Over the past four years, there has been intense talk about the middle-skills gap in New England.
In Massachusetts—from the governor, often flanked by business leaders, to the commissioner of higher education, to President Obama speaking at a high school in Worcester this past spring—it appears that everyone is concerned with the middle-skills gap. And Massachusetts is not alone. For southe...
The number of incoming college students who require development mathematics coursework is a national problem. As reported by the National Center for Educational Statistics, 42% of students entering college for the first time in fall 2003 took a developmental math course. At our institution, Worcester State University, 54% of students entering in fall 2004 placed into developmental math. This is an...
What is the true value of higher education to military veterans? Some military veterans may be underrepresented in higher education due to life adversities including homelessness, medical disabilities, substance abuse, family hardships and deficient academic skills. With the transition of veterans to colleges and universities, Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) projects nationwide provide life transforma...
The debate over the value of a college education appears to be settled. Not only do employers value employees with a bachelor’s degree, they may actually value them too much.
The fact is there’s a dramatic credentials gap in the American workforce between the education levels employers are requesting in job postings and the education levels of workers already in those jobs. In some middle-s...
A Demographer Looks at New England’s Population and the Future of Education
A great many New England institutions of higher education are about to find out if demography will determine their fate because unprecedented and substantial population change is sweeping across the region.
New England is demographically unique in a number of ways. With fewer than 15 million year-round residents, i...
The most defining eras throughout American history are branded by the economic needs of their times.
The 19th and 20th centuries saw the rise and proliferation of the “Industrial Age” in which workers were needed to drive the industries born from the creation of power-driven machines. Subsequently, the later part of the 20th century gave way to the “Information Age” as a h...
In April 2013, NEJHE launched its New Directions for Higher Education series to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices.
Past installments of the series featured Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing & Professional Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, interviewing: Carnegie Foundation Presiden...
The important ongoing national debate about the value of higher education and its relationship to the economy has largely focused on undergraduate education—understandably so since it represents the largest share of U.S. enrollment and spending. Yet there is an underanalyzed segment of postsecondary education that is increasingly relevant and in demand: professional master’s education. Over th...
NEBHE’s Problem Based Learning Projects Focus on Hot Fields such as Advanced Manufacturing ...
The field of manufacturing typically conjures images of dimly lit dirty and dangerous factories crowded with workers, the kind seen in photos of New York City’s garment district in the early 1900s and in some developing countries today. But because of advances in technology, the field of manufactu...
The Massachusetts community college system is entering a second year with funding for each of its 15 schools determined using a new performance-based formula. Under the new model, 50% of each college’s allocation is based on performance on metrics related to enrollment and student success, with added incentives for “at-risk” students completing certificates and degrees and those graduating i...
Over the past four years, there has been intense talk about the middle-skills gap in New England.
In Massachusetts—from the governor, often flanked by business leaders, to the commissioner of higher education, to President Obama speaking at a high school in Worcester this past spring—it appears that everyone is concerned with the middle-skills gap. And Massachusetts is not alone. For southe... 
The number of incoming college students who require development mathematics coursework is a national problem. As reported by the National Center for Educational Statistics, 42% of students entering college for the first time in fall 2003 took a developmental math course. At our institution, Worcester State University, 54% of students entering in fall 2004 placed into developmental math. This is an... 
What is the true value of higher education to military veterans? Some military veterans may be underrepresented in higher education due to life adversities including homelessness, medical disabilities, substance abuse, family hardships and deficient academic skills. With the transition of veterans to colleges and universities, Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) projects nationwide provide life transforma... 
The debate over the value of a college education appears to be settled. Not only do employers value employees with a bachelor’s degree, they may actually value them too much.
The fact is there’s a dramatic credentials gap in the American workforce between the education levels employers are requesting in job postings and the education levels of workers already in those jobs. In some middle-s... 
A Demographer Looks at New England’s Population and the Future of Education
A great many New England institutions of higher education are about to find out if demography will determine their fate because unprecedented and substantial population change is sweeping across the region.
New England is demographically unique in a number of ways. With fewer than 15 million year-round residents, i... 
The most defining eras throughout American history are branded by the economic needs of their times.
The 19th and 20th centuries saw the rise and proliferation of the “Industrial Age” in which workers were needed to drive the industries born from the creation of power-driven machines. Subsequently, the later part of the 20th century gave way to the “Information Age” as a h... 
In April 2013, NEJHE launched its New Directions for Higher Education series to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices.
Past installments of the series featured Philip DiSalvio, dean of the College of Advancing & Professional Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, interviewing: Carnegie Foundation Presiden... 
The important ongoing national debate about the value of higher education and its relationship to the economy has largely focused on undergraduate education—understandably so since it represents the largest share of U.S. enrollment and spending. Yet there is an underanalyzed segment of postsecondary education that is increasingly relevant and in demand: professional master’s education. Over th... 
NEBHE’s Problem Based Learning Projects Focus on Hot Fields such as Advanced Manufacturing ...
The field of manufacturing typically conjures images of dimly lit dirty and dangerous factories crowded with workers, the kind seen in photos of New York City’s garment district in the early 1900s and in some developing countries today. But because of advances in technology, the field of manufactu... 
The Massachusetts community college system is entering a second year with funding for each of its 15 schools determined using a new performance-based formula. Under the new model, 50% of each college’s allocation is based on performance on metrics related to enrollment and student success, with added incentives for “at-risk” students completing certificates and degrees and those graduating i...