For those interested in studying in New Mexico, we have a very useful list. We selected the best New Mexico institutions for prospective students. Please know that rankings are based on academic research, alumni reviews, graduation rates, as well as assessment from peer colleges. On the page, you will find major admissions stats such as acceptance rate, tuition fees, average SAT scores for each ranked college or university.
| Rankings | Schools |
| 1 | University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM) Tuition: N/A Total enrollment: 28,977 Fall 2011 acceptance rate: 63.9% Average freshman retention rate: 77% 6-year graduation rate: 45% Classes with under 20 students: 39.4% SAT/ACT 25th-75th percentile: 19-25 |
| 2 | New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, NM) Tuition: in-state: $6,040, out-of-state: $19,068 Total enrollment: 18,024 Fall 2011 acceptance rate: 80.2% Average freshman retention rate: 72% 6-year graduation rate: 46% Classes with under 20 students: 44.4% SAT/ACT 25th-75th percentile: 18-24 |
Intermountain plateaus
The Intermontane Plateau is a region in the Western United States, bordered by the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Pacific Mountains to the west. This is a vast territory, mostly plateaus and relatively low mountain ranges, located in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado.
There are three provinces in the Intermountain Plateau region: the Columbia Plateau, the Ranges and Basins, and the Colorado Plateau.
The Columbia Plateau (or Columbia Plateau) is a vast plateau between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains (in northwest Idaho, northeast Oregon, and southeast Washington). The province is characterized by a fairly flat, sometimes undulating relief with altitudes ranging from 700 to 1,000 meters above sea level. The surface is cut by numerous canyons formed by rivers (the largest of which is the Columbia River, one of the largest rivers in the United States of America).
In the southwestern United States, in an area known as the ” Four Corners ” (southeast Utah, northern Arizona, southwest Colorado, and northeast New Mexico), lies the Colorado Plateau. This is a desert plateau cut by canyons and valleys with altitudes from 1,500 to more than 3,350 meters above sea level. The plateau is almost entirely occupied by the basin of the Colorado River and its tributaries.
There are nine US National Parks on the plateau (including Zion, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest and the famous Grand Canyon), as well as eighteen US National Monuments. This is the largest concentration of natural landmarks protected by the United States National Park Service outside of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Most of the Intermountain Plateau region (south of the Columbia Plateau and west of the Colorado Plateau) is ” Ridges and Basins ” (or ” Ridges and Valleys “). This is an arid region (this is where most of the American deserts are located) with numerous relatively small mountain ranges (50–150 km long and 2,500–3,000 meters high) separated by wide plains (1,200–1,500 meters above sea level).
Part of the province is known as the ” Great Basin ” (most of Nevada, eastern Utah, southeastern Oregon, parts of eastern California, and southeastern Idaho). It is the largest endorheic region in the US, occupied mostly by mostly deserts and semi-deserts. It is here that the Great Salt Lake (Utah, the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the largest lake in the United States west of the Mississippi River) and the lowest point in America (Death Valley in California, 86 meters below sea level) are located.