On Wednesday, September 16, 2015, PHENOM’s Executive Director, Natalie Higgins, testified before the Joint Committee on Higher Education. Here is her testimony: I am writing to you today as the Executive Director of PHENOM (the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts), as a proud graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a concerned citizen. […]
Amongst the dozens of people who crammed into a room at the State House to testify about higher education bills Wednesday, one demographic was noticeably absent — students. Still, Natalie Higgins, executive director of the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, made sure to speak for students, many of whom were unable to attend because […]
This morning a coalition of 23 state and national organizations sent a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan with comments on the proposed REPAYE program. “The proposed regulations include a new income-driven repayment plan, called Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), which improves upon existing plans in a number of key ways. REPAYE would let […]
“When education is made unaffordable you severely limit the upward mobility of the most vulnerable segments of our population. Education for me is the only way I can create a better life for myself and family,” said Lynn resident Marven-rhode Hyppolite. “Many families are working two jobs and long hours for very little and are […]
The Tennessee Promise is both a scholarship and mentoring program. High school seniors receive a last-dollar scholarship, covering tuition and fees not already covered by the PELL Grant, the HOPE Scholarship, or other state student assistance funds. In order to remain in the program, Tennessee Promise recipients must complete eight hours of community service per […]
Excerpted from the 2015 Spring Newsletter On March 18, 2015, PHENOM joined the Labor Resource Center at UMass Boston and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice to host an educational and action-oriented evening. The program, “Taking on the Corporatization of Higher Education” (TOCHE), was held at UMass Boston. The event’s goals were two-fold: (1) to give some […]
Excerpted from the 2015 Spring Newsletter $2.5 billion a year goes to loan repayment instead of commerce By Anastasia Wilson Anyone concerned about student debt in our state can look up the statistic: in 2012 about 66% of students graduated with an average of $28,565 in student loan debt (in constant dollars). And the number […]
Yesterday, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center released a new report: Debt-Free Public Higher Education: What Would It Take? The Report calculates the cost of (1) eliminating tuition and fees for all current in-state students at Community Colleges and State Universities, (2) providing grants to cover Community College costs, including tuition, fees, books, and transportation, […]
Excerpted from 2015 Spring Newsletter STCC PHENOM Chapter by Juhi Dasrath Springfield Technical Community College’s campus chapter had the great opportunity to be a part of Advocacy Day, where we addressed our concerns about making higher education more affordable and accessible for college students. We started making waves by taking small strokes on our […]
We attended the Education Equity Hearing with our brothers and sisters at the Student Immigrant Movement at the State House today. There were more than 150 advocates in the hearing and we even participated in a small rally outside of the State House before the hearing. Check out one of our Board Members, Gillian Mason […]