UNM-Gallup nursing pass rates climb back after a 2025 dip

The nursing program at the University of New Mexico-Gallup is recovering from a drop in licensing-exam pass rates, and has a full complement of full-time faculty for the first time in years, the college told state lawmakers.

Eleven of 16 students — 68.75% — passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses on their first attempt in 2025, down from 92.1% in 2024, Nursing and Human Services Division Chair Jonathan Lumibao said. The first-time pass rate so far in 2026 is 85%, which Lumibao said is trending back toward what the program has historically posted.

"I am happy to also report that at the beginning of this academic year, we actually have a full complement of full-time nursing faculty," Lumibao said. "We are very happy because, for the longest time, we were desperate for full-time faculty instructors and we now have one. And because of this change we have transitioned one of our senior faculty members to be the assistant director or nursing, so we have additional support and leadership in our program."

Lumibao delivered the report to the New Mexico Legislative Health and Human Services Committee on Aug. 20. The committee met for four days, Aug. 18-21, at the McKinley County Courthouse.

UNM-Gallup is setting up a partnership with Red Rocks Care Center, a Genesis HealthCare rehabilitation and care facility in Gallup, to bring certified nursing assistant competency testing to campus. Red Rocks would supply the proctors and the college would supply the testing space.

"This is important because having a test site here in McKinley County will support the students or the graduates who are wanting to sit for competency testing," Lumibao said. "Currently, we don't have one here in our area."

Over the past two years the program has also embedded a second instructor in its core nursing courses under a model called I-BEST, or Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training, paid for by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. That instructor helps students with dosage calculations, pharmacology and clinical reasoning, and with study skills, coaching and early alerts.

The college is still working with Gallup-McKinley County Schools on a licensed practical nurse track for high school students. UNM-Gallup expects it to launch in the fall of 2027, depending on funding and on hiring more faculty.

The college continues to help graduates prepare for the licensing exam through a collaboration with the UNM College of Nursing, Lumibao said.