One Of The Top 2 Colleges In New Mexico Is In Las Cruces

Our neighbors in Las Cruces have something else to brag about thanks to US News and World Report. Their recent college rankings put NMSU at #1 in New Mexico.

U. S. News And World Report released their annual college rankings and New Mexico State University edged out the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to be the #1 college in the land of enchantment.

The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque came in 10 places behind NMSU in the US News' ranking. The 2 schools hold the top spots in New Mexico while, on the national scale, they were #222 and #242.

The Stats Are Misleading

The U 'n NM population is a little bigger than NMSUs', (12,507 students vs. 17.771), tuition runs a little higher, ($9,157 vs, $11,455), the graduation rate is a little higher, (34% vs. 37%), and graduates tend to earn a little more. ($32,960 vs. $37,150) Read more here.

Yet NMSU came out on top - Go Aggies. No offense to anyone from Duke City but, to me, NMSU's edge is the city itself. It has a friendlier, small town vibe, there's lots to see and do and it's infinitely cleaner and more scenic than Albuquerque.

READ MORE: Las Cruces Named Best College Town 2025

It's also right next to El Paso which offers even more in the way of fun stuff to do, cool places to go and other opportunities personally, academically and professionally.

Who Won Texas?

Rice University in Houston was #1 and UT Austin took 2nd for Texas. UTEP was #17.  New Mexico is smaller and has fewer universities than Texas which explains why, (despite many similarities to NMSU), UTEP earned a lesser state ranking. Nationally, we're behind both NM's top 2 at 257.