Posts Categorized: Regionalism

Now Available: 2018 Guide to New England Colleges & Universities

NEBHE's 2018 Guide to New England Colleges & Universities lists key data for public and independent, degree-granting colleges and universities based in New England—such as admissions application deadlines and acceptance rates; faculty-student ratio; enrollment totals and breakdowns for part-time, commuting, female, international and minority students; cost of attendance; and degrees offered...

NEBHE Presents NE Higher Education Excellence Award to Lawmaker-Tick Expert Dill

As a Tick superhero gathers comic book and video followers, Maine state Sen. Jim Dill, a UMaine Cooperative Extension professor, has emerged as a key expert in the real-life challenge of understanding the often-disease-carrying insects. NEBHE presented its 2017 regional Higher Education Excellence Award to Dill, during the organization's board meeting at the Sable Oaks Marriott in South Portland,...

NEBHE Releases Statement Calling on Congress to Legislate Permanent Protection for DACA Participants

NEBHE on Sept. 15 issued the following statement ... The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) urges Congress to follow the president's direction to legislate permanent protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA allowed "Dreamers" to "come out of the shadows," enroll in postsecondary opportunities and legally secure jobs. "Dreamers" are required to follo...

Vermont Legislative Session 2017: It Was Supposed To Be Smooth Sailing …

From January to April, there appeared to be an unusual degree of cooperation among legislators and newly elected Gov. Phil Scott. The House and Senate passed a budget with minor differences. Up until this point, some legislators were characterizing the session as “boring.” All that changed on April 20, when Scott proposed that the Legislature adopt the Vermont School Boards Association’s pla...

Rhode Island Legislative Session 2017: Free College Tuition Becomes Law … at Least for Community College

The Rhode Island General Assembly abruptly ended its 2017 legislation session on Friday evening, July 1, following a protracted disagreement between House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio related to the car tax. Eliminating the car tax was a high priority of Mattiello’s. But some lawmakers expressed concern that with revenues lagging by approximately $100 mil...

New Hampshire Legislative Session 2017: Keno-garten

New Hampshire lawmakers ended hard-fought budget deliberations on June 22 and passed a two-year $17.7 billion budget along party lines. During House budget deliberations, Republicans faced opposition in their own party coming from the newly formed Freedom Caucus. The result was the Republican-dominated House failed to produce a budget, which hadn’t happened in several decades. The Republican...

Maine Legislative Session 2017: Legislature Overturns the Will of the Voters

The first regular session of Maine’s 128th state Legislature was exceptionally challenging, as lawmakers engaged in a bitter fight over the budget while wrestling with four ballot questions approved by voters in the November 2016 election. Lawmakers were divided on Question 2, which was approved by voters and would have imposed a 3% tax on those making $200,000 or more. Funds would be used t...

Massachusetts Legislative Session 2017: Budget Signed But Hot-Button Issues Face Legislators in September

Two weeks into FY 2018, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a $39.4 billion spending package that increases spending by 1.7% over the prior year. He vetoed $320 million from the budget, including $222 million in spending for MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. Baker has proposed reforms to MassHealth including a “gate” which blocks eligibility for full-time workers who have access to...

Connecticut Legislative Session 2017: Session Ends Without A Budget

On June 7, 2017, Connecticut legislators wrapped up their session without passing a two-year budget. The failure to pass a budget or a provisional budget reflects a deeply divided Legislature with an 18-18 split in the Senate and a slight Democratic majority, 79-72, in the House. As lawmakers adjourned, Gov. Dannel Malloy chastised them for failing to break the deadlock and pass a budget. A big s...

Debunking a Myth about Competency

NEBHE Senior Fellow Stafford Peat teamed up with Sarah Linet, a policy specialist with the Great Schools Partnership, to write a piece for the online collaborative CompetencyWorks titled Debunking a Myth–Competency-Based Transcripts Don’t Disadvantage High School Graduates in the Admissions Process. Peat and Linet note that a focus group of deans and directors of admission from the mo...