US College Programs

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) Programs in New Mexico, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median New Mexico liberal arts and general studies bachelor's program pays its graduates $31,428 in their first year, $4,729 less than the national median. Eastern New Mexico University reports the highest first-year pay ($43,186), and Eastern New Mexico University the lowest median debt ($22,301).

Median first-year pay$31,428National $36,157
Median pay after 5 years$46,456National $48,575
Median federal debt$24,656National $27,000
Debt-to-earnings78%National 73%

All 5 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

Debt and first-year pay at every New Mexico liberal arts and general studies program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New Mexico medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Eastern New Mexico University$43,186
  2. New Mexico State$31,568
  3. University of New Mexico$31,428
  4. New Mexico Highlands University$26,461
  5. St. John's College (New Mexico)$23,029

Lowest median debt

  1. Eastern New Mexico University$22,301
  2. University of New Mexico$23,125
  3. New Mexico State$24,656
  4. St. John's College (New Mexico)$27,000
  5. New Mexico Highlands University$28,606

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Eastern New Mexico University52%
  2. University of New Mexico74%
  3. New Mexico State78%
  4. New Mexico Highlands University108%
  5. St. John's College (New Mexico)117%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Common questions

Eastern New Mexico University in Portales reports the highest median first-year pay, $43,186. Its median federal debt is $22,301.

Related pages

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked395 programs by pay and debtLiberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in New Mexico, ranked9 programs by pay and debt

About this data

  • Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
  • Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
  • Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of New Mexico rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024