About Us

The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM)’s mission is to make higher education more equitable and accessible for all Massachusetts residents. This means campaigning for a wide range of reforms, above all making all public institutions from colleges to trade schools tuition-free and ensuring sufficient, reliable state funding. Also important are investing in infrastructure construction and maintenance, improving wages and working conditions for staff, expanding resources and outreach for nontraditional students, as well as strengthening colleges’ student-run governments.

We bring together stakeholders in public higher education to fight for free, accessible, and quality public higher education. Founded in 2007, students, staff, faculty, and community members came together to create a grassroots movement for public higher education, representing the entire constituency of higher ed.