Students in New England take increasingly varied pathways to a degree. They are highly mobile and move among two-year colleges and four-year public and private higher education institutions (HEIs), among four-year and two-year colleges and back, and transfer in-state and out-of state. Four in 10 students who begin college at a New England institution transfer from one institution to another at lea...
Learning the intricacies of STEM subjects can be a challenge. But teaching these complex subjects presents its own unique set of obstacles. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 48% of undergraduate students who entered STEM degree programs between 2003 and 2009 left them by spring 2009.
Considering the rising demand for educated STEM professionals, students’ dissatisfact...
Colleges and Universities have experienced a noticeable increase of students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) who are pursuing a postsecondary degree. This may be a victory for the population with ASD in terms of their general acceptance into institutions of higher education, but it also poses some real challenges for the faculty working with them in the classroom. Although this popu...
Most employers hiring college graduates take it for granted that these candidates are more qualified than other potential employees who don't have a degree.
Many job postings emphasize a college degree as a requirement for a position. And there is longstanding evidence that people with college degrees make more money over their lifetime than those without a degree.
Employers make a lot of assu...
There are two initiatives that can dramatically change the way college pricing and student debt are being handled under the current system. Both are commonsense solutions that would, if accepted, dramatically help students, graduates and families burdened by the cost of tuition and the loans they take to earn their degrees.
First, income-based loan repayment (IBR) should be the default mechanis...
The recent controversy surrounding a proposed ban on immigration from seven Middle East countries recalls similar times in our history. More than 130 years ago, Chinese immigration was restricted. In 1924, Japanese immigrants were effectively barred from entering the U.S., and Mexicans living here during the Depression were the subject of repatriation, even those who were U.S. citizens. Other rest...
It took me 15 years to figure out, but I finally did: When students are offered choices within assignments it increases buy-in and therefore motivation toward the task—and ultimately for the class itself. Back when I was parenting, we called it “choices within limits” (“you can have peas or carrots as your vegetable”), and it worked then too. Simply having the opportunity to make the cho...
The New England Economic Partnership (NEEP) explored "What’s Ahead After This Historic Election?" at the group's outlook conference held Jan. 17 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Their general conclusion: New England's economy will stay robust through 2017 and 2018 ... but then watch out! (And that's just economists—groups of scientists, multiculturalists, educators, philosophers and oth...
Protecting public mission requires the courage to change ...
Despite the serious headwinds buffeting small, rural, tuition-dependent public colleges, they can survive—and even thrive—where leadership is proactive, courageous and doubled-down on our mission to serve.
Unfavorable demographics, inadequate state funding, disruptive technologies and increases in costs can either choke us or m...
Colleges and universities experienced something of a wakeup call in 2010, when hackers breached an Ohio State University system containing the social security numbers, dates of birth and physical addresses of 760,000 people. Though it was unlikely that data was released, the investigation and remediation effort was massive and incredibly costly, including offering 12 months of free credit-monitori...
Students in New England take increasingly varied pathways to a degree. They are highly mobile and move among two-year colleges and four-year public and private higher education institutions (HEIs), among four-year and two-year colleges and back, and transfer in-state and out-of state. Four in 10 students who begin college at a New England institution transfer from one institution to another at lea... 
Learning the intricacies of STEM subjects can be a challenge. But teaching these complex subjects presents its own unique set of obstacles. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 48% of undergraduate students who entered STEM degree programs between 2003 and 2009 left them by spring 2009.
Considering the rising demand for educated STEM professionals, students’ dissatisfact... 
Colleges and Universities have experienced a noticeable increase of students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) who are pursuing a postsecondary degree. This may be a victory for the population with ASD in terms of their general acceptance into institutions of higher education, but it also poses some real challenges for the faculty working with them in the classroom. Although this popu... 
Most employers hiring college graduates take it for granted that these candidates are more qualified than other potential employees who don't have a degree.
Many job postings emphasize a college degree as a requirement for a position. And there is longstanding evidence that people with college degrees make more money over their lifetime than those without a degree.
Employers make a lot of assu... 
There are two initiatives that can dramatically change the way college pricing and student debt are being handled under the current system. Both are commonsense solutions that would, if accepted, dramatically help students, graduates and families burdened by the cost of tuition and the loans they take to earn their degrees.
First, income-based loan repayment (IBR) should be the default mechanis... 
The recent controversy surrounding a proposed ban on immigration from seven Middle East countries recalls similar times in our history. More than 130 years ago, Chinese immigration was restricted. In 1924, Japanese immigrants were effectively barred from entering the U.S., and Mexicans living here during the Depression were the subject of repatriation, even those who were U.S. citizens. Other rest... 
It took me 15 years to figure out, but I finally did: When students are offered choices within assignments it increases buy-in and therefore motivation toward the task—and ultimately for the class itself. Back when I was parenting, we called it “choices within limits” (“you can have peas or carrots as your vegetable”), and it worked then too. Simply having the opportunity to make the cho... 
The New England Economic Partnership (NEEP) explored "What’s Ahead After This Historic Election?" at the group's outlook conference held Jan. 17 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Their general conclusion: New England's economy will stay robust through 2017 and 2018 ... but then watch out! (And that's just economists—groups of scientists, multiculturalists, educators, philosophers and oth... 
Protecting public mission requires the courage to change ...
Despite the serious headwinds buffeting small, rural, tuition-dependent public colleges, they can survive—and even thrive—where leadership is proactive, courageous and doubled-down on our mission to serve.
Unfavorable demographics, inadequate state funding, disruptive technologies and increases in costs can either choke us or m... 
Colleges and universities experienced something of a wakeup call in 2010, when hackers breached an Ohio State University system containing the social security numbers, dates of birth and physical addresses of 760,000 people. Though it was unlikely that data was released, the investigation and remediation effort was massive and incredibly costly, including offering 12 months of free credit-monitori...