NMSU History
NMSU programs and colleges
Aggies Fun Facts
Las Cruces & surroundings
College of HEST
100

NMSU is the oldest public university in NM, founded in this year.

What is 1888?

100

This is the number of colleges in NMSU.

What is 7? (ACES, Arts & Sciences, Business, Engineering, HEST, Honors, and Graduate)

100

He is NMSU's Mascot

Who is Pistol Pete?


100

This is the number of days of sunshine Las Cruces averages.

What is 350?

100

Formed as a merger of two colleges and one department, this is what the acronym HEST stands for in College of HEST.

What is Health, Education, and Social Transformation?

200

This product was grown at NMSU and sent to outer space to be grown there.

What are chili peppers

200

With over 180 degree programs, these are the six different types of degrees or certificates you can get at NMSU.

What are associate, bachelor's, graduate certificate, Master's, Education Specialist, and Doctorate?

200

These are the official NMSU colors.

What are (Aggie) Crimson and White (Sands)? (expanded palette include Azure Sky, Sagebrush Mint, and Desert Monsoon)

200

This is the cost of NMSU campus shuttle services.

What is free?

200

Dean of the College of HEST, he has a creative writing major, his cutting-edge research merged teacher preparation with modern technology (such as through eSports in education), and he has one of the awesomest social media presence on Instagram! Don't believe me? Check him out @nmsu_hest ;)

Who is Dean Rick Marlatt?

300

The astronomer Clyde Tombaugh taught Astronomy at NMSU from 1961 to 1973, and discovered this planet.

What is Pluto?

300

NMSU was the first university in NM to offer students this type of college.

What is an Honors College?

300

Led by the Pride of NM Marching Band, this happens on the first day before fall classes for all incoming students.

What is the First Year Walk? (Students walk through the historic Miller Gates together, symbolizing their official entrance into college life.)

300

Located an hour east of Las Cruces, this is a must-see part for sledding on dunes and stunning sunsets.

What is White Sands National Park?
300

Being one of the largest academic units at NMSU, the College of HEST has nearly 200 faculty and 150 staff members, and serves about this number of students. 

What is 3,900? (Including 2,700 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students)

400

NMSU has a higher percentage of this type of students than any other research university in NM or AZ.

What are Hispanic students?

400

This is the number of campuses NMSU has (Bonus points if you can name them)

What are 5 (Main campus, DACC, Global online, Alamogordo, Grants, and Doña Ana county)?

400

This is the number of NCAA Division 1 sports NMSU competes in.

What is 16? 10 Women's and 6 men's

400

Charming town adjacent to Las Cruces with shops, restaurants, and the site where Billy the Kid was tried.

What is Old Mesilla or Historic Mesilla?

400

Right before final exams in December 1999, then again in July, 2020, O'Donnell Hall (this building) experienced this same event.

What is caught fire?

500

With many notable graduates, one of NMSU's most famous is Alvy Ray Smith, a computer scientist who co-founded Lucasfilm's Computer Division and this well-known animation studio that brought us some of the most popular animated films.

What is Pixar?

500

Ranked among the top 10 universities nationwide for bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanic and Native American students, NMSU is also one of the world's largest college campuses. The entire NMSU system (including research centers and facilities across the state) spans about these many acres (hint, it's between 1-10,000 acres).

What is 6,250 acres?

500

NMSU was one of the first universities to have officially licensed these! There are four kinds. (Hint, you can get them at Pete's Patio right on campus, but probably not yet...)

What are beer, wine, whisky, and seltzer?

500

This 4,928 ft. peak mountain, commonly known as "A" mountain, is tied to NMSU since 1920 when students first painted a large "A" for Aggies.

What is Tortuga Mountain? (Cultural significance: The mountain has long been used for tribal ceremonies, mining, and ranching.)

500

This is the total number of departments in the College of HEST.

What is 9? (These include Borderlands and Ethnic Studies, Counseling and Educational Psychology, Communication Disorders, Kinesiology, Public Health Sciences, School of Nursing, School of Social Work, and School of Teacher Preparation, Administration, and Leadership Psychology)

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