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Several New Mexico universities earned spots on U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 of best graduate programs.

The University of New Mexico came away with 41 schools or programs ranked among the top 100, the most of any university in the state.

UNM’s highest-ranked graduate program is nursing-midwifery — the university ranked seventh in the country in a four-way tie with Fairfield University, Georgetown University, the University of Utah and the University of Washington, up from 10th last year.

“We’re really proud of the recognition of our program,” said Abigail Reese, director of UNM’s nurse-midwifery program. “We’ve got a longstanding program that’s got a more than 30-year history of educating nurse-midwives in our state.”

Graduates of the program become certified nurse-midwives, or CNMs, independently licensed practitioners who can perform almost all of the essential functions of an OB-GYN, Reese said.

In New Mexico, CNMs can fill the gap left by a shortage of OB-GYNs, particularly in rural areas, she said. The state needs 59 more OB-GYNs and 17 more CNMs to meet national benchmarks, according to UNM’s 2025 health care workforce report.

“Nurse midwives can be and should be a cornerstone of care provision in New Mexico,” Reese said. “In countries that have really the strongest perinatal outcomes, midwives are central to the care model.”

UNM’s medical school also ranked in the top tier for primary care and in the third tier for research. The university ranked among the top 100 for its doctor of nursing practice, clinical psychology, engineering, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, speech-language pathology and public health programs. 

The UNM School of Law ranked 117th nationwide, and scored 12th in law schools with the most graduates in public interest law, 15th for clinical training and 31st in environmental law.

Some programs at UNM ranked lower on the U.S. News list than in 2025 — the university’s education and engineering graduate programs ranked 23 and 11 spots lower than the year prior, respectively. UNM’s psychology graduate program fell by 36 spots and its law school by 10.

Rankings for business, education, law, engineering, medicine and nursing are conducted using statistical surveys of academic measures and peer assessments from academics and professionals.

For other disciplines, including social sciences, science, humanities and health, U.S. News calculates rankings solely based on peer assessment surveys. 

New Mexico State University had nine programs ranked on the list. NMSU’s top tied rankings were 78th in nursing-anesthesia, 95th in social work, 104th in speech-language pathology, 106th in fine arts and 120th in English.

NMSU’s placements are “a testament to the curricular rigor, accomplishments and dedication of our faculty and graduate students, as well as our institutional commitment to their success,” said Ranjit Koodali, dean of the NMSU Graduate School and associate provost for interdisciplinary graduate studies, in a statement.

The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, a top destination for physics and geology, scored 64th for its earth sciences program, 180th in computer science, 164th in engineering and 200th in chemistry.

In Las Vegas, New Mexico Highlands University ranked 60th in rehabilitation counseling and 264th in social work. Western New Mexico University in Silver City scored similarly: the school ranked 67th in rehabilitation counseling and 241st in social work. 

Eastern New Mexico University in Portales also made the list, scoring 230th in speech-language pathology.

See the rankings:

University of New Mexico

• Part-time MBA: 67th (tie)

• Computer science: 106th (tie)

• Education: 104th (tie)

• Engineering: 105th (tie)

• Nuclear engineering: 14th

• Electrical engineering: 74th (tie)

• Chemical engineering: 78th (tie)

• Environmental engineering: 82nd (tie)

• Computer engineering: 91st (tie)

• Civil engineering: 92nd (tie)

• Law schools: 117th (tie)

• Medical schools for research: Tier 3

• Medical schools for primary care: Tier 1

• Doctor of Nursing Practice: 91st (tie)

• Biological sciences: 92nd (tie)

• Chemistry: 111th (tie)

• Clinical psychology: 53rd (tie)

• Earth sciences: 58th (tie)

• Economics: 105th (tie)

• English: 80th (tie)

• Fine arts: 34th (tie)

• History: 56th (tie)

• Mathematics: 93rd (tie)

• Nursing-midwifery: 7th (tie)

• Occupational therapy: 51st (tie)

• Pharmacy: 44th (tie)

• Physical therapy: 57th (tie)

• Physician assistant: 75th (tie)

• Physics: 73rd (tie)

• Political science: 74th (tie)

• Psychology: 107th (tie)

• Public affairs: 92nd (tie)

• Public health: 89th (tie)

• Sociology: 71st (tie)

• Speech-language pathology: 54th (tie)

• Statistics: 78th

New Mexico State University

• Part-time MBA: 123rd (tie)

• Computer science: 151st (tie)

• Education: 212th (tie)

• Engineering: 142nd (tie)

• Biological sciences: 153rd (tie)

• Chemistry: 150th (tie)

• Earth sciences: 123rd (tie)

• Economics: 126th (tie)

• English: 120th (tie)

• Fine arts: 106th (tie)

• Mathematics: 125th (tie)

• Nursing-anesthesia: 78th (tie)

• Physics: 113th (tie)

• Psychology: 180th (tie)

• Public affairs: 140th (tie)

• Public health: 136th (tie)

• Social work: 95th (tie)

• Speech-language pathology: 104th (tie)

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

• Computer science: 180th (tie)

• Engineering: 164th (tie)

• Chemistry: 200th (tie)

• Earth sciences: 64th (tie)

New Mexico Highlands University

• Rehabilitation counseling: 60th (tie)

• Social work: 264th (tie)

Western New Mexico University

• Rehabilitation counseling: 67th (tie)

• Social work: 241st (tie)

Eastern New Mexico University

• Speech-language pathology: 230th (tie)

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.