Residential Program

No matter where in New Mexico you live, New Mexico School for the Arts could be the right choice for your family. Committed to making the school’s arts and academics programming accessible to all qualified young artists across the state, NMSA offers students who live too far away for a daily commute the option to board at the school dormitories.

NMSA provides a 5-day or 7-day on-site residential program to students who live 65+ miles from Santa Fe. Like the school, our dorm program is free upon acceptance to our program. Students can apply to the residential program once they are accepted to NMSA. Our goal is to provide accessible arts education to any student with an aptitude and passion for the arts in the state of New Mexico. 

New Mexico School for the Arts’ Residential Program is currently at capacity. 

To apply for residence or to get more information, including forms to apply for financial assistance, please contact Residential Director, Isabella Aldana at residential@nmschoolforthearts.org.

NMSA’s new 19,500 sq foot Residential Program building located in the Railyard District opened for operation in April, 2024. Our residential program offers housing to 60 students from across the state of New Mexico.

The NMSA’s Residential Program creates access to life-changing educational opportunities for students from across New Mexico. The new on-campus building offers housing to 60 students, doubling the number currently served, and has launched a Seven Day Option for students who commute farther than 125+ miles. Students who commute farther than 65+ miles are welcome to apply for the Five Day Option.

Program Overview
Once you have been accepted to New Mexico School for the Arts (“NMSA” or “School”) you may apply to the Residential Program. Admission into the Residential Program (Program) is considered based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, the student’s distance from campus, capacity in the dormitory, and timely completion and submission of the Residential application. The Residential Program is located at the School and seeks to provide students from all over New Mexico, the opportunity to live on campus to facilitate attendance at NMSA. Currently, NMSA offers both five-day and seven-day residential models.

Waitlist Logistics
Dormitories within the Residential Program are offered to NMSA admitted and accepted students free of charge and are limited in capacity. When the Program is full, students are added to a waitlist. The waitlist is dynamic, and priority is given based on various components, including distance from campus as well as availability in the art departments, grade level of the student and other factors. 

If a student is admitted to NMSA and requires a dormitory,  but there is no availability in the dorm, students are encouraged to apply to the Residential Program in order to be placed on the waitlist. Students cannot be placed on the waitlist without submitting the application.

Students have the following options:
A student who is on the dormitory waitlist may then choose to attend without living in the dormitory and maintain their waitlist position.
The student may decline the invitation and be returned to the NMSA admission waitlist for their department and grade.*

*If a dormitory space becomes available, and we have capacity in the applicable art department and grade level, that student will be re-invited to attend NMSA. If they decline this invitation, the student will be removed from both waitlists.

**Admission to the School does not automatically enroll students into the Residential Program – a separate application for admission to the Residential Program must be completed and timely submitted in order for students to be considered for the Residential Program.