SANTA FE — Twenty-eight public and tribal colleges and universities across New Mexico are expanding food pantries, emergency meals and other basic needs support for students, backed by $586,000 in new funding from the New Mexico Higher Education Department.
The New Mexico Higher Education Department is investing in student success beyond the cost of tuition through its FY26 Food Security Bridge Fund. By expanding food pantries, meal assistance, access to fresh foods, and other basic needs supports, campuses can reduce the stigma of asking for help and create communities where students know that meeting their basic needs is not an exception or a privilege, but part of an environment designed to help every student learn and thrive.
“Tuition-free college is the foundational first step to making higher education more accessible, but we know that affordability does not end with tuition,” said Higher Education Deputy Secretary Patricia Trujillo, Ph.D. “Students should not have to choose between their education and their next meal. This funding will help campuses strengthen food security for students who need support most, while building a campus culture in which accessing nutritious food and basic needs resources is a normal and accepted part of the college experience.”
The Food Security Bridge Fund supports a range of campus-based solutions tailored to the needs of students and their communities. Projects include expanding food pantry inventories, purchasing refrigeration and other equipment, increasing access to fresh and locally sourced food, providing hot and grab-and-go meals, offering nutrition education and expanding access to hygiene and household supplies.
Across the state, colleges and universities are using the funding to strengthen existing programs while creating new ways for students to access nutritious food and other essential resources with dignity and without stigma.
Funded projects include:
- Clovis Community College will dedicate funding to direct food purchases for its Campus Cabinet, increasing the availability of staple and protein-rich foods and preparing for periods of increased need at the beginning of semesters and before academic breaks.
- Central New Mexico Community College will expand access to fresh, nutritious produce through its partnership with MoGro, allowing the campus food pantries to provide more locally sourced produce bags to students.
- Diné College will expand its Warrior Chiyaan Bee Nihizdzil, or “We are Stronger with Food,” Student Food Pantry, providing monthly food baskets, pantry items and nutrition and health workshops across its New Mexico locations.
- Eastern New Mexico University will strengthen its Campus Life Resource Closet by purchasing food and essential equipment, including refrigeration and storage, while sourcing much of its food from local farmers and ranchers.
- Institute of American Indian Arts will expand access to healthy foods while strengthening food storage and preparation infrastructure and incorporating Indigenous food systems, recipes and food preparation into student programming.
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology will expand its food pantry’s dry and cold storage capacity, increasing access to protein-rich foods and improving inventory management as the pantry joins the Roadrunner Food Bank network.
- New Mexico State University will expand food security services through projects that increase access to fresh food, improve pantry infrastructure, expand emergency food support, develop a campus garden, and provide nutrition education.
- San Juan College will improve pantry inventory management while increasing access to high-demand staples, fresh proteins and healthy grab-and-go foods through its Trail Blaze Cupboard.
- University of New Mexico will expand pantry storage and refrigeration, create a warm-meal preparation station, and increase access to culturally responsive and nutritionally balanced foods.
- Santa Fe Community College will strengthen its Campus Cupboard and Exchange by expanding access to produce, healthier snacks, ready-to-eat meals and other basic needs resources while building partnerships with local food organizations.
- Southeastern New Mexico Community College will expand nutritious food access, pantry hours, refrigeration and storage while connecting students with farmers' market vouchers, SNAP information and healthy cooking resources.
Through the Food Security Bridge Fund, NMHED is supporting colleges and universities in building stronger, more sustainable systems of support so students can spend less time worrying about where their next meal will come from and more time pursuing their education.
For more information about the New Mexico Higher Education Department and its programs, visit hed.nm.gov. To learn more about tuition-free college opportunities through the Opportunity and Lottery Scholarships, visit ReachHigherNM.com.