Boston Globe: Who should pay for higher education at UMass and beyond?

Check out PHENOM in the Boston Globe: Who should pay for higher education at UMass and beyond? (by Evan Horowitz). “As tuition has grown, so has student debt. Total student debt in the United States now measures in the trillions, having tripled in the past 10 years. Fully three-quarters of students at Massachusetts’ public four-year […]

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PHENOM Discusses Increasing Student Fees in the T&G and Globe

Not one, but two stories this week for PHENOM! The Telegram & Gazette: UMass, other public colleges, increase fees for next year.  The higher fees were disappointing news for Natalie Higgins, executive director of the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, which has advocated for more state funding for Massachusetts’ public higher education system. “The […]

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MassLive: Reports on the Anticipated Release of “Causes and Consequences”

MassLive’s Diane Lederman recently covered a rally against student debt, and mentioned the anticipated release of Causes and Consequences of Mounting Student Debt in Massachusetts on April 25th. Here’s an excerpt: The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, meanwhile, will release what it is calling “startling new research” on the causes and consequences of the student […]

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PHENOM to Release Startling New Research on the Causes and Consequences Student Debt Crisis in Massachusetts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 21, 2015 Contact: Natalie Higgins, nhiggins@phenomonline.org, 978-227-8473     PHENOM to Release Startling New Research on the Causes and Consequences Student Debt Crisis in Massachusetts   On April 25, 2012, student loan debt topped $1 trillion. On the third anniversary, PHENOM (the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts) will release startling […]

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Warren and Cummings Tackling the Student Debt Crisis

By: Natalie Higgins, PHENOM’s Executive Director April 3rd, 2015 Yesterday, I attended a forum, “Tackling the Student Debt Crisis,” at UMass Boston hosted by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Elijah Cummings. It was one in a series of forums held by the Middle Class Prosperity Project. PHENOM supports Senator Warren’s fight against the student debt […]

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PHENOM Hiring an Executive Director

PHENOM is hiring an Executive Director who will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for PHENOM’s staff, programs, expansion, and execution of its mission. Please see the full job posting and details of how to apply. Applications must be submitted by February 28, 2014 for priority consideration.  Please send this along to anyone you think […]

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Performance Funding (guess what? it doesn’t work)

It’s all the buzz.  Just say the words and the Gates Foundation will give you money.  Say them twice and you’ll have some legislators swooning over you.  Look at the Vision Project and it’s all about funding campuses according to how well they do at meeting certain goals.  But check out this important new study […]

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All You Need to Know about Student Loans

This New York Times article by Joseph Stiglitz is a particularly clear explanation of the student debt crisis, along with suggestions of how to fix it.  Stiglitz, former chief economist for the World Bank, is one of the most frequently cited economists in the world. The article references the recent legislation filed by Massachusetts Senator […]

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