Thanks to its dedicated staff, New Mexico State University's Housing and Residential Life has earned national recognition for delivering a high-quality campus living experience.

In a recent nationwide student survey for the 2024-2025 academic year, NMSU ranked in the top 13% for overall value in on-campus housing. More than 150,000 students nationwide participated in the ACUHO-I/Benchworks Resident Assessment, administered by Benchworks by Elentra, which provides comparative data on student housing experiences in higher education.

At NMSU, 51% of students living on campus responded to the spring 2025 survey, which evaluated key areas such as student satisfaction, learning and the overall residential experience. Survey topics included safety and security, roommate experiences, sense of community, diverse interactions, facilities, academic support, program effectiveness and other areas.

"NMSU Housing and Residential Life actively engages in improvement planning and strategic initiatives to continually improve the resident experience," said David McNabb, director of Housing and Residential Life. "The upward trajectory in our results shows that our improvement actions are creating an increasingly positive living environment on campus. One example of this data in practice is upgrading our laundry service last summer to provide better service and value for students living on campus. Students responded to this change with a huge improvement in their feedback on this service year over year."

NMSU Housing ranked in the top 10% of its Carnegie class for overall housing value and best in class recognition. The university also ranked in the top 5% nationwide for its room change process and in the top 30% for overall student satisfaction. NMSU Dining also received strong marks, placing in the top 10% within the Carnegie class and among the top 5-10% nationwide for factors such as food quality, cleanliness, dining environment and service. 

"Each day, our team works diligently to enhance our food offerings and elevate the daily experience on campus," said Ryan Vanderwall, general manager hospitality at NMSU Dining. "We remain focused on the needs and priorities of our students, striving to provide exceptional experiences one day at a time. I am incredibly proud of my team, and one of our primary focuses this year is to offer a wider variety of culturally diverse food options and to partner with our NMSU community to help alleviate food insecurity on campus."

"Housing and Dining share mutual feedback to help each other provide the best service and value possible for our students," McNabb said. "We have created innovative aspects of the meal plan package to drive value to students in their residential spaces."

Looking ahead, McNabb said the goals of NMSU Housing and Dining are ever-changing and evolve to meet the trends and needs of student residents.

"We are agile in responding to each year's survey results with innovative interventions that focus on our highest-impact factors from year to year to continue to see growth annually in our student experience metrics," he said. "We have a dedicated team within Housing and Residential Life focused on assessment initiatives led by John Magnusson, associate director for Residential Education, that continually assess data and feedback from students on a hall-by-hall basis and implement strategic plans per residential area to improve the experience in those spaces."

For more information about NMSU Housing and Residential Life, visit https://housing.nmsu.edu/. For more information about NMSU Dining Services, visit https://dining.nmsu.edu/. 

 

The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-housing--residential-life-earns-high-marks-in-national-student-survey/s/9ec0e489-ab99-4351-b4de-83c326ce98a3