Albuquerque is home to a robust educational system. In fact, the City Albuquerque ranks among the top in the nation for cities with the most college graduates, with 32 percent of persons 25 or older having a bachelor’s degree or higher (29 percent in the Albuquerque metro area). New Mexico also has one of the largest concentrations of PhDs per capita in the nation. There are over 60,000 college students in the Albuquerque metro area enrolled in a wide range of programs. Albuquerque's educational system provides a wide variety of choices for private, public, continuing and advanced education.

 

The main campus of UNM has more than 29,000 students with major schools of engineering, education, business, medicine, and law. More than 130 undergraduate degrees are offered, along with master's degrees in 94 fields and doctoral degrees in 44 areas. UNM is a nationally recognized Class I research institution. UNM's Continued Learning program drives a culture of lifelong education in the area.

 

CNM provides occupational and technical education as well as traditional associate degrees. 30,000 students attend CNM, and the school has some of the country's most innovative programs in advanced manufacturing and microelectronics.

CNM has long been a partner to industry. Albuquerque’s Central NM Community Workforce Training Center specializes in customized training programs to meet company needs. CNM's Workforce Training Center facility provides video conferencing capability, a high-bay area for large manufacturing equipment, computer training rooms, and available instructors for industry to use as a resource for developing and implementing a training curriculum.

CNM also offers a two-year program dedicated to Advanced Manufacturing that provides a steady supply of trained personnel for local manufacturing companies. CNM is on the leading edge of continuing education and industrial training with programs focused in the microelectronics industry for the local semiconductor industry and a new program dedicated to training microsystems technicians.

 

The value the state places on educational attainment is epitomized by the New Mexico Funded Scholarship program. The New Mexico Lottery Funded Scholarship pays for students to attend a state college tuition-free. All resident New Mexican high school students with at least a 2.5 GPA are eligible for a New Mexico Lottery Scholarship, which pays for eight semesters of tuition beginning with the students second semester. Since the program’s inception, over 61,000 students have attended college through the New Mexico lottery funded scholarship.

 

Over 118,000 students attend elementary, middle and high schools in the metro area's school districts. The Albuquerque Public School (APS) district is the 25th largest system in the nation, with over 89,000 students, 139 schools and 14,000 employees.

Preparing students for college is a strong priority for APS; its students earned more than $45 million in scholarships in 2009. APS offers its students the opportunity to participate in its highly successful charter school program that specializes in areas such as mathematics, digital media, arts and sciences and more. APS continually invests in its infrastructure; from a total budget of $1.2 billion almost, a 25 percent is dedicated to facility improvements and new construction.

The public school districts in Rio Rancho, Belen, and Los Lunas make up over 29,000 students. The International School at Mesa del Sol is an accepted International Baccalaureate (IB) candidate school for grades K through 12. The IB school program is taught in over 3,000 schools in 139 countries to prepare students for a rapidly globalizing world.

 

There are many private schools located throughout the Albuquerque area, offering prospective students a wide array of options. Approximately 13 percent of Albuquerque's children attend private or parochial schools in the community. The Albuquerque Academy, located 312 acres in Northeast Albuquerque, offers a first rate 6 through 12th grade education accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools. The school has an endowment of more than $177 million. Menaul School is an independent, values-based 6-12 grade day and boarding school, giving students a diverse intellectual, cultural and personal educational experience. In addition, Albuquerque is home to St. Pius, Sandia Preparatory School, Bosque School, Manzano Day School, and Hope Christian.