New Mexico State University, which was officially designated an R1 research institution earlier this year, continues to see a record number of research expenditures and external awards.
Preliminary numbers collected for the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development Survey indicate that NMSU will see between $150 million and $160 million in research expenditures, or funds spent to conduct research. That estimate is significantly higher than any HERD survey reported in the past decade, said Luis Cifuentes, NMSU vice president of research, creativity and economic development.
External awards, or funding from external sources for NMSU-based research, in the past year have totaled $198 million. External funding makes up a large portion of the university’s recurring budget and has averaged about $197 million over the past three years.
The five NMSU units with the highest external awards are the College of Engineering, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, the Physical Science Laboratory, and the College of Arts and Sciences.
NMSU’s research and development expenditures and doctorates conferred continue to exceed the baseline requirements for Carnegie R1 institutions. Other key former factors in the classification formula, such as growth in postdoctoral appointments and the expansion of doctoral programs, also show steady improvement.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education named NMSU an R1 institution in February due to the university’s “very high spending and doctorate production.” R1 designations are given to institutions that spend at least $50 million on research and development, and award at least 70 research doctorates annually. In 2024, NMSU reported $141 million in research expenditures.
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PHOTO CAPTION: New Mexico State University undergraduate student Jonathan Consford and former graduate student Alba Lucker demonstrated how they researched brackish water in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. NMSU, an R1 research institution, continues to see a record number of research expenditures and external awards. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A man and a woman working in a science laboratory.