Albuquerque's educational system provides a wide variety of choices for private, public, continuing and advanced education. The main campus of the University of New Mexico has over 25,000 students with major schools of engineering, education, business, medicine, and law. Over 130 undergraduate degrees are offered, master's degrees in 94 fields, and doctoral degrees in 44 areas. UNM's presence drives a culture of lifelong education in the area.

Albuquerque ranks consistently high in the percentage of college graduates per capita due to the University of New Mexico, Sandia National Laboratories, and the presence of local technology and research and development facilities. More than 23% of adults are college graduates, and over 30% have some college experience. In 2006, Bizjournals.com named Albuquerque the 10th Brainiest City in the nation.

Nearly 115,000 students attend elementary, middle and high schools in the metro area's school districts. The Albuquerque school district accounts for over 90,000 and the school districts in Rio Rancho, Belen, and Los Lunas make up over 28,000. Approximately 13% of Albuquerque's children attend private or parochial schools in the community.

Central New Mexico Community College (formerly TVI) provides occupational and technical education as well as traditional associate degrees. Over 20,000 students attend CNMCC, and the school has some of the country's most innovative programs in advanced manufacturing, microelectronics, and microsystems technologies. CNMCC has long been a partner to industry.

Lottery Scholarships
All resident New Mexican high school students with at least a 2.5 GPA (out of 4.0), are eligible for a New Mexico Lottery Scholarship. The scholarship pays for students to attend a state college tuition free. The program is funded by the New Mexico Lottery. 100% of the funds collected are directed to this program. The program pays for 8 semesters of tuition, beginning with the student's second semester.

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