Dan Garcia

Mr. Dan García currently serves as vice president for enrollment management at the University of New Mexico (UNM), the state’s flagship, a Research 1 and Hispanic Serving Institution enrolling approximately 24,000 students. Prior to joining UNM, Mr. García served as associate vice president for enrollment management at the University of Texas at Arlington, vice president for enrollment management at West Texas A&M University, and as associate vice chancellor for enrollment services at the University of Washington Tacoma.

Throughout his career, Mr. García has been responsible for providing executive leadership, definition, and organization to the division of enrollment management. He has overseen instrumental campus departments including the offices of admissions, registrar, scholarships, and financial aid.

During his tenure at West Texas A&M University (2007-17), total enrollment increased each year, undergraduate enrollment increased by 25 percent, first-year student applications increased by 236 percent, and out-of-state enrollments increased by 328 percent. In fall 2013, West Texas A&M University reached the highest enrollment in the institution’s 103-year history and continued to increase each year thereafter while he was vice president.

Since his arrival at UNM in September 2019, new first-year student enrollments have grown a collective 40 percent.

Mr. García is an active participant in organizations such as the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), in which he has served as the chair of the Latino/Latina Caucus and on the board of directors as the Association’s vice president for access and equity. In 2013, he was elected by the membership to serve as the AACRAO president. He authored a chapter in the 2008 AACRAO publication, The College Admissions Officer’s Guide, titled “Predicting Enrollments and Yields.” He is a regular presenter at national and regional conferences on the subjects of marketing, data management, recruitment, and retention, particularly of underrepresented student populations.

Mr. García specializes in Strategic Enrollment Planning (SEP), a data-intensive process that engages the entire campus and aligns the institution’s enrollment opportunities with its environment; he has facilitated the development of these plans at five institutions of higher education.

Mr. García received his master’s degree from the University of Houston-Clear Lake (TX). He speaks Spanish and English.