Colleges could tackle housing and food needs with money in proposed budget

Last year, University of New Mexico researchers, in partnership with the state Higher Education Department, surveyed nearly 10,000 students at colleges and universities across the state. More than half of students, they found, had struggled to access food, especially nutritious food, and stable housing within the prior year — referred to by the researchers as basic needs insecurity.

Some students reported they’d thought about leaving school to get a second job. Others said they had a hard time focusing in class because of hunger or sometimes skipped class to pick up extra shifts.

The state budget proposal includes $4.5 million for “student retention initiatives” at public four-year institutions for the next fiscal year. It also includes $6.5 million for the following year and $9 million for the year after that for those initiatives.

The budget doesn’t specify that the funding be used to address students’ basic needs, but schools could choose to use it for that purpose, according to Higher Education Deputy Secretary Patricia Trujillo.

“The funding goes to the institutions, and they would make the decision, but with the idea that with all the work that we’ve been doing in basic needs, they would see that as a critical need in retaining students,” Trujillo said in an interview last week. The agency is also advocating for the funding to be available to both four-year and two-year schools, she said.

The statewide average retention rate, which measures how many students stay enrolled from year to year, for the 2021-2022 academic year was 59%, according to the agency.

While the Opportunity Scholarship makes colleges and universities tuition-free for most residents, New Mexico needs to pay more attention to the “true cost of college,” Trujillo said.

“Food is more expensive. Housing is more expensive. We’re kind of in this up and down. Vehicles are going to be more expensive. Transportation is going to be more expensive,” she said. “And so when we think about how we continue to support higher education, I think that as New Mexico moves forward, it’s really about thinking about what constellation [of policies] are we building to guide New Mexicans to those college degrees?”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recommended $8 million over the next fiscal year for basic needs and other student retention efforts, nearly double what’s currently in the budget. Her administration continues to push for that full amount, Trujillo said.

At the same time, she added, appropriations are “only part of the work.” Members of the Basic Needs Consortium, a group made up of the state’s colleges and universities, spent time at the Roundhouse this session, Trujillo said, to raise awareness among lawmakers and talk about new ways to better support students.

Editors note: This story was updated to clarify the word “constellation” reflected that the speaker was talking about a “constellation of policies,” which she stated earlier in the interview.