DC Shuttle ...
Democrats Push for Biden to Release Memo on Student Loan Debt Cancellation. Eighty-five members of Congress sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to release the internal memo on his legal authority to cancel student loan debt. The letter was spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), alongside Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA...
Comings and Goings ...
Worcester Polytechnic Institute President Laurie Leshin was named director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the California lab affiliated with NASA. A geochemist and space scientist, Leshin was the first woman to lead WPI and will be the first woman to lead the Jet Propulsion Laboratory run by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Leshin will leave the Worc...
Comings and Goings ...
Former Wheelock College President Jackie Jenkins-Scott was named interim president of Roxbury Community College. Leading Wheelock, she added new cross-disciplinary and online programs, increased undergraduate enrollment by over 50% and grew representation of ethnically and differently-abled students by 40%. She is also president and founder of JJS Advising, which prov...
Comings and Goings ...
Carlos Santiago, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, announced he will step down in June. Born in Puerto Rico, Santiago became the Bay State's first Latino higher ed commissioner in 2015 after serving as deputy under former Commissioner Richard Freeland and chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2004 to 2010. A labor eco...
DC Shuttle ...
Student Enrollment Drops. Enrollment at colleges fell once again in the fall, according to a new report. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released a new report which said undergraduate enrollment in fall 2021 dropped 3.1%. In total, enrollment was down by about half a million students, with declines in every sector. The drop is similar to that of the previou...
Comings and Goings ...
Rhode Island College (RIC) President Frank D. Sánchez announced he will step down after his contract expires on June 30. Appointed to lead the four-year college in 2016, Sánchez said he was most proud of reducing out-of-pocket expenses with such moves as putting more textbooks online and reducing the price of public transit passes used by many students at the college...
Comings and Goings ...
Framingham State University Trustees tapped University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Nancy Niemi to be the Massachusetts institution's eighth president, succeeding F. Javier Cevallos, who announced he's retiring after this academic year. UMES is an HBCU (historically Black college and university) in Princess Anne, Md....
Free college policies—commonly known as "Promise" programs—are important promoters of equity in higher education. Some specific elements help ensure these free college programs truly encourage equity, especially for students from low-income backgrounds. These elements include: providing financial support beyond the costs of tuition and fees, supporting adult learners and undocumented students,...
Comings and Goings ...
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) appointed Crystal Williams, a former professor at Reed and Bates colleges and Boston University’s inaugural vice president and associate provost for community & inclusion, as the Providence college's 18th president, starting April 1, 2022. She succeeds Rosanne Somerson, who now serves as the institution’s first president em...
Number of New England communities among WalletHub’s top 50 Best & Worst College Towns & Cities: 2 WalletHub 2022's Best College Towns & Cities in America (Based on indicators of academic, social and economic growth potential, ranging from cost of living to the quality of higher education to the crime rate. The New England communities are Storrs, Conn. at No. 18 and Cambridge, Mass....
DC Shuttle ...
Democrats Push for Biden to Release Memo on Student Loan Debt Cancellation. Eighty-five members of Congress sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to release the internal memo on his legal authority to cancel student loan debt. The letter was spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), alongside Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA... 
Comings and Goings ...
Worcester Polytechnic Institute President Laurie Leshin was named director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the California lab affiliated with NASA. A geochemist and space scientist, Leshin was the first woman to lead WPI and will be the first woman to lead the Jet Propulsion Laboratory run by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Leshin will leave the Worc... 
Comings and Goings ...
Former Wheelock College President Jackie Jenkins-Scott was named interim president of Roxbury Community College. Leading Wheelock, she added new cross-disciplinary and online programs, increased undergraduate enrollment by over 50% and grew representation of ethnically and differently-abled students by 40%. She is also president and founder of JJS Advising, which prov... 
Comings and Goings ...
Carlos Santiago, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, announced he will step down in June. Born in Puerto Rico, Santiago became the Bay State's first Latino higher ed commissioner in 2015 after serving as deputy under former Commissioner Richard Freeland and chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2004 to 2010. A labor eco... 
DC Shuttle ...
Student Enrollment Drops. Enrollment at colleges fell once again in the fall, according to a new report. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released a new report which said undergraduate enrollment in fall 2021 dropped 3.1%. In total, enrollment was down by about half a million students, with declines in every sector. The drop is similar to that of the previou... 
Comings and Goings ...
Rhode Island College (RIC) President Frank D. Sánchez announced he will step down after his contract expires on June 30. Appointed to lead the four-year college in 2016, Sánchez said he was most proud of reducing out-of-pocket expenses with such moves as putting more textbooks online and reducing the price of public transit passes used by many students at the college... 
Comings and Goings ...
Framingham State University Trustees tapped University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Nancy Niemi to be the Massachusetts institution's eighth president, succeeding F. Javier Cevallos, who announced he's retiring after this academic year. UMES is an HBCU (historically Black college and university) in Princess Anne, Md.... 
Free college policies—commonly known as "Promise" programs—are important promoters of equity in higher education. Some specific elements help ensure these free college programs truly encourage equity, especially for students from low-income backgrounds. These elements include: providing financial support beyond the costs of tuition and fees, supporting adult learners and undocumented students,... 
Comings and Goings ...
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) appointed Crystal Williams, a former professor at Reed and Bates colleges and Boston University’s inaugural vice president and associate provost for community & inclusion, as the Providence college's 18th president, starting April 1, 2022. She succeeds Rosanne Somerson, who now serves as the institution’s first president em... 
Number of New England communities among WalletHub’s top 50 Best & Worst College Towns & Cities: 2 WalletHub 2022's Best College Towns & Cities in America (Based on indicators of academic, social and economic growth potential, ranging from cost of living to the quality of higher education to the crime rate. The New England communities are Storrs, Conn. at No. 18 and Cambridge, Mass....