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...
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 slig...
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 int...
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 A...
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 trainee...
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.
Deve...
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 pro...
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 (R-TX). The bill would offer visas for skilled immi...
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 cont...
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 WBUR’s On...
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... 
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 WBUR’s On...