In 2021, New Mexico faced a significant shortage of educators, with a deficit of 1,727 professionals, of which 1,048 were specifically teachers.
Thanks to a collaboration between San Juan College (SJC) and Western New Mexico University (WNMU), the TeachUp program continues to demonstrate its effectiveness in addressing this shortage.
As of November 15, 2023, there were 260 participants through SJC in TeachUp, with 112 of those employed in local district schools. TeachUp allows students to complete their teaching degree completely free, including tuition, books, and fees and guarantees admission to WNMU upon completion of an Associate of Arts and/or an Associate of Science degree. All of the SJC coursework required for the associate degree program is applied toward completing bachelor’s degrees through WNMU.
