NM HM33

Requests the Higher Education Department to convene a task force to study data collection methods for parenting students in New Mexico's higher education system and draft related legislation

Task force membership would include staff from four-year universities, two-year community colleges, a tribal college, parenting students, a Children's Cabinet member, and representatives from the Higher Education Department's data advisory group and New Mexico Student Parent Alliance

One in three New Mexico college students in 2024 were parents or expecting, and no standardized methods currently exist to identify parenting students or their barriers to educational success

Task force report must include a standardized definition of "parenting student" and recommendations for implementing statewide data collection, including consistent question phrasing and routine assessment of parenting status each academic term

Report and recommendations due to the legislative health and human services committee by November 1, 2026