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...
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 organizatio...
Nearly one in five American households maintains student loan debt, up from 15% in 2007 and 10% in 1989, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center.The report also states that rates of student loan debt increased in every demographic group and economic category, and is particularly acute in the bottom and top fifth of income earners.Heightened national awareness of the increase in s...
Federal maintenance of effort (MOE) provisions play an important role in state funding of higher education, according to a new report by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).The MOE provisions require states to maintain a minimum level of state aid to public and private higher education institutions in order for states to receive federal funds. In most cases, the min...
The State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) group issued an open letter to President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Change Magazine’s September/October edition.In the letter, SHEEO President Paul Lingenfelter asks the next presidential candidate to sustain federal investment in research and development (R&D) and provide necessary levels of federal need-ba...
The U.S. Department of Education released a Request for Information on promising and practical strategies to increase postsecondary success.The department invites submissions from institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, states, systems of higher education, adult education providers, researchers, and institutional faculty and staff, or consortia of these groups.The aim is to coll...
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... 
Nearly one in five American households maintains student loan debt, up from 15% in 2007 and 10% in 1989, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center.The report also states that rates of student loan debt increased in every demographic group and economic category, and is particularly acute in the bottom and top fifth of income earners.Heightened national awareness of the increase in s... 
Federal maintenance of effort (MOE) provisions play an important role in state funding of higher education, according to a new report by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).The MOE provisions require states to maintain a minimum level of state aid to public and private higher education institutions in order for states to receive federal funds. In most cases, the min...