NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Some much-needed relief may not be far from reach for some New Mexico college students, as the state's Department of Higher Education (NMHED) works to make college more affordable. One school announced a zero percent increase in their tuition rates. On Friday, Eastern New Mexico University announced that their students won't be seeing a hike in tuition and fees next fall, "A number of factors go in, but again, to raise those tuition and fee rates for the sake of raising them just doesn't make sense to us, and we, we try to approach it in that way; what we need to operate," said ENMU Chancellor James Johnston. ENMU's Board of Regents approved a zero percent tuition and fees increase for the fourth year in a row, providing relief to their students and ultimately, boosting enrollment and graduation rates. "We're trying to keep the cost predictable year over year, so, you know, I would never want to see a student start their education with us, and then before they're able to finish, the cost of that has reached a point that they can no longer afford to finish," continued Chancellor Johnston. Eastern New Mexico University breaks ground on new student services building According to NMHED, four-year colleges did not increase their tuition and fees for the current academic school year. However, when it comes to rates for next fall, unlike ENMU, other universities don't intend to release those numbers until after the legislative session this spring. Tuition forecasting does show rates ranging between 0.7-9% for the fall of 2025. "Nationally we're seeing higher education institutions across the board, no matter what sector, increase tuition," said Cabinet Secretary of NMHED Stephanie Rodriguez. "...Which at the end of the day, falls on the back of the students, or the federal government, or state governments that put money towards tuition and fees like we do in the state of New Mexico with the Lottery Scholarship and Opportunity Scholarship." Eastern New Mexico University announces significant enrollment growth Secretary Rodriguez points to the opportunity scholarship as the driving force behind New Mexico not following the national trend with a 9.2% increase in student enrollment. The scholarship makes colleges and universities tuition-free for most New Mexico residents. "We're seeing increases we're seeing more students in the door we're increasing opportunity and increasing funding to higher education at record levels and we're seeing that result at our higher education institutions," emphasized Secretary Rodriguez. Secretary Rodriguez says that the state of New Mexico has increased budgets for higher education institutions from less than $1 million to over $1.4 billion. Those funds then go towards initiatives to help cover tuition and fees for students.