Another class of Albuquerque Public Schools graduates has made the transition to the “real world.”
The next step for many includes more education, though some are entering the workforce, joining the armed forces or heading in other directions.
Almost 96% of this year’s 12th-grade students took the district’s annual Senior Exit Survey, which gauges the plans of each graduating class.
For the vast majority of grads, that means staying in school; 78% of respondents are pursuing higher education.
Four-year colleges and universities are the most common destination, with 2,162, or (48%) headed there. Another 926 (20.6%) will attend two-year junior or community colleges, along with 392 heading to trade or fine arts schools or apprenticeship programs, 19 attending fire or police academies, 10 at military academies and five headed for real estate schools.
Of those planning to attend postsecondary institutions, nearly 83% will remain in New Mexico, with more than 48% planning to attend the University of New Mexico and another 27% planning to go to Central New Mexico Community College. Rounding out the top five schools for APS graduates are New Mexico State University (5.2%), the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology (1%), and Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado (0.7%).
“We’re incredibly proud of our graduates and thrilled that so many of them are choosing to continue their education,” Superintendent Gabriella Durán Blakey said. “And I’m excited that many of them will be attending school in New Mexico, like I did.”
This year’s APS graduates earned more than $50 million in scholarships.
Members of the Class of 2025 include:
Ibrahim Eldenawi, La Cueva High School. He plans to attend UNM and become a doctor to help underserved areas like the rural community in Egypt where he was born and spent the early years of his life.
Makayla Lovato, Highland High School. She plans to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy, with the ultimate goal of becoming a naval pilot.
Gabriella McCarthy, Manzano High School. She never missed a day of school, starting in kindergarten. McCarthy is headed to UNM, where she plans to study political science.
Kodi Pittman, West Mesa High School. He will be pursuing a civil engineering degree at Colorado School of Mines in Golden as a Daniels Scholar.
Among other APS graduates, 312 will be working full-time, 180 will be taking a gap year, 105 are headed to the military, 20 will be going on religious missions and about 350 are undecided or have other plans.
Nineteen graduates are enrolling in transition services, a program for those with special needs, which helps them get ready for employment and living on their own.
More than 4,500 students participated in graduation ceremonies at 20 schools over three weeks.