Dr. Jose E. Coll wants to design an admissions ecosystem that is as friendly to recent high school graduates as it is to nontraditional learners.
The Western New Mexico University president has a personal stake in this mission. A GED graduate, Coll was a firefighter and Marine before he entered college. His work portfolio and community college certificates helped him earn his associate degree, a critical moment that propelled him into higher education leadership.
“I see my own lived experience in so many of our students,” says Coll, a former provost of Western Oregon University. “Those who come in with a GED to be a welder should be able to come back a year later to start working on their baccalaureate degree, and eventually their master’s.”
“This is the value of our university,” he adds, “to embrace students where they’re at.”
Building new academic pathways is also a vital enrollment strategy. Demographic changes have imperiled most institutions’ traditional student pipeline, forcing leaders to create onramps for adults and programs that entice stopped-out students to return to college.
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As of 2025, about 316,000 New Mexicans have some college credit but no degree, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.
“Our residential 18-year-olds need campus resources to be successful, but that 30-year-old coming back to college needs something very different,” Coll says. “That’s where clear degree plans make or break so many students’ academic journeys.”
Here are the three student populations President Coll believes higher education must serve.
The academic pathways nontraditional learners desire
Coll wants to expand credit for prior learning, strengthen credit transfer agreements and build stackable certificate pathways to seamlessly enroll nontraditional learners. Dual-credit partnerships with neighboring K12 districts must connect high schoolers to a degree faster.
Three-year degree options must be considered as well, Coll adds. “We need to embrace the changing speed of higher education. The fact that we have come to a point where we have accepted a six-year graduation rate should not be acceptable.”
As an open access institution, Western New Mexico will prioritize academic pipelines that address state workforce needs. Healthcare, education, mining and energy are just some of the industries in need of qualified workers.
Whether students are 18 or 48 years old, or taking classes in person or online, Coll wants students to better visualize their connection to the local Grant County economy and beyond. The university currently injects $101 million into New Mexico.
“When I’m having conversations with students, I want them to understand that they’re not solely here to learn but to impact their community.”
