By Cynthia Miller, Santa Fe New Mexican
Jan. 25, 2019
A new report on the economic effects of escalating costs to attend New Mexico colleges and universities calls for more financial assistance for low-income students and recommends an income cap on eligibility for the state’s flagship student aid program, the Legislative Lottery Scholarship.
“Our state workforces are very underdeveloped,” said Armelle Casau, a policy analyst who authored the report, released this week by the nonprofit advocacy group New Mexico Voices for Children.
A more skilled workforce would strengthen the state’s economy, the organization argues, and in turn would help lower poverty rates that remain among the worst in the nation.
But too few low-income New Mexicans are enrolled in higher education, the report says, estimating 22 percent of students are from low-income families, compared to a national average of 34 percent.
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