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...
Higher education reauthorization. On Tuesday, Jan. 29, as lawmakers began to form proposals for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the New America Foundation released a report with 30 recommendations for policy changes. The report "calls for specific changes to grants, loans, tax benefits, college outreach programs and federal regulations to provide more direct aid to the lowes...
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...
The Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) in January issued a white paper, Making Sense of the System: Financial Aid for the 21st-Century Student, recommending more than a dozen federal policies to help students access postscecondary education and ultimately earn valuable degrees and credentials.
Based on surveys and focus groups with leaders in business, higher educ...
Kiplinger announced its 2013 list of the top 100 values in public colleges and universities.
Five New England public colleges and universities are ranked among the top 100, with slight variations in rankings for in-state and out-of-state students.
The University of Connecticut is ranked 25th for in-state students and 22nd for out-of-state students; University of Massachusetts Amherst, 62nd and 4...
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...
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...
On Friday, the House voted 245-139 to pass the STEM Jobs Act (H.R. 6249). The bill would offer visas for skilled immigrants who earn advanced degrees from American institutions. Many Democrats are opposed to the bill because it includes the abrogation of the diversity immigration program, which allocates visas by lottery. The 55,000 visas originally distributed by the diversity program would be re...
Westfield State University math professors were awarded a $550,600 grant from the National Science Foundation to support an innovative approach to teaching mathematics to non-mathematics and science students.The grant, titled “Discovering the Art of Mathematics (DAoM): Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics for Liberal Arts,” supports development of a library of 10 full-length, standalo...
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... 
Westfield State University math professors were awarded a $550,600 grant from the National Science Foundation to support an innovative approach to teaching mathematics to non-mathematics and science students.The grant, titled “Discovering the Art of Mathematics (DAoM): Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics for Liberal Arts,” supports development of a library of 10 full-length, standalo...