Posts Categorized: Financing

Data Connection: Birth Rates, College Affordability, Flying Low … and Other Indicators

Percentage of U.S. counties where more people died than were born in 2021: 73%  University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy analysis of National Center for Health Statistics data Number of additional births that would have occurred in the past 14 years had pre-Great Recession fertility rates continued: 8,600,000 University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy analysis...

A New Englander Reflects on Minority-Serving Institutions

Though home to  more than 250 colleges and universities, New England boasts only nine so-called minority serving institutions (MSIs)—institutions focused specifically on providing an abundance of resources to equip  minority students with the tools they need to be successful in furthering their education. MSIs are colleges or universities that enroll a high percentage of minority and histor...

NEBHE’s Tuition Break Enrollment Held Steady in Fall 2021, Outperforming National Trends

In its 64th year of enrollment, the New England Board of Higher Education’s Tuition Break, the Regional Student Program (RSP), continued to enhance access and affordability for residents of the six New England states while helping to support enrollment at the region’s public colleges and universities. The 9,101 students enrolled in programs offered through the RSP in fall 2021 saved an esti...

New England Lawmakers Convene to Explore Key Higher Ed Issues, from Food Insecurity to College Mergers 

Rather than return to the pre-Covid state of affairs, policy change is needed to strengthen each leg of the “three-legged stool” of community college success: students’ financial stability, learning inside the classroom, and wraparound support services on campuses, Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger told the New England Board of Higher Education’s (NEBHE) Legislative Advi...

State of the States in New England, 2022 … Plus Some Key Points from the NEJHE Beat

"This Covid-19 pandemic has been part of our lives for nearly two years now. It’s what we talk about at our kitchen tables over breakfast in the morning, and again over dinner at night. It gets brought up in nearly every conversation we have throughout the day, and it’s a topic at nearly every special gathering we attend," Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee noted in his recent 2022 State of the St...

Promises, Promises: Exploring Free College in New England

Free college policies—commonly known as "Promise" programs—are important promoters of equity in higher education. Some specific elements help ensure these free college programs truly encourage equity, especially for students from low-income backgrounds. These elements include: providing financial support beyond the costs of tuition and fees, supporting adult learners and undocumented students,...

College Towns, Jobs, Mental Health: More Data Connection

Number of New England communities among WalletHub’s top 50 Best & Worst College Towns & Cities: 2  WalletHub 2022's Best College Towns & Cities in America (Based on indicators of academic, social and economic growth potential, ranging from cost of living to the quality of higher education to the crime rate. The New England communities are Storrs, Conn. at No. 18 and Cambridge, Mass....

Grappling with Public College Pricing in a Covid World: NEBHE’s 2020-21 Tuition and Fees Report

In the 2020-21 academic year, the U.S. and New England saw a decline in higher education enrollment as students and families reckoned with job losses and the economic turmoil created by the coronavirus pandemic. NEBHE’s recent report Published Tuition and Fees at Public Colleges and Universities in New England 2020-2021 unveils data about the ways that institutions tried to make college more ...

A Recap of the 2021 State Legislative Sessions in New England: Higher Ed and Workforce Development

Amid a lingering pandemic, a surprise merger proposal and strong efforts to make college free or debt-free, the 2021 legislative session in New England was one for the books. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of this year’s state legislative sessions ... Sexual misconduct and assault Lawmakers in Connecticut and Massachusetts passed legislation focused on college campus ...

Data Connection: Demography, Economy and Sports

Rank of Massachusetts among U.S. states in Haitian population: 3rd U.S. Census Bureau (Florida ranks #1, New York ranks #2) Rank of Connecticut among U.S. states in Haitian population: 7th U.S. Census Bureau Amount women nationally earn for every dollar earned by the average white, non-Hispanic man: $0.82 National Women’s Law Center Amount women make in Vermont, the state with the narrowest...