New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) has been granted $2.9 million in Connecting Minority Communities pilot grant program from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The grant is aimed at providing digital access, equipment, personnel, and educational programs to local communities in partnership with Las Vegas Public Schools and West Las Vegas Public Schools. The Acequia and Land Grant Education Project (ALGE) is the program designed to provide culturally responsive education to high school students in Las Vegas and surrounding communities. The program is expected to increase high school completion, college enrollment, and promote workforce development. The grant will also expand access to digital learning and promote advanced placement and dual credit curriculum that is linguistically and culturally responsive to Tribal, Nation, Pueblo, and rural Hispanic communities in Northern New Mexico. As a Hispanic-serving institution, NMHU is a leader in promoting equity, leadership, and growth in underserved communities in New Mexico. U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández expressed her support and belief in the importance of connecting underserved communities to promote the education and success of promising young people.
New Mexico Highlands University Receives $2.9 Million in Federal Funding to Expand Digital Education in Rural New Mexico
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the Department of Commerce has awarded New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) $2.9 million in grant funding as part of the Connecting Minority Communities (CMC) pilot grant program. This grant will be used to provide internet access, equipment, personnel, and educational programs to local communities. NMHU is one of five minority-serving universities and colleges receiving the grant.
The Acequia and Land Grant Education Project (ALGE) is a program that will be implemented by NMHU, in partnership with the City of Las Vegas Public Schools and West Las Vegas Public Schools, to provide culturally responsive education to high school students in Las Vegas and the surrounding areas. The NTIA grant will be used to expand access to digital learning in rural communities in Northern New Mexico and provide advanced placement and dual credit curriculum that is linguistically and culturally responsive to Tribal, Nation, Pueblo, and rural Hispanic communities.
According to Dr. Mary Earick, NMHU Dean of the School of Education, the program is expected to increase high school completion and college enrollment in rural communities in Northern New Mexico and promote workforce development. The ALGE program is set to launch in summer 2023 and is expected to be a national model in how to re-engage young adults experiencing opportunity gaps through curriculum and technologies that are meaningful to them.
The idea for the ALGE program was initiated by a grant awarded to NMHU’s School of Education by Governor Michelle Luján Grisham’s Emergency Education Relief fund. The program is based on acequias and land grants in New Mexican schools and is aimed at bridging technology gaps during COVID-19 in rural schools. The pilot program will be available in Las Vegas and surrounding communities and will be made available throughout the state in the coming year.
NMHU’s receipt of this federal grant acknowledges the pressing need to support college to career pipelines, promote digital equity, and develop programming that reflects the beauty and power of local communities. With this grant, NMHU aims to increase access to digital learning and culturally responsive education in rural communities in Northern New Mexico.
U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández expressed her enthusiasm for New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) receiving $2.9 million in grant funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. As a Hispanic-serving institution, NMHU is a leader in promoting equity, leadership, and growth in underserved communities in New Mexico. Representative Fernández believes that connecting these communities is vital in promoting the education and success of young people. She encourages more efforts to be made for students and their communities.
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