New Mexico State University - College of Business

The College of Business at New Mexico State University is “extremely technologically savvy,” a quality that serves it well in a state that is home to several air force bases, major NASA operations, two national laboratories, Spaceport America, and several big tech players (Intel, for one, has a large manufacturing plant in Albuquerque).

NMSU incorporates technology in all disciplines, and has developed several specialized degrees. The school also “concentrates on entrepreneurs because of its abundant resources” such as NMSU’s Arrowhead Center, which provides assistance to clients onand off-campus in the areas of intellectual property, technological commercialization, and entrepreneurship education.

Many students simply appreciate the convenience of the program, praising its “wonderfully-located campus with a very unique and culturally-diverse academic program.” The school serves both full-time and part-time MBAs, and fully understands and meets the needs of traditional and nontraditional students when it comes to education. In the past 10 years, NMSU has even “created an MBA cohort program for the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Laboratory,” and for employees at the White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces. Those programs are now being replaced with a cohort-based distance MBA which is online with a synchronous online component and one evening per week. A school that comes to you—you can’t beat that for convenience.

Instructors at NMSU “are well-respected in their fields and apply real-world applications to their lectures and assignments,” while “the administration is always very responsive whenever a conflict arises.” A “socially and ethnically diverse student population” informs class discussion. One student sums up, “I have had a very positive overall academic experience. Every single administrator and faculty member has treated me with the utmost respect and professional courtesy.”

NMSU’s Placement and Career Services Office provides university students with on-campus employment, internship listings, career listings, workshops, advising, job fairs, and online research tools. The school holds a number of job fairs and other recruit- ing events throughout the year, but all are primarily targeted toward undergraduates. As a result, relatively few of the many companies that visit campus specifically seek MBAs.

Recent employers of NMSU MBAs include: Accenture, ElPaso Electric, Ernst & Young, Agilent Technologies, ConocoPhilips Company, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, KPMG International, NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratories, Sandia National Laboratory, TXU Energy, and Wells Fargo.

NMSU “is a great place to continue your education and the Las Cruces area is second to none,” students report, adding that “Las Cruces is a very slow-paced, small-town type environment. It is, however, slowly changing due to this area being designated as one of the top-ten places to retire in the nation.” The school is located “in its own private corner of the city, and it is very safe, clean, and spirit-oriented.”

Many who attend the MBA program work at least part time as well; one such student writes, “This is a focused and relevant MBA that meets my needs as a nontraditional stu- dent who holds down a full-time civil engineering job.” When they can manage to take a break from their responsibilities, they “enjoy attending college sporting events and spe- cial events at the Pan American Center on campus. The campus is also a nice place to take a long walk for exercise or leisure, strolling from pond to pond.” The campus includes excellent facilities for workouts and for study. Some here point out that “NMSU could definitely improve in how it caters to students with families. Child care is only available to students with very low incomes, or at the standard child care rates in this city.” There are a number of activities for children at the NMSU Museum, the Las Cruces Natural History Museum, the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, as well as youth sports teams.

The NMSU MBA population includes “a large portion of international students, who come because of the affordability and friendly environment. [Students] with widely diversified cultures and nations contribute to the discussions related to international trade and global business management.” Students “have diverse work experience, which makes interaction between students interesting and useful” and results in “a very pro- fessional approach to problem-solving case studies or application of curriculum covered in course material.”