Parenting Student Data Collection Task Force

Parenting Student Data Collection Task Force

In the 2026 legislative session, the New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Memorial 16, directing the New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) to convene a statewide task force focused on improving data collection on parenting students enrolled in New Mexico’s higher education system. While the memorial outlines the core charge, the detailed work of defining terms, assessing current practices, and shaping future policy is delegated to the task force itself. The task force is composed of representatives from four‑year, two‑year, and Tribal colleges and universities; parenting students; members of the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet; and representatives from the NMHED Data Advisory Group and the New Mexico Student Parent Alliance.

Under Senate Memorial 16, the task force is responsible for the following:

• Establishing a definition of “parenting student” to be used consistently across all higher education institutions in the state.  
• Conducting an assessment of the current status of parenting‑student data collection within New Mexico’s higher education system.  
• Developing recommendations for implementing statewide data collection practices, including consistent question phrasing and modes of data collection that allow institutions to routinely assess parenting status throughout a student’s enrollment.

The task force must prepare a report that includes these components and present its findings and recommendations to the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, as well as other relevant interim committees, by November 1, 2026.