The 2 states closest to Massachusetts in population are Indiana and Washington.

What distinguishes Massachusetts from Indiana and Washington are 2 key things:

       1.        Massachusetts residents have much higher income, but despite that

       2.        Massachusetts spends much less on public higher education.

                                               Massachusetts                Indiana                        Washington

Population                                6,398,743                        6,271,973                   6,287,759

Per capita personal income        $44,289                          $31,276                        $35,409

State funds for H.E.

       operating expenses                $918 million                   $1.4 billion            $1.5 billion

State funds for need-based        

       financial aid grants                 $80 million                   $266 million                   $139 million

H.E. operating expenses

       per capita                                  $143                           $228                            $244

Financial aid per capita                        $16                             $47                             $28

PHENOM has had a relatively successful year in the Legislature.  Thanks to the efforts, small and large, of so many of you, we can point to some major victories:

1.        Financial Aid.  PHENOM made it a priority to increase funding for MASSGrant, the state's main need-based financial aid program.  Despite this being a year where many programs were cut, we were able to secure an increase of $3 million over last year.  We worked closely with Rep. Kevin Murphy, Sen. Robert O'Leary, and the Board of Higher Education on this effort, but all your phone calls and emails are what really made the difference.  PHENOM will be continuing this campaign this year; with the shrinking availability of student loans, MASSGrant is more important than ever.

2.         Capital Bonds.  Governor Patrick last week signed legislation that authorizes the state to borrow approximately $2.1 billion over the next 10 years to fund building construction and maintenance on all our campuses.  This has been a major part of PHENOM's legislative agenda for the past 2 years.  Besides dealing with crumbling infrastructure, this will relieve some of the pressure on campus operating budgets and will hopefully slow the increase in student fees.

3.         Readiness Project.  Numerous PHENOM activists were on the higher education subcommittees of the Governor's education commission.  The commission's recommendations include several items that PHENOM has been advocating for, including significant increases to need-based financial aid and a long-term goal of free community college.  The critical next step is to build a movement to increase revenues so these programs can be funded.

Where we fell short:

1.         MASSGrant earmark.  We fought to give MASSGrant its own line item in the financial aid budget in order to increase stability to its funding.  While this made it into the Senate version of the budget, it did not survive conference committee.  Next year!

2.         Operating budgets.  While our campuses are getting a small increase this year, it is nowhere near what is needed to close the enormous funding gap.   Most distressing was the Governor's vetoes of $11 million in additional funds approved by the legislature, and the legislature's failure to override those vetoes.  Our campuses are still working with a much smaller appropriation than 7 years ago, and Massachusetts is still 46th in the country in per capita spending on public higher education.  This is unacceptable.

PHENOM is planning another ambitious year, and large-scale grassroots activism will continue to make the difference. Here are 3 easy ways you can plug in.

1.         Become a PHENOM member.  Send your contact information with whatever annual dues you would like to contribute to PHENOM, 121 Hampshire House, Amherst, MA 01003.  A large membership base will allow PHENOM to step up its research, educational and advocacy efforts. 

2.         Invite PHENOM to speak to your campus or community organization.  Contact us at 413-577-4121.

3.         Come to this year's Higher Education Summit to learn more and to help shape PHENOM's work for the year.  It will be in late October, probably in the Boston area - write to massphenom@gmail.com if you would like to be notified as details are finalized.

On June 25, 2008, the Governor released his office's long-awaited education reform proposal. The final draft of the Readiness Project is sweeping in its scope, and will shape the education debate in Massachusetts for quite some time.  PHENOM will be a key player in that debate!.

Highlights from the higher education section of the report include:

This summer, members of PHENOM will be meeting via phone, email and in-person to plan the organization's activities during the next year. Summer is a great time to plan ahead for what we hope will be an exciting year! The summer work groups will (tentatively) be looking at fundraising, campus organizing, the Fall '08 summit, and video. If you are interest in joining one of the groups, contact:

Fundraising, contact Max Page at mpage@art.umass.edu     

Organizing, contact Tessa Simonds at Tessa.Simonds@gmail.com

Summit, contact Lindsay McCluskey mccluskey.lindsay@gmail.com

Lisa, contact Lisa Field at lfield@fsc.edu.

To learn more about PHENOM, contact massphenom@gmail.com for more information. You can also sign up to get our email action alerts by joining our mailing list.

Summer is on the horizon, and PHENOM has been hard at work during the last month helping to pass an amendment to increase MASSGrant, the state's main need-based financial aid program.

The amendment passed through the House budgetary process with a total increase of approximately 2 million dollars, a significant victory for public higher education in a tight fiscal year.

The Senate later considered another amendment to increase MASSGrant by an additional $5 million dollars, and this did not pass. In the coming weeks, it will be considering an addition to the Senate Way and Mean's budget to grant MASSGrant a dedicated earmark in the budget, which it does not currently receive. Currently, the program absorbs the money remaining in the Scholarship account of the Massachusetts budget after other earmarks. Approving this provision would go a long way to ensuring MASSGrant's continued viability in the future. We urge state senators to approve creating this earmark for MASSGrant.

At this point, it looks as though MASSGrant will receive an increase of approximately $3 million dollars in this year's budget. Thanks go out to all the advocates across the state that made this victory possible!

In the coming week, will be updating the website with new information and news. Look out for information about our annual fall Higher Education Summit and other events!