August 20, 2010
St. John’s College and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology rank highest among four New Mexico schools listed in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the nation’s 610 best colleges.
The annual ranking compiled by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity rates 610 undergraduate programs out of 6,600 accredited U.S. colleges based on the quality of the education they provide, the experience of the students, and how much they achieve.
“Appearing on our list at all is an indication that a school meets a high standard,” the magazine released in a statement.
St. John’s College in Santa Fe ranks 217th, with a student population of 511 and a cost $50,513. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro ranked 334th, with a student population of 1,767 and a cost of $22,424.
New Mexico State University (354th) and the University of New Mexico (422nd) were the other two New Mexico schools in the ranking. NMSU has a student population of 17,239 and a cost of $26,924. UNM’s student population is listed at 25,754 with a cost of $27,138.
Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., took the top spot, replacing last year’s top pick, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., which fell to No. 4.
Also in the top 10:
* No. 2: Princeton University.
* No. 3: Amherst College.
* No. 4. United States Military Academy.
* No. 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
* No. 6. Stanford University.
* No. 7. Swarthmore College.
* No. 8. Harvard University.
* No. 9. Claremont McKenna College.
* No. 10. Yale University.
Twenty-five percent of the Forbes ranking is based on student evaluations of courses and instructors as recorded on the website RateMyProfessors.com. Another 25 percent is based on post-graduate success, based on listings in Who’s Who in America as well as average graduate salaries as reported by Payscale.com. And 20 percent is based on how low the average student debt is after four years, which is one reason why the nation’s tuition-free service academies tend to rank high.
In a separate ranking of America’s 100 “best college buys,” those on Forbes best-colleges list that have low tuition and fees, none of the four New Mexico schools made the list.
August 17, 2010
Two entities in New Mexico rejoiced on Tuesday after receiving Broadband Recovery grants from the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The North Central New Mexico Economic Development District received $10.6 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to help deploy a “middle-mile” project across three counties and five tribal areas.
The middle-mile is the sector of the network that connects last-mile facilities such as telecom company local interconnection points (central offices) with the commercial Internet and with national and global advanced research networks. These projects aim to expand the availability of broadband interconnections to companies and organizations that offer service to end-users.
This award will fund the deployment of high-speed Internet infrastructure across the counties of Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, and northern Santa Fe, and to five Native American tribal communities. The project plans to directly connect 123 community anchor institutions, 19,227 homes, and 1,332 businesses to broadband service in order to support distance learning, telemedicine, and improve public safety communications.
The project also intends to promote energy efficiency by enabling “smart grid” applications for regional rural electric cooperatives. In addition, local Internet service providers will be able to utilize the new infrastructure to deploy new or improved high-speed Internet service to consumers and businesses.
“High-speed Internet access is increasingly important for communities to thrive in the 21st century economy,” said NTIA Deputy Administrator Anna M. Gomez. “This Recovery Act investment will create jobs, support advances in education and healthcare, and help lay the groundwork for sustainable economic growth.”
The second grant awarded on Tuesday was for $63.8 million from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative Fiber-to-the-Home Project.
This project will deliver affordable broadband service to 29 communities comprised of 20,500 households, 3,600 businesses, 183 critical community institutions, two Native American Pueblos, and rural underserved areas in Taos, Colfax and Rio Arriba counties. The network spans 2,400 miles. In all, $63.8 million in Recovery Act funds will be invested in the project. An additional $600,000 will come from private investment sources.
“This project will give rural New Mexico residents access to the broadband they need to attract new businesses, jobs, health care and educational opportunities,” said RUS Administrator Jonathan Adelstein. “It will enable Kit Carson to deploy cutting-edge, smart grid technology that will help cut electric bills and permit sustainable energy development.”
The ARRA appropriated $7.2 billion and directed RUS and the NTIA to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved communities across the U.S., increase jobs, spur investments in technology and infrastructure, and provide long-term economic benefits. The result was funding of the RUS Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
BIP makes loans and grants for broadband infrastructure projects in rural areas. BTOP provides grants to fund broadband infrastructure, public computer centers, and sustainable broadband adoption projects. Of the $7.2 billion, $4.7 billion was allotted to the NTIA to award grants. The remaining $2.5 billion went to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make loans and grants to companies building out broadband infrastructure in rural areas.
Tuesday’s announcements are part of the second round of Broadband Recovery awards nationwide, which will continue on a rolling basis. The NTIA and RUS must make all awards by Sept. 30. Thus far, the NTIA has announced 114 BTOP grants in communities throughout the country, and RUS already has been able to provide loans and grants to construct 260 broadband projects in 45 states and one territory.
August 16, 2010
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Monday that public school teachers, administrators and teacher’s aides will benefit from $2.5 million in federal stimulus funds meant to offset the costs of increased insurance premiums and to expand professional development opportunities.
Roughly $2 million will go toward helping 33,400 teachers and school employees across the state pay their insurance premiums, according to a news release issued by the governor’s office.
The stimulus dollars will reduce insurance premiums by an average of 2 percent for the 2010-11 school year.
The remaining $500,000 will go toward professional development for roughly 2,000 educational assistants in Albuquerque Public Schools.
“New Mexico’s teachers and school employees are dedicated public servants and I am committed to helping them through the current recession,” Richardson said in the release. “Our teachers, educational assistants and support staff are on the front lines of school reform every day, and they’ve been subject to rising health care costs in recent years. I am pleased that these Recovery Act funds will help us offset some of those costs.”
The award comes from a discretionary fund made available to the governor as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The $2.5 million is separate from and in addition to the $65 million New Mexico is supposed to receive after Congress passed the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act last week to help the state during the recession. President Barack Obama signed that $26 billion bill into law last Tuesday.
