Data shows more UNM students are changing major to teaching field

Some students may start toward a science or art degree, but according to UNM's College of Education and Human Sciences (COEHS), many of those students ultimately end up teaching.

Over the last five years, roughly 300 students per year have switched their major on campus to a teaching field, according to data taken by the college. From 2019-2024, more than 1,500 UNM students have changed their major to a teaching licensure bachelor's degree. That includes 194 College of Arts and Sciences students who switched to secondary education alone.

"We're talking about hundreds of students a year, it's very heartening to see," Jay Parkes, the Associate Dean of Student Success in COEHS, said.

According to data, students are switching to the teaching field from many different majors. Undecided, Nursing, Psychology, Business Administration, and Biology round out the top five. Data shows 36 pre-biology majors switched to elementary education, with 17 more to secondary education.

Jessica Chavez, a UNM alum, is an example of this. She switched to a teaching field during her freshman year at UNM, eventually graduating in 2004, where she's now a leader in the Albuquerque Public School District.

"While sitting in Biology 121 as a pre-med major struggling to maintain my grade, I had the realization I had a minimum of 8 more years in science classes left before I would be in the medical field. I had always known I wanted to be a teacher but had pushed it down in hopes of making more money as a doctor. Teaching was a calling, not a backup," she said. "For superficial reasons, I had attempted the pre-med major. For life satisfaction, I jumped into education and haven't looked back since."

After graduating from college in 2004 with her bachelor's degree in elementary education, Chavez received her Master's from UNM a year later, also in elementary education. Now, she is the principal of Dennis Chavez Elementary School in Northeast Albuquerque. Chavez says she's grateful she made the switch, looking back fondly at her years as an elementary teacher and now as a principal, connecting to students on a much larger scale.

"I recently listened to a podcast that helped me shape my mindset on how important the work of an educator is: we must help students succeed," she said. "We must help them grow into productive members of our society and world. We must succeed at this because these young people grow up into our neighbors, our teachers, our doctors, our community members, and our future leaders."

The University of New Mexico is a major entry point for students entering the teaching profession in New Mexico. Parkes says that UNM contributed about 33%of those who entered the state's workforce in 2022-2023 from all of the colleges and universities in the state.He also says UNM produces about 19% of all teachers in the state who are credentialed in a given year.

"We have a large pipeline, so if we can increase the numbers coming through it, that's good for the state," Parkes said. "When they're coming through UNM, they're coming through with deeper expertise in their content areas."

With more students switching majors which leads to more teachers in the classroom, this could be a piece of the puzzle to address the teacher shortage in New Mexico.

"It really has been part of a concerted effort university-wide to respond to the teacher shortages in the state," Parkes said. "The university is asking the college, how can we partner with other units, how can we come together as a university to move more people into teaching."

Data shows UNM bachelor recipients are also finding their way to the Graduate Certificates in Elementaryor Secondary Educationfor post-bachelor Teacher Licensure. Parkes says that post-pandemic, there have been dozens. According to COEHS, 81 UNM bachelor's degree recipients have entered the GCERTS in the last five years.

"The GCERTs are an excellent choice for someone close to finishing a bachelor's degree who wants to change to teaching," says Parkes.

So if this sounds like you, what should you do? First, schedule an appointment with a COEHS advisor and start the conversation early.

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