Best Computer programs in New Mexico, ranked by enrollment
Conduct research into fundamental computer and information science as theorists, designers, or inventors.
15 schools in New Mexico run programs that feed this job, graduating 665 people a year. The job pays a median of $165,690 in New Mexico across about 490 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in New Mexico that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
6 programs in New Mexico that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in New Mexico (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own New Mexico page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Computer and Information Sciences, Generalmain feeder CIP 11.0101In New Mexico → | 389 | 58.5% | 12 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 2 | Information Technologymain feeder CIP 11.0103In New Mexico → | 155 | 23.3% | 5 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 3 | Computer Sciencemain feeder CIP 11.0701In New Mexico → | 101 | 15.2% | 3 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligencemain feeder CIP 11.0102In New Mexico → | 14 | 2.1% | 1 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 5 | Information Science/Studiesmain feeder CIP 11.0401In New Mexico → | 3 | 0.5% | 1 | $57,313 | $25,833 |
| 6 | CIP 26.1103In New Mexico → | 3 | 0.5% | 1 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
Top 15 schools in New Mexico
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 15 schools in this state.
All 15 schools in New Mexico
Every school in New Mexico with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico State University - Main Campus | Las Cruces | Public | 276 | 4 |
| Central New Mexico Community College | Albuquerque | Public | 133 | 3 |
| University of New Mexico - Main Campus | Albuquerque | Public | 117 | 1 |
| New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | Socorro | Public | 45 | 2 |
| Clovis Community College | Clovis | Public | 35 | 1 |
| San Juan College | Farmington | Public | 19 | 2 |
| Santa Fe Community College | Santa Fe | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Eastern New Mexico University - Main Campus | Portales | Public | 7 | 1 |
| New Mexico Highlands University | Las Vegas | Public | 7 | 2 |
| Navajo Technical University | Crownpoint | Public | 4 | 1 |
| New Mexico Junior College | Hobbs | Public | 4 | 1 |
| New Mexico State University - Alamogordo | Alamogordo | Public | 4 | 1 |
| University of New Mexico - Los Alamos Campus | Los Alamos | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Luna Community College | Las Vegas | Public | 2 | 1 |
| New Mexico State University - Dona Ana | Las Cruces | Public | 1 | 1 |
What computer and information research scientists earn in New Mexico
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $140,300. New Mexico pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: New Mexico employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in New Mexico
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Computer and Information Research Scientists page.
How to become a Computer
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in New Mexico
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 15 majors mapped to Computer and Information Research Scientists14 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0101Computer and Information Sciences, General
- 11.0102Artificial Intelligence
- 11.0103Information Technology
- 11.0104Informatics
- 11.0199Computer and Information Sciences, Other
- 11.0401Information Science/Studies
- 11.0701Computer Science
- 11.0804Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
- 11.0902Cloud Computing
- 26.1103Bioinformatics
- 30.3101Human Computer Interaction
- 30.7001Data Science, General
- 30.7099Data Science, Other
- 40.0512Cheminformatics/Chemistry Informatics(no graduates reported)
- 51.2706Medical Informatics
Common questions
Answers for people weighing computer and information research scientists programs in New Mexico.
What degree do you need to become a Computer?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Computer and Information Sciences, General, which awarded 389 degrees in New Mexico in 2024-25, 58.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Computer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer and Information Sciences, Computer Science, Information Science/Studies, Biomathematics. Together they graduate about 665 people a year in New Mexico.
How much do computer and information research scientists earn in New Mexico?+
The median is $165,690 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.1% above the U.S. median of $140,300. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for computer and information research scientists growing?+
BLS projects a +19.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 3,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in New Mexico?+
15 institutions in New Mexico reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do computer and information research scientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Computer Scientist, Research Scientist, Computer Specialist, Control System Computer Scientist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1221.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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