Report names UNM as top 20 producer of Hispanic bachelor degrees in education

'Incredibly proud': That's how the College of Education & Human Sciences (COEHS) Dean Kristopher Goodrich describes a recent report naming The University of New Mexico a top 20 producer of Hispanic bachelor's degrees in education.

An Excelencia in Education report published in March listed UNM as 18th nationally in producing Hispanic education graduates at the bachelor's level during the 2019-2020 academic year.

"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," Goodrich said.

The report called Finding your Workforce: Latino Talent in Education says these top 25 institutions the organization reviewed meet the nation's economic needs by intentionally serving Latino students and producing Latino talent.

"Much of this has to do with the state's great work providing additional funding around teacher residencies and making the teaching field more attractive and much more sustainable," Goodrich said. "Also, the generous support of our donors who have allowed us additional funding to ensure we can recruit folks from diverse communities."

Of the top 25 schools where Latinos earned bachelor's degrees in education during 2019-2020, the majority were public institutions and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI). California had the most schools, followed by Arizona. Florida International University took the top spot, with California State University-Los Angeles right behind.

Two New Mexico universities made the list, UNM ranked 18, while New Mexico State University ranked 22.

"When you look at the innovative programming in the college, it's nationally recognized, people turn to our faculty and our programs to see how to do it well and do it right," said Jay Parkes, COEHS associate dean of student success. "UNM is one of the largest Research 1 Hispanic Serving Institutions in the United States and one of the largest Minority Serving Institutions, so this speaks to UNM's national presence as an HSI and MSI."

Parkes 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."

Goodrich says COEHS increased the size and scope of their recruitment team thanks to investments within the college and support from the provost's office.

"We're not only reaching out to our branch campuses but also committed to sending our recruitment team to New Mexico's border states, with specific attention around some of the communities that we may wish to recruit towards, so bilingual communities, predominately Hispanic communities, Indigenous communities," Goodrich said.

The Excelencia report says more than one-third of all Latinos who earned a bachelor's or master's degree graduated from a top 25 institution awarding degrees in the education of Latinos.

"This recognition is not the end of the journey, but it's a signpost along a long broad road we have been traveling and working hard on," Parkes said. "We have more we want to do, the Yazzie/Martinez case and the follow-up from that has shown we have a lot of work to do."

The University of New Mexico is a Hispanic-serving institution as defined by the U.S. Department of Education.