A decade ago, the Davis Educational Foundation published the eye-opening report, An Inquiry Into the Rising Cost of Higher Education, and NEBHE and the foundation soon began working with academic, philanthropic and other leaders to develop a dialogue on threats facing New England’s colleges and universities. These threats stemmed partly from shifts in academic content and delivery, student demography and institutional finances—all set against the contradictory backdrop of rising expectations and eroding public perceptions of higher education. The ideal behind the NEBHE and Davis initiative was to help institutions adapt models to rein in costs and pass on savings to students—and given projections of lagging enrollment, avoid closure. The threats to higher ed have not disappeared, despite a bump in federal funding by 2021 linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ten years after the initial Davis report, higher ed continues to face a perfect storm of runaway costs, enrollment pressures and a general lack of financial “sustainability.” NEBHE's Higher Education Innovation Challenge Toolkit—a practical product of that initiative—remains as relevant today as ever (though, a heads up, some of the hyperlinks were not as enduring as the threats themselves).
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Radenka Maric, who has been interim president of the University of Connecticut since February, was named the 17th president of the flagship land-grant institution. Formerly UConn’s vice president for research, innovation and entrepreneurship, Maric succeeded former interim president Andrew Agwunobi. ... Brown University hired University of Delaware technology professional Sharon P. Pitt to be its vice president for information technology and chief information officer. ... See more on these and other changes in NEJHE's Comings and Goings tally of new appointments in New England higher ed and beyond.
Pictured: Radenka Maric
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“The federal student aid formula disproportionately benefits upper-middle-class white families,” according to a new paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The authors of the paper found that “racial disparities creep into the [federal student aid] system because the federal formula for estimating how much a family can afford to pay for college ignores a family’s home equity in their primary residence and the value of their retirement savings. Families that own more of these ‘uncounted’ assets have greater financial resources than families that do not.” ... Read the latest from NEJHE's DC Shuttle, featuring national news drawn from our friends at the New England Council.
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Tidbits from the NEJHE Beat |
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Brief items from the "NEJHE Beat"—that unique constellation of issues connected to higher education and also to social justice, economic and workforce development, regional cooperation, quality of life, academic research, workplaces and other topics that together say "NEJHE."
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NEBHE published its 2022 Annual Report, providing an overview of the interstate compact's programs, including Tuition Break, Policy & Research, The New England Journal of Higher Education and the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) as well as NEBHE initiatives on Open Educational Resources (OER), transfer, the future of postsecondary education for incarcerated individuals and the North Star Collective Faculty Fellowship aimed at transforming postsecondary institutions and uplifting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) faculty on campuses.
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NEJHE NewsBlast is a summary of NEJHE content and other news around NEBHE prepared weekly by NEJHE Executive Editor John O. Harney and emailed every Wednesday to opinion leaders and practitioners. When responding to NEJHE content, please make sure that your remarks are relevant, courteous and engaging. Individuals are responsible for their comments, which do not represent the opinions of the New England Board of Higher Education. We urge commenters to briefly note their occupational or other interest in the topic at hand. Please refrain from offensive language, personal attacks and distasteful comments or they may be deleted. Comments may not appear immediately. Thank you for staying engaged.
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