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Searching for Colleges and Careers

There are 29 public colleges in New Mexico where a student can use the New Mexico Lottery Scholarship to pay for a portion of their tuition:

College Search Engines

There are a few college search engines that I recommend. Try them all and see which one you like better!

  • College Navigator is run by the department of education with the federal government.
  • Big Future is run by the College Board, a well respected, research based, non-profit organization that creates the SAT for college admissions. You can explore college and careers here. Set up your account so that you can revisit throughout high school.
  • US News and World Report
  • NM Workforce Solutions: Explore careers and then connect to New Mexico colleges where you can earn a degree for those careers.

Going To College Out Of State

  • Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) Program: The WUE program is an agreement among the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s 16 member states and territories, through which 160+ participating public colleges and universities provide steep nonresident tuition savings for Western students.
  • Read this article from Edmit about colleges that cover 100% of financial need
  • Read this article from PrepScholar about colleges that do not require an SAT or ACT score.

New Mexico Department Of Workforce Solutions Career Explorations

First, create an account:

  • Go to the NM Career Solutions website.
  • In upper right corner, find the head-and-shoulders icon and click on it; choose Register from the menu that drops down.
  • Fill in the registration information, create your username and password, and Save. Don't forget to make a note of your credentials so that you can log back in again!
  • Once you've registered/logged in, you should see your name and the name of your school in the upper right corner, and you will be on the "My Dashboard" page.

Work Interests Assessment

This assessment helps you decide what kinds of careers you might want to explore. It has questions about activities that some people do on their jobs. You will learn about your interests so that you can explore work you might like and find rewarding.

  1. In the Student Progress column you will see "Career Exploration" items.
  2. Choose the Work Interests Assessment.
  3. Read the directions carefully, then click on the black button labeled: Short Form 60 Questions.

Work Values Analyzer

The Work Values Analyzer can help you learn more about your work values and help you decide what is important to you in a job. You will also receive a list of occupations that are linked with your work values. The more a job agrees with your work values, the more likely you are to be satisfied in that job.

  1. In the Student Progress column you will see "Career Exploration" items.
  2. Choose the Work Values Analyzer.
  3. Read and follow the directions carefully.

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