For years, we asserted that New England’s struggles with low state fiscal support for higher education stemmed in part from the under-representation of public higher education alums in the region’s state legislatures.
This week, the national Chronicle of Higher Education published a major review of where state lawmakers went to college.
Among the findings: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island rank 47th, 48th, 49th and 50th respectively in legislators who went to public colleges. Not surprisingly, those states also rank in the U.S. cellar in state support of higher ed per $1,000 of personal income, with New Hampshire, 50th; Massachusetts, 48th; Rhode Island, 47th; and Vermont 46th.
Which is not to say that New England doesn’t have key higher ed advocates in the statehouses. One who is featured in The Chronicle report is Emily Ann Cain, the minority leader in the Maine House and NEBHE delegate who is working on a doctorate at the University of Maine.
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