Northern New Mexico College

Northern New Mexico College is an American public college in Espaola, New Mexico. Northern New Mexico College was founded in El Rito, New Mexico in 1909 as the Spanish American Normal School with the original mission of providing teacher training for the area's Spanish speakers. In 1977 the college became Northern New Mexico Community College, the state's first designated community college, and in 2005, it became Northern New Mexico College with the power to grant bachelor's degrees. The main campus is now in Espaola; the El Rito campus still operates. While the college was temporarily renamed to Northern New Mexico University on January 27, 2015, this name change was short-lived due to the fact that the board of regents did not obtain approval to do so from the New Mexico Legislature.