During a Friday morning speech at the University of Michigan, President Obama announced a set of initiatives to improve the quality and affordability of higher education. His proposals include tying federal financial aid to colleges’ efforts to contain costs; new competitive grant programs for states, colleges, and organizations to improve college outcomes; and making colleges’ financi...
This academic year marks the third consecutive year of record-high enrollments in the New England Regional Student Program (RSP), Tuition Break.The New England Board of Higher Education’s program provided 9,293 New England residents with an estimated total savings of $53 million on their 2011-12 out-of-state tuition bills. The average savings for a full-time RSP student was $6,900. Meanwhile...
Massachusetts state Rep. Vincent Pedone announced he'd leave the Legislature to become executive director of the Council of Presidents of the Massachusetts State University System. Pedone represented Worcester for nearly 20 years. He will succeed Frederick Clark, who left the council in November to become executive vice president of Bridgewater State University.****James McCarthy, provost and seni...
The Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy hired Chad d’Entremont as its new executive director. A former research and policy leader at Teachers College of Columbia University and Strategies for Children, d’Entremont managed Massachusetts’ successful application for a $50 million Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge award. At Rennie, he succeeds Jill Norton, who ov...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded approximately $372,000 in grants to support 13 New England community projects that address environmental and public health issues.Among examples:• Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust in Connecticut was awarded $25,000 for its “Bridgeport East Side Healthy Homes Initiative” to address environmentally related illnesses inc...
House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair John Kline (R-MN) released two new drafts of legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) on Friday afternoon. Legislators and stakeholders from both parties have agreed that the accountability measures put in place by the law’s current authorization—No Child Left Behind—are not working. Under the c...
Southern Vermont College President Karen Gross was named a senior policy advisor to the U.S. Department of Education for one year, starting Jan. 17.SVC trustees granted Gross a one-year leave of absence from the college, during which time chief operating officer James Beckwith will be acting president.A NEBHE delegate since 2010, Gross has authored several articles for NEJHE, including: Helicopter...
It may be known as the "Land of Steady Habits," but Connecticut's new habit in education in this new year looks like steady change.Recently, Connecticut school superintendents advanced a package of 134 recommendations to replace the state's current school system with a “learner-centered” education program. The program would begin at age 3; offer parents a menu of options, including cha...
The academic who contributed the most to public debates about schooling in 2011 was Stanford University education prof Linda Darling-Hammond, according to the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings.The rankings were compiled by Frederick M. Hess, director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and published in Education Week, where Hess writes a blog.Darling-Hammond i...
The New Hampshire Forum on the Future will feature a talk on "Renewing America's Political Culture" by Harvard Kennedy School professor and CNN political analyst David Gergen on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at the NH Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.New Hampshire's U.S. senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte, are also scheduled to make brief remarks.New Hamps...
During a Friday morning speech at the University of Michigan, President Obama announced a set of initiatives to improve the quality and affordability of higher education. His proposals include tying federal financial aid to colleges’ efforts to contain costs; new competitive grant programs for states, colleges, and organizations to improve college outcomes; and making colleges’ financi... 
This academic year marks the third consecutive year of record-high enrollments in the New England Regional Student Program (RSP), Tuition Break.The New England Board of Higher Education’s program provided 9,293 New England residents with an estimated total savings of $53 million on their 2011-12 out-of-state tuition bills. The average savings for a full-time RSP student was $6,900. Meanwhile... 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded approximately $372,000 in grants to support 13 New England community projects that address environmental and public health issues.Among examples:• Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust in Connecticut was awarded $25,000 for its “Bridgeport East Side Healthy Homes Initiative” to address environmentally related illnesses inc... 
Southern Vermont College President Karen Gross was named a senior policy advisor to the U.S. Department of Education for one year, starting Jan. 17.SVC trustees granted Gross a one-year leave of absence from the college, during which time chief operating officer James Beckwith will be acting president.A NEBHE delegate since 2010, Gross has authored several articles for NEJHE, including: Helicopter...