Program Overview
Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) offers Electrical Trades through its School of Skilled Trades & Arts. The 2026-2027 CNM catalog lists six awards: Associate of Applied Science degrees with Photovoltaic or Programmable Logic Controls concentrations; certificates of completion in Electrical Trades, PLC Systems and Residential Wiring; and a Solar Electric certificate of achievement. The program page says the trades program is designed to be completed in just over one year. The Electrical Trades certificate requires at least 42 credit hours over three terms.
Curriculum Highlights
First-term students cover personal and tool safety, meter reading, circuitry, electrical formulas and calculations, material identification, and AC and DC motor operation and troubleshooting. The second term adds residential blueprint reading, the National Electrical Code, the New Mexico Electrical Code and local codes, branch circuits and feeders, residential services, switch circuits and conduit bending. The third term covers power distribution, three-phase services, hazardous locations, commercial blueprints, motor starters and timers, mechanical and hydraulic bending, threading rigid conduit and wire pulling. Theory and lab courses are taken together.
Admission Requirements
Students apply to CNM by choosing the term they plan to start; CNM accepts applications for fall, spring and summer starts. The catalog lists special requirements for the certificate: normal color differentiation for identifying wires, the ability to lift at least 50 pounds, and freedom from chronic respiratory diseases and allergies. It also notes that most employers require a valid driver's license and a clean driving record.
Cost & Financial Aid
CNM's program page estimates the cost at about $8,129, not including living expenses, for the route designed to take just over a year. The catalog says course fees, published in the Schedule of Classes, cover tools required for lab activities. CNM offers financial aid, scholarships and payment plans, and its financial aid and scholarship staff help students find funding; confirm aid eligibility for the specific award.
Career Outcomes
CNM says the program prepares students for roles such as electrician and maintenance technician, with on-the-job training in courses like the Residential Wiring Lab and PV Installation Lab. A CNM announcement from August 2025 said the new Ted Chavez Trades and Technologies Center on Main Campus would house Electrical Trades, and the School of Skilled Trades & Arts lists its home in the TTC Building at 941 Buena Vista SE.