Overview:

The Los Alamos area is chronically underserved; however, we’re also surrounded by great affluence. Major local employers, like Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), struggle to fill jobs, including early childhood care and education, medical technician fields, highly skilled administrative jobs, and professional fields like engineering. These shortages are due primarily to a chronic lack of housing and affordable housing for newcomers.  

UNM-LA aims to align our academic programming – whether for degrees, certifications, adult continuing education, English as a Second Language, internships, and vocational training – to meet the needs of students who aspire to participate in the dynamic local economy but prefer to make their living near their families and their roots. Through dual-credit high school classes, traditional college courses, and pertinent technical training and adult learning programs, UNM-LA provides highly capable students access to solid, viable, long-term local employment pathways. Instead of recruiting highly skilled workers from around the country, it is more practical to cultivate local students and workforce candidates.  As a LANL partner campus, we hope to create a pipeline to work in many different segments pertinent to the community and beneficial to our students. 

UNM-LA has a low instructor-to-student ratio compared to similar institutions. Our support-staff-to-student ratio is low as well, particularly among our highly qualified student advisors and career counselors. Our faculty and administrative staff are responsive to our students’ basic needs and their professional and academic development. UNM-LA is itself a large employer in the community and an excellent place to work. And thanks to significant local funding resulting from the most recent Los Alamos County bond election, we have been able to begin upgrades and repairs at our campus to make it more welcoming for students and more accessible and appropriate for cultural and civic events for both the public and our student body.