DC Shuttle ...
GAO report and Senate committee hearing on student loan debt. The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing titled "Indebted for Life: Older Americans and Student Loan Debt." At the hearing, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that reveals student loan debt among seniors is on the rise. The report found that the amount owed by senior citizens has dra...
State Capital Notes ...
In 2013, Gov. Deval Patrick was often at loggerheads with legislators on big-ticket items, including education funding and transportation. In 2014, the atmosphere was more cordial. Just prior to the close of the 2013-14 legislative session, lawmakers sent a $36.5 billion FY 2015 budget to the governor.
The governor and legislators agreed on a spending plan with no new ta...
State Capital Notes …
Gov. Lincoln Chafee and state legislators closed out the six-month legislative session by approving an $8.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2015, taking steps they believe will turn the state’s economy around and put people back to work. Rhode Island has the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. at 8.3%. The budget plan fills a $67 million gap, which includes $24...
Comings and Goings ...
Suffolk University named Norman R. Smith interim president, beginning Sept. 1, replacing James McCarthy. Described as a turnaround expert at Wagner College in New York City, Smith is a member of the Registry for College and University Presidents—a service that matches veteran education leaders to interim positions, where they are viewed as freer to make unpopular...
State Capital Notes …
In the 2014 session, the second year of the biennium, not a budget-writing year, two issues that were holdovers from the first session, commanded the attention of the governor, lawmakers, attorney general, state healthcare agencies, hospitals and other healthcare providers.
Gov. Maggie Hassan and state lawmakers reached agreement on the Health Care Protection Program...
Much of NEBHE's Higher Education Innovation Challenge is based on fears that economic and demographic pressures will make the current number of degree-granting institutions (about 250 in New England and 4,600 nationally) unsustainable—especially for those that rely heavily on tuition, have low endowments and are not well-differentiated.
This fear has lurked in various guises for decades. In 1...
DC Shuttle ...
Campus sexual assault bill unveiled in Senate. A bipartisan group of senators unveiled the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, a proposal that would hold colleges and universities more accountable for taking steps to prevent and properly deal with sexual assault on campus. Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) led the group, which includes New England Sen...
DC Shuttle ...
Department of Education expands experimental sites initiative. The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will be testing the idea of awarding student financial aid for more nontraditional programs. This will allow funding for competency-based programs, prior-learning assessments or programs that blend direct assessment and credit-hour coursework. Under the experiment, the ...
Comings and Goings ...
The University of Maine System name former Central Maine Power President David T. Flanagan to be president of the University of Southern Maine. In addition to leading the utility's response to Maine's 1998 Ice Storm, Flanagan served previously as assistant Maine attorney general and as chief legal counsel to Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan.
Former NEBHE delegate Tom Coderre ...
State Capital Notes …
Vermont lawmakers passed a $5.5 billion budget along with $5.5 million in new taxes.
Property taxes were raised 5%. Spending overall increased by 4.1% over the prior year. The budget included a 1.6% increase in reimbursement rates for health care providers who accept Medicaid payments, which will cost $2.6 million. Lawmakers also increased the cigarette tax by 13 cen...
DC Shuttle ...
GAO report and Senate committee hearing on student loan debt. The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing titled "Indebted for Life: Older Americans and Student Loan Debt." At the hearing, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that reveals student loan debt among seniors is on the rise. The report found that the amount owed by senior citizens has dra... 
State Capital Notes ...
In 2013, Gov. Deval Patrick was often at loggerheads with legislators on big-ticket items, including education funding and transportation. In 2014, the atmosphere was more cordial. Just prior to the close of the 2013-14 legislative session, lawmakers sent a $36.5 billion FY 2015 budget to the governor.
The governor and legislators agreed on a spending plan with no new ta... 
Comings and Goings ...
The University of Maine System name former Central Maine Power President David T. Flanagan to be president of the University of Southern Maine. In addition to leading the utility's response to Maine's 1998 Ice Storm, Flanagan served previously as assistant Maine attorney general and as chief legal counsel to Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan.
Former NEBHE delegate Tom Coderre ...