Options are abundant for Rio Rancho residents, who wish to pursue higher education with many institutions offering classes either in or near Rio Rancho In November of 2007, voters approved a Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) district expansion to include all of Rio Rancho. Situated on 40 acres adjacent to the Rio Rancho City Center and scheduled for construction in 2009, CNM will partner with the University of New Mexico for the delivery of higher education. Visit www.cnm.edu for more information.

The University of New Mexico: UNM has a Rio Rancho Center, which operates on upper-division and graduate-level course work. A full UNM campus is projected in the near future, eventually serving 12,000 students making it the 3rd largest campus inthe state. For information, visit www.dce.unm.edu.

New Mexico Highlands University in Rio Rancho offers upper- division undergraduate and graduate courses in several fields awarding bachelor and master degrees, as well as state licensing for teachers. Visit their web site at www.nmhu.edu/riorancho

National American University, a multi-campus institution with locations throughout the country has sites in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque where students can earn associate and bachelor's degrees. Visit the web site at www.national.edu. The University of Phoenix offers several classes in Rio Rancho and has a larger campus nearby in albuquerque. The university offers Bashelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees in a range of disciplines. Visit www.phoenix.edu.

91% of Rio Rancho residents have a high school degree or better, 9% do not have a high school diploma. The % of education breaks down in the following:
8% Graduate degrees
17% Bachelor degrees
9% Associate degrees
29% Some college
28% High school graduate

Rio Rancho's male to female ratio is 48.5% to 51.5%. The average age is just over 35 years old. The median household income is $47,169. The following table shows the same variables for Sandoval County, the Albuquerque MSA, and the state Of New Mexico.

Albuquerque MSA male to female---49% to 51% age---34.9 HS ed.---83.8% income---$39,088
New Mexico male to female---49.2% to 50.8% age---34.6 HS ed.---78.8% income---$34,133
Rio Rancho male to female---48.5% to 51.5% age---35.1 HS ed.---91% income---$47,169
Sandoval county male to female 48.8% to 51.2% age---35.1 HS ed.---86.1% income---$44,949

El Paso 91.1
Rio rancho 93.1
Dallas 94.6
Colorado Springs 94.7
Tucson 97.3
Albuquerque 97.6
Phoenix 100.4
Denver 100.6
Portland 115.5
Reno 112.1
Las Vegas 109.9
Seattle 115.3
San Diego 150.3
Los Angeles 159.0
San Francisco 171.4 *Source: Rio Rancho Economic Development Corp.

Rio Rancho has become one of the nation's fastest growing small cities, largely due to affordable housing, good schools, employment opportunities, and an aggressive city government stressing smart growth. AMREP land co. purchased approxmately 90,000 acres of land, known as the Koonz ranch in the early 60's, and home to 500 head of cattle. The company marketed Rio Rancho to people in the east and the midwest, using free dinners and other inducements, offering the dream of a move west to the wide-open spaces.

Model home construction began in 1962 and construction of the first home in 1963. In 1964 the community's population was between 75 and 100, growing to 1,500 residents by 1969. The Rio Rancho Golf and Country Club was built in 1970, and the city boasted 2,500 residents and its first shopping center by 1971. By 1974, the community's population reached 5,377 and the first elementary school was opened. By 1977 AMREP had sold more than 75,000 lots.

Between 1970 and 1980 the population more than doubled. The community now boasted a department of public safety, a library, and a planning and zoning commission. Because most residents were still required to commute to Albuquerque for jobs, AMREP established an economic development department and began working to recruit business and industry. The effort paid almost immediate dividends as Intel Corp, employng more than 6,000 workers,
established an anchor factory in the center of town. In 1992, voters approved a Home Rule Charter for Rio Rancho to afford the city to more effectively govern itself.

Long known as a retirement community, the influx of young families created a need for schools. While most of the city was served by the Albuquerque Public Schools district, Jemez Valley Public Schools served the northern part of the city. The New Mexico Department of Education approved the creation of the Rio Rancho School District in 1994.

A realtively young city in a state occupied since 100 A.D., today's Rio Rancho is the third largest city in New Mexico and one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Recently ranked 83rd on CNN Money's list of the 100 Best places to live, Rio Rancho is now home to more than 80,000 people. Plans for two public elementary schools and a second high school are currently underway and projected for opening in 2009 and 2010, in addition to Central New Mexico College and the University of New Mexico branch campuses and two hospitals by 2010.

Smart Money Magazine said Albuquerque's housing market appears to be in the best position to make a comeback. Researchers at the magazine said the nationwide rate of decline in sales is slowing and that the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could boost the housing market by making borrowing easier for buyers. That's helping homeowners nationwide.

In Albuquerque, home inventories have leveled off and the number of homes on the market has remained level. Experts caution not to expect a rapid rebound. It could still take years for the housing industry to recover entirely. In Albuquerque, however, Smart Money Magazine seems to think we are ready to start seeing an increase in sales prices than a decrease.

Other cities that had high rankings in the magazine are Birmingham, Al., Buffalo, N.Y., and Charlotte, N.C.

Homeowners facing foreclosure have doubled in the Albuquerque area metro area over the past year, but not all of them stand to lose the roof over their heads. One in every five houses going into foreclosure appears to be owned by real estate speculators, according to Irvine, Cal. based Realty Trac. They bought the houses on speculation that an easy profit could be made on a resale. Nationwide, speculative home buying was much more common. Close to one out of every three houses going into foreclosure appears to be speculator-owned, RealtyTrac reported.

The Albuquerque metro ranked 86 out of 100 cities tracked by RealtyTrac in the third quarter, with one out of every 415 households in some stage of foreclosure. A year earlier in the third quarter of 2007, the rate was much better at one in every 880 households.

Cities with high foreclosure rates, particularly in the Sun Belt, have one thing in common: dramatic drops in home values. The biggest problem with dropping home values is that a homeowner can end up owing more on his or her mortgage than the house is worth.

The Albuquerque metro's residential market is seeing some of the same downward pressure on home prices. The median sales price of an existing single-family house dropped 5.4 percent to $193,025 in the third quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors. Median means half of houses sold for more and half sold for less.This year's decline in median home price is the first time since 2000

New Mexico is ranked in the nation's top 10 for home mortgage equity, according to a survey that uses negative equity as its key metric. Just 8.2 percent of New Mexico's 186,844 mortgages were showing negative equity at the end of September. The survey, conducted by First American CoreLogic, shows New Mexico had the eighth lowest negative equity among the 50 states. Nevada at 48.7 percent and Michigan at 39 percent had the most negative equity. Negative equity is calculated by comparing the current estimated value of a home against its outstanding mortgage debt.

The national negative equity stands at 18.2 percent. Many homes with negative equity end up as foreclosures as homeowners simply walk away from their homes because they are worth less than the mortgage owed. The survey also shows near-negative equity mortgages and there are 11.7 percent of New Mexico's mortgages in that catagory. Arizona,, California,and Florida are all approaching 30 percent levels of negative equity. Conversely New York is strong at just 4.4 percent. Colorado is at 18.c percent.