Senator Warns that Student Debt Prevents Many from Buying a Home, Starting a Business, Starting a Family

DC Shuttle ... Senate Banking Committee Holds Hearing on Student Debt. The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing titled “Examining Student Loan Servicers and Their Impact on Workers.” Earlier in the week, Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH) convened a listening session to hear from borrowers across the country about their experiences with student loan ...

MD and Veep at Minnesota State Community and Technical College to Lead Connecticut’s Merged Community College System

Comings and Goings ... The Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education appointed Dr. John Maduko, a medical doctor and current vice president of academic and student affairs for Minnesota State Community and Technical College, to serve as the inaugural president of Connecticut State Community College, the planned merged community college system in Connecticut. He will lead a system be...

Biden Admin Offers More Incarcerated Students Second Chance Pells, Boosts Investment in Pandemic Recovery … Now, Will It Forgive Student Loans?

DC Shuttle ... Hearings & Markups of Interest The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety will hold a hearing on Connecting Workers and Communities: Preparing and Supporting the Broadband Workforce on Tuesday, May 3 at 9:30 a.m. in 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Education Department Expands Second Chance Pell Grants to Sup...

NEBHE’s Tuition Break Enrollment Held Steady in Fall 2021, Outperforming National Trends

In its 64th year of enrollment, the New England Board of Higher Education’s Tuition Break, the Regional Student Program (RSP), continued to enhance access and affordability for residents of the six New England states while helping to support enrollment at the region’s public colleges and universities. The 9,101 students enrolled in programs offered through the RSP in fall 2021 saved an esti...

UMass Boston Names New Biz School Dean … Maine Loses an Education-Economic Development Leader

Comings and Goings ... The University of Massachusetts Boston named University of South Dakota business school dean Venky Venkatachalam as the next dean of its College of Management. Venkatachalam will assume the Boston dean’s position from current interim dean Arindam Bandopadhyaya. Previously, as a professor and associate dean at the University of New Hampshire’s Peter T. Paul College o...

In Vermont, a New Leader for a New Public System, Plus Warner Returns to RI and Private Vermont Law School Names New Prez

Comings and Goings ... Parwinder Grewal, an entomologist and administrator at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), was named as the first president of Vermont State University (VSU), which will launch in summer 2023 with the consolidation of Castleton University, Northern Vermont University and Vermont Technical College. The flagship University of Vermont and Community Colle...

UMaine System Plucks New President from SUNY to Lead Augusta Campus, Mass. Community College Names Its First Provost

Comings and Goings ... The University of Maine System appointed State University of New York (SUNY) at Delhi President Michael Laliberte as the next president of the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA), effective Aug. 1. As president of SUNY at Delhi since 2016, he added 19 new degree programs to address local and state workforce needs, launched initiatives to improve student success, incr...

Plan Would “Repurpose” $500 million in Unspent Covid Relief that Was Set Aside for Higher Ed

DC Shuttle ... Senate Covid-19 Relief Compromise Would Repurpose $500 Million in Higher Ed Funding. The U.S. Senate reached a bipartisan “agreement in principle” for a $10 billion Covid-19 relief bill. The compromise reprograms billions in unused money from other coronavirus bills to fund Covid-19-related therapeutics, testing and vaccine distribution efforts. It proposes to rescind $500 mill...

Mount Holyoke College Taps former Spelman College President Beverly Daniel Tatum as Interim Leader

Comings and Goings ... Mount Holyoke College named former Spelman College President Beverly Daniel Tatum as interim president, taking over in July for Sonya Stephens, who announced she would be leaving in the summer to head the American University in Paris. A clinical psychologist, Tatum served as acting president of Mount Holyoke in 2002, was dean of the college from 1998 to 2002 a...

Tech Confidence, Sports Equity, Police Calls, Warming Seawater and More Data Connections

Percentage of students who rated themselves as very or extremely proficient in critical thinking last year: 80% National Association of Colleges and Employers Percentage of employers who agreed with that assessment: 56% National Association of Colleges and Employers Percentage of students who rated themselves as very or extremely proficient in technology: 65% National Association of Colleg...