June 10, 2013
Student loan rates. The Senate rejected two proposals to extend low interest rates on student loans after they expire on July 1. Without legislation, interest rates will double from 3.4% to 6.8% with the expiration of the one-year fix put in place last summer. Movement to proceed with a Senate Democratic bill (S. 953) to extend the current 3.4% fixed...
June 10, 2013
“When both of the partners meet our standards for excellence in teaching and research, and where they can both make contributions to the curriculum, it’s a great way to both recruit and retain. ... It also brings us the greater richness of what two people bring.”—Cristle Collins Judd, Dean for Academic Affairs, Bowdoin College Though Dean Judd is referring to faculty couples, she could be...
June 4, 2013
WGBH Boston is creating a Higher Ed Desk to help enrich its award-winning radio, television and online stories with angles from Boston and New England's famed postsecondary education. America’s largest producer of PBS content for TV and the web, WGBH hired Vermont Public Radio's Kirk Carapezza as managing editor and lead correspondent of the Higher Ed Desk. The desk is...
June 3, 2013
For the past 30 years, the student debt issue has been slowly simmering. Government loans quietly edged out grants as the primary form of financial aid, while college tuitions continued their rise. All the while, we piled debt on to students without adequately preparing them to manage it. Now, student debt has come to a boil. An astonishingly high 30% of the 37 million Americans with student lo...
June 1, 2013
Southern Vermont College's recent first-year seminar, From the Shoes of Our Ancestors, was a collaborative effort with the nearby Bennington Museum and Lincoln High School in Yonkers, N.Y. The students traced their roots by recording oral histories, documenting them through genealogical research, which included vital records searches and online investigations, and illustrating findings in famil...
May 31, 2013
The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approved Valerie R. Roberson, currently vice president for academic affairs at Joliet Junior College in Illinois and former president of Olive-Harvey College, to be the 15th president of Roxbury Community College, effective July 22. A March report requested by trustees showed systematic lapses over the past decade by administrators at the college. Roberson will...
May 28, 2013
Wednesday is May 29 ... 5/29 ... and the folks behind 529 college savings plans are milking the connection for all it's worth. The College Savings Plans Network (CSPN) and various states have declared May 29 National '529 College Savings Day' in recognition of the the tax-advantaged investment plans named for Section 529 of the tax code and designed specifically...
May 28, 2013
STEM education. On Thursday, Rep. Bill Foster (R-IL) introduced the 21st Century STEM Competitive Jobs Act, cosponsored by Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT), Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), Joe Kennedy (D-MA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY). The bill would support collaboration between...
May 28, 2013
In April, NEJHE launched its New Directions for Higher Education series to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. The first installment of the series featured Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing & Professional Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, interviewing Anthony Bryk, president of t...
May 21, 2013
As this year began, NEJHE published the thoughtful concerns of Lasell College admissions official Christopher M. Gray about how colleges would need to address applicants who have experienced a traumatic and life-changing event such as 9/11 or the Sandy Hook mass murders. Now such events have visited Boston and so will traumatized applicants. Two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon on Monday, ...
May 20, 2013
Student loan interest rates. On Thursday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved legislation (H.R. 1911) by a vote of 24-13 that would tie the interest rate on federal student loans to market rates. The interest rates on Stafford Loans are set to double on July 1 to 6.8%. The bill, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act, would set...
May 17, 2013
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are all the rage these days and are being offered as a potential way to shorten the degree-attainment process and thereby reduce costs. With escalating tuition at public and private institutions and shrinking median household income, the energy around MOOCs is fueled by the question often asked by students, parents and policymakers: Can a meaningful higher educa...
May 15, 2013
Tom Friedman, a conceptual sculptor, will keynote Montserrat College's 2013 commencement on Friday, May 17, at 10 a.m. at the Cabot Street Cinema Theatre in Beverly, Mass. John M. Barry, historian and biographer of Roger Williams, will address the Roger Williams University commencement on Saturday, May 18, at 10 a.m. on the University's main athletic field. Mary E. Kennard will...
May 14, 2013
Engineering and research universities dominate the list of higher education institutions ranked by return on investment (ROI), according to PayScale's 2013 College ROI Report. PayScale evaluated alumni earnings against the price of earning a bachelor's degree at more than 1,000 U.S. colleges. Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked fourth nationally and first among New England higher education institutions. Babson College ranked...
May 13, 2013
Rewriting K-12 law. On Tuesday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on state and local accountability systems for education. Chair John Kline (R-MN) outlined four Republican priorities for rewriting the nation's K-12 education law, known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) or No Child Left Behind: restore local control, reduce the federal footprint,...
May 13, 2013
The idea of “doing good while doing well” is hardly new. But the Y Generation’s response to it is different. They are literally taking on a youth revolution that extends from one part of the world to the other, while changing the conversation around social good and entrepreneurship. My colleague Ahmad Ashkar, founder and CEO of the Hult Prize, one of the world’s leading pl...
May 8, 2013
Pam Y. Eddinger, president of Moorpark College in California since 2008 and former vice president of MassBay Community College, was named president of Bunker Hill Community College effective July 1. She will succeed Mary L. Fifield who is retiring after more than 16 years heading Bunker Hill. Scott Giles, a vice president of Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) since joining...
May 7, 2013
U.S. Sen. Susan M. Collins (R-Maine) and Bernard Osher Foundation President Mary G.F. Bitterman will speak at the University of Southern Maine commencement on Saturday, May 11 in the Costello Sports Complex on the Gorham campus. Collins will address undergraduate students at 9 a.m. Bitterman will address graduate students at 2 p.m. Eric Lander, president and founding director of the...
May 6, 2013
The traditional May 1 deadline arrived last week. That's the date many colleges require students who have been accepted for admission to pay a deposit indicating their commitment to enroll in the fall. Based on the number of commitments they receive, the colleges then decide whether they are in a position to consider additional applications for the fall. That's an important...
May 6, 2013
Higher education officials have long been familiar with the concept of “summer melt,” where students who have paid a deposit to attend one college or university instead matriculate at a different institution, usually presumed to be of comparable quality. While melt may be a concern for individual institutions as they try to predict their fall enrollments, historically it has not been viewed as...
May 1, 2013
Dianne Dillon-Ridgley, a leader in environmental sustainability, corporate responsibility and social justice, will keynote Green Mountain College's 176th commencement on Saturday, May 11, at 10 a.m. on the Griswold Library lawn Max Mutchnick, Emmy Award winner and co-creator of the television show Will & Grace, will deliver the undergraduate address at Emerson College's 133rd commencement on Sunday, May 12, at...
April 29, 2013
Financial literacy hearing. On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's Subcommittee on Children and families held a hearing on financial literacy education for students. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) told the Subcommittee that Americans owe more than they make and must have better financial literacy education. He added that better financial education would benefit the economy. He was...
April 29, 2013
NEJHE’s New Directions for Higher Education series examines emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. The convergence of forces driving change in higher education is transforming the academic enterprise—reinventing what a university is, what a course is, what a student is and what the value of higher education is. On...
April 26, 2013
Photo courtesy of Fairfield University. Kenneth I. Chenault, chair and CEO of American Express Company, will keynote the undergraduate commencement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Friday, May 10, at 5 p.m. in McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, will keynote the commencement ceremony at Saint Joseph's College, in...
April 25, 2013
In a first-ever convening of New England dual-credit programs, UConn Early College Experience and National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) will host a one-day conference on Wednesday, May 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Storrs, Conn. For more information, please click here. Eight in 10 U.S. high schools reported that students were enrolled in 'dual-credit' courses in...
April 23, 2013
The Problem Based Learning (PBL) Projects team of the New England Board of Higher Education will present "Problem Based Learning (PBL) Implementation Strategies for STEM Courses" at the National Association for Workforce Improvement (NAWI) conference this May.NAWI will hold its 48th annual conference in partnership with the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI ) on Tuesday,...
April 23, 2013
Much has been written about the failure of “developmental education” in mathematics. Failure has not been our experience at Worcester State University. In response to concerns about both the placement rate into developmental math courses and the failure rate in those courses, we made substantial changes in our placement program and in our course delivery. We have decreased by 50% the n...
April 22, 2013
Federal student aid. On Tuesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training held a hearing on federal student aid programs. During the hearing, members and higher education experts discussed the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which is set to expire at the end of this year. Lawmakers explored the question of...
April 19, 2013
NEBHE and the Davis Foundation have chosen to postpone all events and activities related to the April 22 Summit on Cost in Higher Education. We realize that the impact of these tragic events reverberates well beyond the Greater Boston area, throughout New England and across each one of your campuses. We recognize that your institutions—including students, faculty and staff—have been d...
April 16, 2013
NEBHE has published the first edition of its new Advanced Manufacturing Problem Based Learning (PBL) newsletter. NEBHE was awarded a three-year $900,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a New England-wide project titled Problem Based Learning (PBL) in Advanced Manufacturing: Transforming 21st Century Technician Education. Funding is provided through the NSF's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program to improve...
April 16, 2013
On April 10, President Obama released his delayed 2014 budget proposal, completing the initial phase of the federal budget process. In recent weeks, both House and Senate have passed vastly different budget resolutions, with each chamber heavily influenced by the respective majority. These varying budget resolutions set broad parameters for the more detailed appropriations processes occurring in both House and...
April 8, 2013
More than three-quarters of administrators, faculty and staff at Jesuit colleges agree or strongly agree that “admitting, enrolling, and supporting undocumented students fits with the mission of the institution.” And yet 40% recently said there were no known programs or outreach to undocumented students of which they were aware. There is then an obvious disconnect between a theoretical...
April 4, 2013
Philip Altbach, director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, will deliver the address at Rivier University's 78th commencement on Saturday, May 11, at 10 a.m. at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass. Carlotta Walls LaNier, one of the 'Little Rock Nine' group of African-American students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. in 1957,...
April 2, 2013
Marc Tucker, president and CEO of the National Center on Education, will speak on 'What It Will Take for the United States to Match the Performance of the Nations with the Best Education Systems," at College of the Atlantic's Deering Common Campus Center on Friday, April 5 at 3 p.m. ****Dan Gillmor, an international expert on citizen journalism and...
April 2, 2013
Keene State College appointed Anne E. Huot to be its 10th president, beginning July 1. For the past six years, she served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at The College at Brockport, State University of New York. She holds a bachelor's degree in Medical Technology from the University of New Hampshire and a master's and doctorate from...
April 1, 2013
NEBHE's newly updated Trends & Indicators series features an updated section on New England's international college enrollment and study abroad. New England colleges and universities enrolled nearly 61,000 foreign students in 2012—more than three times as many as they did in 1980, according to NEBHE's data from the New York City-based Institute of International Education. New England campuses attract 8%...
March 27, 2013
Babson College named former Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey to be the first woman to lead the college, effective July 1. She succeeds Len Schlesinger, who announced in December that he would step down at the end of this academic year. Richard Hopper, a higher education specialist with the World Bank, was appointed president of Kennebec Valley Community College, to...
March 25, 2013
NEJHE on Models that Will Change Higher Ed Forever It will be truly ironic if the most impersonal technology of all ends up saving the most personal kind of teaching and learning in higher education. I speak about the dramatic rise of online learning and MOOCs. Everyone, it seems, is talking about and questioning the relevance and “value proposition” of higher education. From Thomas Frie...
March 22, 2013
The case for greater transparency in grading practices in the first yearVermont’s Landmark College has been exclusively serving students with Learning Disabilities since 1985 when it opened its doors for a dyslexic population of college-ready students. Our mission now also includes those with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and those on the autism spectrum. Landmark serves a specifi...
March 21, 2013
Photo of Annie Lennox. Rebecca Onie, co-founder and CEO of Health Leads, will deliver the keynote address at MGH Institute of Health Professions' 2013 commencement on Thursday, May 9. Singer-songwriter Annie Lennox will deliver the keynote at Berklee College of Music on Saturday, May 11 at Boston University's Agganis Arena. Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston...
March 18, 2013
Boosting STEM education. On Wednesday, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology's Subcommittee on Research held a hearing on industry and philanthropic initiatives to boost science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) Education. Every year, the federal government allocates over $3 billion to 13 federal agencies to fund STEM education initiatives, and the subcommittee is working on the reauthorization of...
March 18, 2013
NEJHE on Models that Will Change Higher Ed Forever MOOCs claim to make education accessible to everyone, but institutions offering MOOCs have yet to define best practices for accessible design. For many, universal design efforts end when course video material has been captioned. Captioning is important, but the idea that you can just caption course video and call a MOOC accessible belongs on the ...
March 12, 2013
From left: Robert A. Weygand, Robert D. Ballard, Michael K. Thomas Despite a late-winter snowstorm, hundreds of New Englanders braved the snow to attend NEBHE's 11th New England Higher Education Excellence Awards celebration on Friday, March 8, at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel. Each year, NEBHE presents Regional Excellence Awards to individuals and organizations that have shown exceptional leadership...
March 11, 2013
Presidents' open immigration letter. On Tuesday, university presidents from Arizona State University, Cornell University and Miami Dade College sent a letter to the leadership of more than 1,200 institutions of higher education, calling on them to encourage immigration reform. The letter asked schools to hold events highlighting immigration reform as essential to innovation. The letter says highly skilled graduates are...
March 11, 2013
Rwanda President Paul Kagame will speak at the University of Hartford's Lincoln Theater on Tuesday, March 12, at 11 a.m., to mark the launch of the university's Genocide and Holocaust Education Initiative. **** Journalist and author Bob Woodward will speak at Eastern Connecticut State University's Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium on Tuesday, March 12, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 each...
March 11, 2013
Many students begin higher education unprepared for college-level work in mathematics and must take non-credit developmental courses. Furthermore, many are math-phobic and avoid courses, majors and careers that involve quantitative work. Yet science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are among the few job-growth areas in the U.S. Many companies are lobbying the federal governme...
March 7, 2013
Announcements of spring 2013 New England commencement speakers have begun to trickle out ... Cardinal Seán O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston whose name has come up in conversations about a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, will give the commencement address at Regis College on Saturday, May 11. Fisher College will feature FOX25 news anchor Maria Stephanos on Saturday, May 11,...
March 5, 2013
NEBHEs Regional Student Program (RSP), known as Tuition Break, provided more than $53 million in tuition savings this academic year to 9,338 participating students, according to the recently published 2012-13 Annual Report of the New England Regional Student Program (RSP). Highlights from the 2012-13 RSP Annual Report: The RSP provided more than $53 million in tuition savings to 9,338 participating students,...
March 4, 2013
Even as the economy appears to have turned a corner, high unemployment persists. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the national unemployment rate teetered at 7.9% in January 2013, and New England’s was 7.3% in December 2012. Strangely, as millions nationwide struggle to find work, there are millions of jobs that remain unfilled. The BLS reports that on the last business day o...
February 28, 2013
It is now a commonplace to assert that education institutions have some responsibility to contribute to the effort to remake our world so civilization will be sustainable into the future. A history of this idea would capture the many programs of environmental research and teaching that have taken place at universities and colleges, going back centuries, but would certainly also note the founding i...
February 26, 2013
NEJHE on Models that Will Change Higher Ed ForeverDuring any given semester at a liberal arts college like Wellesley, students may experience what will prove to be a transformational moment in their lives. A pre-med student from El Paso might come to Wellesley and publish research with her biochemistry professor. She might carry on impassioned debates beyond her political science seminar and into ...
February 25, 2013
Marian Court College trustees approved the appointment of Denise A. Hammon as the college's fourth president. She had been serving as interim president since August 2012. Springfield College President Richard B. Flynn announced he will retire on Aug. 31, after 14 years as president. Amherst College tapped Kevin Weinman, Dartmouth College's assistant vice president of finance, to be Amherst's first-ever...
February 24, 2013
Immigration reform is gathering steam. In late January, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators announced an agreement on principles for immigration reform, that may include paths for undocumented immigrants to earn citizenship. Based on earlier immigration reform proposals, these pathways to “earning” citizenship will likely include earning a postsecondary degree after a high school diploma or eq...
February 19, 2013
Early childhood education. On Thursday, President Obama released the framework of his plan for the expansion of early childhood education. In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, President Obama said "tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America." The plan calls for home-visits to new mothers and fathers to teach...
February 17, 2013
For every institution of higher education, the safety and protection of its campus community is of primary importance. Recent events have shown an increase in campus crime, assaults and even a tragic loss of life.Apps such as Ping4alerts! allow campuses to send hyperlocal smartphone alerts related to public safety, school closings, local events, power outages, traffic and weather advisories, and d...
February 12, 2013
The New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) will go live with a website and job board redesign on Feb. 13.Since summer 2011, NEBHE and New England HERC have collaborated to post jobs on www.nebhe.org's Joblink page.The new changes come after HERC surveyed thousands of job-seekers and hundreds of member institutions across the nation, undergoing an exhaustive website and job...
February 12, 2013
The New England Journal of Higher Education (NEJHE) invites you to be part of a new series examining emerging issues, trends, innovations and ideas that will make a profound impact on higher education in New England and globally.The series called 'New Directions for Higher Education' will feature interviews with key visionaries by Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing...
February 11, 2013
HELP Committee examines NCLB waivers. On Thursday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and State Flexibility Waivers. Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified. Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) sharply criticized the administration for granting NCLB waivers to states that shift towards policies that the administration favors. At this time,...
February 6, 2013
While schools wrestled with how to build a new athletic facility in the middle of a recession, Tufts University’s Athletics and Operations Departments worked with a Massachusetts-based developer called Stanmar Inc. to devise a creative solution to designing, building and financing a new sports and fitness center in just under 24 months.In an education environment that is experiencing rising ...
February 4, 2013
NEBHE's newly updated Trends & Indicators features an updated section on University Research showing that New England colleges and universities spent nearly $5 billion on research in 2011, but the region's share of total U.S. university R &D expenditures sat at 7.7%, down significantly from more than 10% in the 1980s.The share of money from federal sources also has declined slightly...
February 4, 2013
Higher education reauthorization. On Tuesday, Jan. 29, as lawmakers began to form proposals for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the New America Foundation released a report with 30 recommendations for policy changes. The report "calls for specific changes to grants, loans, tax benefits, college outreach programs and federal regulations to provide more direct aid to the lowest-income students...
January 31, 2013
Fairfield University and the nearby city of Bridgeport, Conn., announced a new internship program that promises to tie the Jesuit university and gritty industrial city closer together.Already, nearly 100 of the Fairfield's faculty and staff and more than 1,100 of the university's alumni live in Bridgeport, and the Webster Bank Arena in the city is home court for Fairfield Stags...
January 29, 2013
Introducing NEBHE's new Trends & Indicators ... It should go without saying that data is tricky (or is it are tricky?).Take the issue of student aid as one example. Some states have annual budgets; some have biennial. Some states report all kinds of aid in one place; others leave it to observers to patch together the hodgepodge of merit and need-based programs from the state’s gener...
January 28, 2013
In-state tuition for veterans. On Tuesday, House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Ranking Member Michael Michaud (D-ME) introduced the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act (H.R. 357) in the House of Representatives. The bill would require public universities to charge in-state tuition to veterans in order to qualify to receive veterans' education benefits. The law would go into effect...
January 23, 2013
When MIT approached Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) to participate in edX, the new Harvard/MIT massive open online course (MOOC) initiative, we reacted with both interest and skepticism. What did MIT have in mind for Bunker Hill Community College? How would edX “transform the way that community college students learn” as edX President Anant Agarwal claimed, when he discussed the l...
January 21, 2013
National report looks at impact of college spending on athletics and academics For some small colleges, just the sight of the school's branded team bus traveling to road games can nail a marketing extra point. And television deals bring big bucks to major football programs. But for the most part, spending on college athletics drains money from campuses still bruised by recession and, as faculty...
January 15, 2013
Those that believe a higher education degree is becoming increasingly superfluous make reference to the fact that 19 of the top 100 chief executives in the Fortune 500 lack college degrees. In consideration of that, a recent U.S. News analysis of the Fortune 500 CEOs reports that many of those CEOs who hold academic degrees choose not to mention their degree as among their achievements in their c...
January 11, 2013
Kathleen McCartney Comings and Goings ... Child development expert Kathleen McCartney, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, was named the 11th president of Smith College, effective July 1, 2013. McCartney represents Harvard on the founding board of edX, the online education consortium created by Harvard and MIT. She'll succeed Carol T. Christ, who has been Smith president since...
January 9, 2013
As part of its celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Eastern Connecticut State University will present a 12-part series looking back on the life of the man considered the greatest civil rights leader of the past century. Had he lived, King would have turned 84 this year. The series, which contains a greeting by Eastern President Elsa M....
January 8, 2013
The New Hampshire Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs has come a long way since the inception of the state’s first Club in Manchester more than 100 years ago. Today, there are Boys & Girls Clubs of America organizations in New Hampshire–Salem, Derry, Portsmouth Naval and Nashua serving the southern part of the state; Manchester, Concord, Souhegan Valley, and the Lakes Region serving...
January 7, 2013
The Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) in January issued a white paper, Making Sense of the System: Financial Aid for the 21st-Century Student, recommending more than a dozen federal policies to help students access postscecondary education and ultimately earn valuable degrees and credentials. Based on surveys and focus groups with leaders in business, higher education, civil rights...
January 2, 2013
Kiplinger announced its 2013 list of the top 100 values in public colleges and universities. Five New England public colleges and universities are ranked among the top 100, with slight variations in rankings for in-state and out-of-state students. The University of Connecticut is ranked 25th for in-state students and 22nd for out-of-state students; University of Massachusetts Amherst, 62nd and 49th,...
December 29, 2012
NEBHE publishes new Policy Snapshot: State Student Grant Aid in New England In the 2010-11 academic year, New England states appropriated more than $181 million for state grant aid—collectively about 15% more than they did in 2006-07. Each state's aid performance varied dramatically during this time, with Connecticut awarding 51% more grant aid ($21.5million) and New Hampshire awarding 20% ...
December 21, 2012
The Leaders in Energy Efficiency Financing (LEEF) Network will gather sustainability leaders from colleges, healthcare institutions, municipalities and other nonprofits to explore "Investing in Energy Efficiency" during workshops in January at Bates College in Maine and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. The LEEF Network, a regionally based program of the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI), brings information about green revolving funds...
December 21, 2012
Veterans' education. On Wednesday, the Senate passed the Improving Transparency of Education Opportunities for Veterans Act (H.R. 4057), as amended, by unanimous consent. The current bill comes from negotiations in both the House and the Senate committees related to veterans' affairs and veterans' education. The legislation would attempt to reduce waste of GI Bill funds by requiring the Veterans Affairs...
December 20, 2012
The American Scholar is one of the most thoughtfully edited magazines published today. The journal has been published by the Phi Beta Kappa Society since 1932. Its title (which seems too hoity-toity for me to allow fellow train riders to see) was inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s speech, “The American Scholar,” delivered to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard...
December 20, 2012
Today, students can be categorized in many different ways. Domestic, international, first generation and stealth are all terms used frequently in higher education. Through the application process to college, students may also be categorized as a “legacy,” having a learning challenge or even down to their demographic background. As our society and world changes with time, is there a new categor...
December 18, 2012
Nearly 50 years after the landmark legislation aimed to open higher education to all Americans, colleges and students face a new set of threats ... The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) was signed into law on Nov. 8, 1965 to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary education. During reauthorization...
December 17, 2012
Last Friday, the National Institute of Health (NIH) approved a broad implementation plan for a set of initiatives intended to strengthen and shape the biomedical research workforce based on the recommendations of the NIH Biomedical Workforce Working Group. The plan calls for institutions to create individual development plans for all research trainees and to track outcomes for all research trainees,...
December 17, 2012
The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) announced a new collaboration with the Leaders in Energy Efficiency Financing (LEEF) Network. The LEEF Network is a regional program of the Sustainable Endowments Institute that empowers Massachusetts and New England institutions of higher education by demonstrating the financial case for treating energy-efficiency projects as an investment. Developing a self-managed green revolving...
December 14, 2012
Massachusetts students working toward careers in high-demand fields such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and healthcare are eligible for a new scholarship program tied to the most critical employment needs, according to the state Department of Higher Education (DHE).The Massachusetts High-Demand Professions Scholarship, created by the Massachusetts Legislature in FY13, will provide grants up to $6,500 per year...
December 10, 2012
STEM visa bill doesn't move in Senate. While STEM Visa legislation passed the House of Representatives last Friday, the STEM Jobs Act was not considered by the Senate due to the objection of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY). The bill passed the House by a near party-line vote of 245-139, and consideration by the Senate was proposed by Sen. John Cornyn...
December 10, 2012
A number of economists, policymakers, elected officials and employers cite a “skills gap” as the reason the nation is not putting more people back to work. The problem, they reason, is that too many people have the wrong skills for today’s jobs, and colleges and universities are not doing enough to prepare people with the right skills.The idea of a skills gap is tempting to buy i...
December 4, 2012
While other states are experiencing difficult budget decisions, only New Hampshire has completely de-funded student aid Today’s global economy requires a highly skilled labor force that is prepared to compete on the world stage. Studies from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Brookings Institution and the Conference Board have all identified building and maintaining a...
December 3, 2012
Comings and Goings ... Dartmouth College named mathematician and University of Michigan Provost Philip J. Hanlon to be its next president starting in July. Hanlon will succeed Jim Yong Kim, who resigned in April to become the president of the World Bank. The Atlantic Union College Board of Trustees appointed general surgeon Duane M. Cady, M.D. as interim president of...
December 3, 2012
On Friday, the House voted 245-139 to pass the STEM Jobs Act (H.R. 6249). The bill would offer visas for skilled immigrants who earn advanced degrees from American institutions. Many Democrats are opposed to the bill because it includes the abrogation of the diversity immigration program, which allocates visas by lottery. The 55,000 visas originally distributed by the diversity program...
November 30, 2012
Westfield State University math professors were awarded a $550,600 grant from the National Science Foundation to support an innovative approach to teaching mathematics to non-mathematics and science students.The grant, titled 'Discovering the Art of Mathematics (DAoM): Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics for Liberal Arts,' supports development of a library of 10 full-length, standalone textbooks, student and teacher resource guides and assessment...
November 30, 2012
An education dean reflects on MOOCs … I am not a machine. This makes my college students happy. Though, to be honest, they assume as much since I walk into the classroom, make some small talk and launch into my lecture. After a few minutes, I may stop, ask for questions, prompt some discussion and perhaps tell a few bad jokes. Which should prove once and for all that I am human and fallibl...
November 29, 2012
The New Hampshire Department of Education joined a collaboration of 15 higher education institutions to prepare teachers and other educators, according to announcements by Commissioner of Education Virginia Barry and Higher Education Commissioner Richard A. Gustafson.In 2011, the members of the New Hampshire IHE Network set aside the usual competitive inclinations in order to share best practices and data collection techniques...
November 28, 2012
Announcing the 2013 Guide to New England Colleges and Universities! The 2013 Guide to New England Colleges and Universities, produced by NEBHE in association with Boston magazine, lists key data for each college, such as: admissions application deadlines and acceptance rates; faculty-student ratio; enrollment totals and breakdowns for part-time, commuting, female, international and minority stude...
November 20, 2012
A recent report by the College Board might be an indicator of how fast the sands of higher education are shifting. The prices that most people actually pay for college, which had remained stable for several years, are on the rise again, as tuition and other cost increases outpace financial aid awards.In its latest annual survey, the College Board reports that after rising swiftly since the 1980s, ...
November 19, 2012
Sequestration on education. Sequestration remains the greatest concern for education funding in the immediate future. State school board leaders went on the offensive last week to highlight the threat to education. Education funding has not been the focus of fiscal cliff discussions and is largely swept into the larger picture when discussing sequestration. The administration estimates an 8% to 9%...
November 15, 2012
Democrats and women were the big winners of the 2012 elections, scoring impressive victories throughout New England. Among highlights: New England put the U.S. Senate solidly in the hands of Democrats with the election of Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Sen.-Elect Angus King of Maine who ran as an Independent is expected to join Bernie Sanders...
November 15, 2012
At least 117 of 259 nonprofit two- and four-year institutions in New England offer some sort of 'prior learning assessment,' according to data collected by NEBHE for the 2013 Annual Guide to New England Colleges and Universities.Institutions use student results on prior learning assessments to determine whether students' education and professional experience warrant advance standing through course placement and/or college...
November 13, 2012
The Northeast United States just experienced one of the region’s worst natural disasters. Fortunately, because of the confluence of modern computing power and scientific computing methods, weather forecasting models predicted Sandy’s very complicated trajectory and development with a precision that would not have been possible even a decade ago. Many lives were saved as a result of the...
November 8, 2012
NEBHE held its University Unbound conference in Boston last month, bringing together more than 400 educators and opinion leaders to discuss how MOOCs and other innovations are disrupting higher education's hold on knowledge, instruction and credentialing. Here is some of what Mozilla's Erin Knight said about her "Open Badges" work—an alternative credentialing system allowing learners to control their credentials and...
November 6, 2012
Updated November 2012New England’s traditional public and private nonprofit colleges and universities conferred more than 201,000 degrees at all levels in 2010—or more than 6% of the U.S. total, compared with the region's less than 5% of the U.S. population. However, those traditional public and private nonprofit colleges make up an ever-smaller portion of the U.S. total, and the U.S. ...
November 5, 2012
MassINC will examine the outcomes of the national and statewide elections and the implications for politics and policy on Thursday, Nov. 8, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.. at Emerson College's Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston. "Behind the Curtain: What Just Happened? What's Next?" will feature panel discussions moderated by former ABC news anchor Carole Simpson and award-winning host of...
October 31, 2012
University of Rhode Island oceanography professor Robert Ballard, known for the discovery of the wreck of the RMS Titanic, will be among luminaries recognized by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) in March 2013 at the regional organization's 11th annual New England Higher Education Excellence Awards. Each year, NEBHE presents Regional Excellence Awards to individuals and organizations that...
October 30, 2012
NEBHE held its University Unbound conference in mid-October, bringing together more than 400 educators and opinion leaders to discuss how MOOCs, open badges and other innovations are disrupting higher education's hold on knowledge, instruction and credentialing. Here is some of what U.S. Education Department special advisor Rosemarie Nassif had to say in an interview with NEJHE during the conference ... ...