NMSU receives more than US$1.3 million to support programs for middle and high school students

NEW MEXICO – Through a new federal grant, New Mexico State University (NMSU) will have the opportunity to help improve the lives of hundreds of middle and high school students in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

The university reported that through NMSU’s TRIO Educational Talent Search program, students will receive services that will help them graduate from high school and pursue postsecondary education.

The program will serve students at Mountain View Middle School and Alamogordo High School in Otero County. The five-year, $1.386 million, $386,620 grant from the U.S. Department of Education will support 500 low-income, would-be first-generation college students and their families each year.

“This strengthens NMSU’s commitment to empower, engage and guide potential first-generation college-bound students to reach their educational potential by providing them with academic and non-academic support services,” said Tony Marin, co-principal investigator of the program and assistant vice president for student affairs. 

The program, which is funded from September 2022 through August 2027, offers services such as academic, financial, career or personal counseling, including advice on entering secondary and postsecondary programs; career exploration and aptitude assessment; tutoring services; postsecondary education information; and exposure to college campuses.

In addition, students are provided with information on student financial aid and assistance and completing college applications; support in preparing for college entrance exams; tutoring programs; special activities for students in grades six through eight; and workshops for participants’ families. 

“Middle school is a critical developmental period when children begin to really explore and examine their future career goals and who they see themselves as,” said Merranda Romero Marin, co-principal investigator of the program and professor of human development and family sciences.

With the addition of the TRIO Educational Talent Search program, NMSU now supports seven TRIO programs, the most of any institution of higher education in New Mexico.