The New Mexico Higher Education Department announced $10 million for on-campus child care expansion projects at five colleges and universities.

Esteban Candelaria, Searchlight New Mexico

This article was originally published by Searchlight New Mexico.

The University of New Mexico has been waiting years to expand its on-campus childcare programs, says Daniela Baca, director of the school’s Children’s Campus.

The school, home to thousands of students, faculty and staff, has a waiting list of roughly 2,400 children, Baca said, and has hopes of completing a capacity expansion project totaling about $39 million. But because the project is not eligible for some of the capital outlay available for other projects at the university, the school has faced years of delays.

UNM will finally get the opportunity to start that multimillion-dollar project this year, under $10 million announced by the New Mexico Higher Education Department on June 18 to expand on-campus childcare facilities at five schools throughout the state.

Through the funding, UNM will receive more than $4.7 million, which Baca said will expand childcare capacity by 52 children, from 271 to 323, by adding on a classroom each for infants, young toddlers, older toddlers and early preschool students.

“Looking for different ways to finance an expansion has really been the big challenge over the years, and so the fact that this money became available — it’s really a first,” she said. “Campus-based programs really have never had the opportunity to apply for this type of capital funding, and so it’s opening a big door for us.”

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The funding, narrowed from a field of 25 proposals from 18 schools totaling roughly $119.9 million in requests, went to colleges and universities throughout New Mexico. Among them were also Santa Fe Community College, which will receive $1 million, and San Juan College, which is poised to get more than $2.5 million.

Overall, the on-campus childcare capacity expansion projects could bring seats to more than 1,260 children, the department said in a statement. Many of the projects are located in so-called childcare deserts, which are areas with significant shortages in childcare supply, the agency added.

The funding came from New Mexico’s capital outlay bill passed by the state Legislature earlier this year, Higher Education Department spokesperson Auriella Valles wrote in an email. That measure set aside $10 million for childcare facilities and instructional laboratories.

“Access to childcare is essential for student parents, campus employees and families across our communities,” Higher Education Cabinet Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez said in a statement. “These investments reflect New Mexico’s commitment to supporting working families, expanding opportunity and ensuring that more New Mexicans can pursue higher education without barriers.”

Parenting and expecting students make up a third of all college students, a survey by Santa Fe Community College’s Early Childhood Center of Excellence found in 2024.

Baca, who said UNM plans to break ground on the first phase of its expansion project by December and be fully operational within 12 months, emphasized the importance of expanding childcare capacity on college and university campuses for parenting students. She argued access to such early childhood services can make or break their ability to pursue higher education.

“For many parenting students, childcare isn’t just about convenience, it’s really what makes it possible for them to pursue their higher education degree,” she said. “And so without having that dependable childcare, it can delay graduation, reduce their course loads, and cause them to leave school altogether.”

Esteban Candelaria is an award-winning journalist for Searchlight New Mexico and the Santa Fe New Mexican who covers child welfare, juvenile justice and early childhood issues spanning New Mexico.