New Mexico State University

Data Visualization Narrative: 

Enrollment  

The dashboard provides an overview of enrollment, student credit hours, and student/faculty demographics at New Mexico State University's Las Cruces Campus, including the Main and NMSU-Global branches, for Fall 2023. The data shows an increase in overall enrollment from 14,268 in Fall 2022 to 14,779 in Fall 2023, with student credit hours also rising from 169,684.5 to 177,936 over the same period. 

The dashboard highlights the percentage of Native American enrollment, with the Native American student population slightly increasing from 5.7% in Fall 2022 to 6.3% in Fall 2023 when measured by the Native American Indicator. However, by the IPEDS reporting category, which accounts for students who may report multiple races or Hispanic ethnicity, the Native American representation remains low at 2.6% in Fall 2023, up from 2.4% in the previous year. 

Additionally, the dashboard displays the percentage of under-represented minorities (URM) among faculty and students. For Fall 2023, 34.9% of students are classified as URM, a slight increase from 34.4% in Fall 2022, while 65.1% are non-URM. Among faculty, 31.4% were identified as URM in Fall 2022, and data for Fall 2023 URM faculty distribution will be available after November 5, 2023. 

Retention Rates

The dashboard provides an analysis of the first-to-second year retention rates for first-time full-time degree-seeking freshmen at New Mexico State University's Las Cruces Campus, including the Main and NMSU-Global branches, comparing the Fall 2021 and Fall 2022 cohorts. The overall retention rate increased from 72.6% for the Fall 2021 cohort (1,445 of 1,990 students retained) to 74.8% for the Fall 2022 cohort (1,715 of 2,292 students retained). 

The retention gap analysis, segmented by race/ethnicity and first-generation status, shows that for the Fall 2022 cohort, White students had a retention rate of 74.1%, slightly below the overall rate. Hispanic students had a retention rate of 73.2%, matching the overall retention rate with 0.9 gap. However, Black students had a lower retention rate of 61.3%, resulting in a 12.5% gap, and Native American students had the lowest retention rate at 50.9%, with a 23.2% gap. 

For first-generation students in the Fall 2022 cohort, the retention rate was 67.4%, which is 11.6% below the overall retention rate. In contrast, students who were not first-generation or whose first-generation status was unknown had a higher retention rate of 78.9%, with no gap relative to the overall retention rate. 

4-Year Graduation Rates

The dashboard provides an analysis of the 4-year graduation rates for first-time full-time degree-seeking freshmen at New Mexico State University's Las Cruces Campus, including the Main and NMSU-Global branches, focusing on the Fall 2018 and Fall 2019 cohorts. The overall 4-year graduation rate slightly decreased from 33.9% for the Fall 2018 cohort to 32.6% for the Fall 2019 cohort. 

The graduation rate gap analysis, segmented by race/ethnicity and first-generation status, shows that White students in the Fall 2019 cohort had the highest graduation rate at 38.7%, with no gap relative to the overall rate. In contrast, Hispanic students had a graduation rate of 30.1%, resulting in an 8.6% gap, while Native American and Black students had significantly lower graduation rates of 18.8% and 16.7%, respectively, with gaps of 19.9% and 22.0%. 

For students classified by first-generation status, The Unknown or Not First Generation had a graduation rate of 35.1%, with no gap relative to the overall rate. However, first-generation students had a lower graduation rate of 24.7%, resulting in a 10.4% gap. 

6-Year Graduation Rates

The dashboard provides an analysis of the 6-year graduation rates for first-time full-time degree-seeking freshmen at New Mexico State University's Las Cruces Campus, including the Main and NMSU-Global branches, focusing on the Fall 2016 and Fall 2017 cohorts. The overall 6-year graduation rate increased from 50.9% for the Fall 2016 cohort to 52.2% for the Fall 2017 cohort. 

The graduation rate gap analysis, segmented by race/ethnicity and first-generation status, reveals that White students in the Fall 2017 cohort had the highest graduation rate at 58.1%, with no gap relative to the overall rate. Native American students had a graduation rate of 57.8%, resulting in a 0.3% gap. In contrast, Black and Hispanic students had significantly lower graduation rates, with Black students at 40.5% and Hispanic students at 50.3%, creating gaps of 17.6% and 7.7%, respectively. 

For students categorized by first-generation status, The Unknown or Not First Generation had a graduation rate of 54.5%, with no gap relative to the overall rate. However, first-generation students had a lower graduation rate of 45.9%, resulting in an 8.7% gap.  

R1 Classification

The dashboard presents key metrics related to the Carnegie R1 classification criteria for New Mexico State University's Las Cruces Campus, including the Main and NMSU-Global branches. These metrics include research expenditures, doctoral degrees awarded, and postdoctoral appointments. For the 2021-22 academic year, NMSU reported $105,305,000 in research expenditures from external sources, a critical factor in maintaining and advancing the university's research capabilities. Additionally, the number of doctoral degrees awarded in research and scholarship declined from 117 in 2021-22 to 83 in 2022-23. In Fall 2022, the university had 50 postdoctoral appointments. These indicators are essential for assessing NMSU's progress toward meeting the Carnegie R1 classification, which recognizes institutions with the highest levels of research activity. The data is preliminary and may be updated as more specific criteria for R1 classification become available, with FY23 research expenditures expected to be reported by March 2024 and Fall 2023 postdoctoral appointments anticipated by November 5, 2023.