuquerque, NM · Private for-profit 357 4% of the leader · rank #32 0.00
33 University of New Mexico-Los Alamos Campus Los Alamos, NM · Public 349 4% of the leader · rank #33 0.00
34 Southwestern College Santa Fe, NM · Private nonprofit 289 4% of the leader · rank #34 0.00
35 Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Albuquerque, NM · Public 215 4% of the leader · rank #35 13.95
36 Aveda Institute-New Mexico Albuquerque, NM · Private for-profit 161 4% of the leader · rank #36 0.00
37 Glitz School of Cosmetology Las Cruces, NM · Private for-profit 124 4% of the leader · rank #37 8.06
38 Paul Mitchell the School-Albuquerque Albuquerque, NM · Private for-profit 119 4% of the leader · rank #38 0.00
39 Avenue Academy, A Cosmetology Institute Albuquerque, NM · Private for-profit 96 4% of the leader · rank #39 20.83
40 Vogue College of Cosmetology-Santa Fe Santa Fe, NM · Private for-profit 55 4% of the leader · rank #40 0.00
41 A Better U Beauty Barber Academy Albuquerque, NM · Private for-profit 46 4% of the leader · rank #41 0.00

What to do with this

Size is a starting filter for New Mexico, not a verdict on any institution.

Institutions below the reporting floor, or without enrolment in the Campus Safety and Security Survey cohort for 2024, do not appear on this list. IPEDS supplies classification and location.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Campus Safety and Security Survey (enrollment and Clery disclosures), joined to the IPEDS institutional directory (location and classification)

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page is computed at request time from the federal source tables; no ranking position or count is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-10-26.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.