College Enrollment Drops Again

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...

RI College’s Sánchez, Dean College’s Rooney Announce Final Years of Presidencies

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...

Framingham State U Taps Provost of a Maryland HBCU as Next Prez

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....

Promises, Promises: Exploring Free College in New England

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,...

RISD Names BU VP as New Prez, Leshan Leaving Northeastern for National Org

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...

College Towns, Jobs, Mental Health: More Data Connection

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....

Champlain, Maine Maritime, Great Bay Name New Presidents … Plus a Progressive Prosecutor Becomes U.S. Attorney

Comings and Goings ... The Champlain College Board of Trustees named Alejandro "Alex" Hernandez as the 10th president of the Burlington, Vt. college, starting in June 2022. Hernandez is dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies and vice provost of online learning at the University of Virginia. He'll succeed Benjamin Ola. Akande, who stepped down after less than a year in cha...

Universities with Federal Contracts Eye Status of Vaccine Mandate

DC Shuttle ... Vaccine Mandate Injunction. A federal judge issued an injunction stopping President Joe Biden’s executive order mandating Covid-19 vaccines for employees of federal contractors, including higher education institutions that receive federal contracts. A case filed against the Biden administration and led by Georgia had asked for an injunction stating that “the President exceede...

Roberson To Leave Roxbury CC; Interim to Succeed Interim at Vermont’s Castleton

Comings and Goings ... Roxbury Community College (RCC) President Valerie Roberson announced she will still step down from the post she has held since 2013. Though some Boston media outlets alleged mismanagement, others hailed Roberson for getting RCC removed from the Massachusetts Department of Education Heightened Cash Monitoring list and overseeing the relaunch of the Roxbury Community Co...

Grappling with Public College Pricing in a Covid World: NEBHE’s 2020-21 Tuition and Fees Report

In the 2020-21 academic year, the U.S. and New England saw a decline in higher education enrollment as students and families reckoned with job losses and the economic turmoil created by the coronavirus pandemic. NEBHE’s recent report Published Tuition and Fees at Public Colleges and Universities in New England 2020-2021 unveils data about the ways that institutions tried to make college more ...