NE Budget Math: Two More Plus Four Equals All Six NE States with Budgets Passed

All six New England states have completed the initial step in their budget processes in this very difficult fiscal year.In mid-June, we reported that Connecticut and Vermont had completed budgets in record time, followed by completions in Maine and New Hampshire. Now, Massachusetts and Rhode Island ...Massachusetts BudgetTo the consternation of labor leaders, Democratic lawmakers in Massachusetts,...

DC Shuttle: Duncan Defends Ed Budget Request … and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

Editor's Note: A reminder that our DC Shuttle column has changed gates. Our news from Washington will now appear in Newslink, rather than the Journal section, of https://www.nebhe.org.On Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended the department's budget request for FY 2012, including a 10.7% increase over 2011 funding levels, to the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, ...

Among Comings and Goings, UVM and Carsey Institute Name Interim Chiefs; Former Unity Prez Seeks Sustainability Leaders at Second Nature

University of Vermont trustees named former Provost A. John Bramley to serve as interim president, beginning Aug. 1. He will succeed Daniel Fogel, who is resigning the presidency after nine years in charge and will join the UVM faculty. Bramley, himself a longstanding member of the UVM faculty, served as acting president in 2006 when Fogel suffered from acute pancreatitis. From 2007 to 2011, Braml...

Clark U Joins NEBHE’s Master Property Program

Clark University of Worcester, Mass., is the latest New England campus to join NEBHE's Master Property Program (MPP). Clark joins the University of Maine System in New England and 49 institutions nationwide that cover more than 100 campuses with total insured values exceeding $78.9 billion. Established in 1994 by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, the MPP saved participating members approx...

DC Shuttle: White House Meeting with CEOs Spawns New Ed Grants … and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

Editor's Note: Our DC Shuttle column has changed gates, so to speak. With frequent arrivals of higher ed news from our partner The New England Council, DC Shuttle will now appear in Newslink, rather than the Journal section, of  https://www.nebhe.org. President Obama hosted an education roundtable on July 18 with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Domestic Policy Chair Melody Barnes and busines...

Two More NE States Close Books on Tough Budget Year

In mid-June, we reported that Connecticut and Vermont had completed budgets in record time. Now it's Maine and New Hampshire's turn in this very difficult budget year. Maine State Budget After a rocky start, Maine's newly elected Republican Gov. Paul LePage got much of what he asked for, as the Republican-controlled Legislature approved a $6.1 billion two-year budget, which included the eliminatio...

Nellie Mae Education Foundation Issues Report Boosting Technology in Schools

More than 40% of high school students feel unprepared to use technology as they look ahead to college and work, and only 8% of teachers fully integrate technology in the classroom, according to Integrating Technology with Student-Centered Learning, a new report prepared for the Nellie Mae Education Foundation (NMEF) of Quincy, Mass., by Education Development Center (EDC) of Newton, Mass.The report...

Down Economy Still Shaping College Enrollment, Consulting Firm Says

Two years after the depth of the Great Recession, the economy is still a major factor in college-enrollment decisions, according to a new survey by Concord, Mass.-based Maguire Associates and Fastweb.com. Nearly one-third of high school seniors who did not enroll in their first-choice college said the main reason was that they could not afford it, according to the survey of 2,400 high school seni...

Among Latest Comings & Goings, Meotti Named Interim Chief of New Conn. Regents

Connecticut Higher Education Commissioner Michael P. Meotti, a NEBHE delegate, was named interim president of the the state's new Board of Regents of Higher Education. Under the state's recent education reorganization, the Regents will serve as the board for the community colleges, state universities and Charter Oak State College, as of Jan. 1. 2012. ****Vermont State Colleges Chancellor Tim Don...

Number of HS Grads Dropping in NE States

The number of new high school graduates will plunge in the New England states between now and 2020, according to a new report by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS). The report Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore: The Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete College forecasts no national growth in the number of high s...