The Rio Grande Foundation recently analyzed New Mexico's higher education system and found that taxpayers could save $80 million annually just by making the least efficient institutions as efficient as the most efficient institutes in their category (4 year or community college). Paul Gessing was invited to come on KNAT TV's "Joy in Our Town" show in Albuquerque to discuss the study's findings.

Is demography destiny?

If so, say some experts, states with growing Hispanic populations seem doomed to fail, weighed down with ineffective school systems and abysmal test scores.

One academic recently predicted states like New Mexico will become the "Appalachia of the 21st Century." He based his prediction on well-known statistics concerning the dropout and low achievement scores of Hispanic students. Nationwide, Hispanics drop out of high school at appalling rates. When they do graduate, they have achievement test scores roughly equivalent on average to eighth grade Anglo students.

(Albuquerque) According to a new study by the Rio Grande Foundation, New Mexico’s higher education system holds the possibility of significant, relatively painless cost savings totaling $80 million annually. The study, “Poor Performers in New Mexico Higher Ed: Budget Increases and Inefficiency,” by Adjunct Scholar Kevin Rollins, separately analyzes per-pupil expenditures of New Mexico’s four and two year universities.

Higher education accounts for $800 million of New Mexico’s General Fund spending. As Rio Grande Foundation Adjunct Fellow Kevin Rollins points out in his new paper, "Poor Performers in New Mexico Higher Ed: Budget Increases and Inefficiency," it is hard to understand why certain universities and two year institutions do the job of teaching students for far less than others, with no apparent reduction in quality.

Higher education accounts for $800 million of New Mexico’s General Fund spending. As Rio Grande Foundation Adjunct Fellow Kevin Rollins points out in his new paper, "Poor Performers in New Mexico Higher Ed: Budget Increases and Inefficiency," it is hard to understand why certain universities and two year institutions do the job of teaching students for far less than others, with no apparent reduction in quality.

For a listing of schools by cost-effectiveness and in-depth analysis by Rollins, read the full study here. 

In a recent ranking of state schools by the Rio Grande Foundation, Doña Ana Community College came out as the least cost per student in the state. 

DACC not only beat out every other satellite campus of New Mexico State University, but every community college. In fact, it was half the cost of the most expensive community college. How did it achieve this, and can its apparent success be replicated elsewhere?

I greatly appreciated NMSU-Carlsbad President Russell Hardy’s response (4/27/10) to my earlier op-ed (4/24/10) on the costs per student at Carlsbad compared to other state post-secondary institutions. While bringing up several interesting points, his use of cost figures is misleading and distracts from the larger economic questions.