CONNECTION THE JOURNAL OF THE NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION
VOLUME XX
NUMBER 2
FALL 2005
Inside: • CONNECTION Interview with David Halberstam • 50 Years of New England Higher Education and Economic Development: A Timeline • Robert Woodbury on Stratification in Higher Education • Reflections on Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going • Profs Without Borders: A Plan to Reconnect America to the World Families have many questions about financing college. Give them one solution... MEFA
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The Human Development Gap James P. Comer, M.D. A Future in Concrete? Seymour Papert Teaching Expert Thinking Chris Dede Affordability and Opportunity Sandy Baum A Plan for Higher Education Access John F. Tierney Diversifying Academic Knowledge Cover image by Agata Stadnik. Esther Kingston-Mann Close the Latino Education Gap COVER STORIES Marilda L. Gandara Attracting Students to Science George M. Langford 13 The Fifties … Fifty Years Later Regional Resource for R&D CONNECTION Interviews David Halberstam on a Andrew G. De Rocco Half Century of Change A Tall Order for New England Robert E. Miller 19 Fifty Years of New England Higher Education and Economic Development: COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS A Timeline 19 Six States, One Destiny 45 Profs Without Borders Critical Issues in New England’s Economic A Plan to Reconnect American Higher Education Development with the World William Mass and David C. Soule Michael Lestz 25 Hardening Class Lines DEPARTMENTS The Erosion of the Social Contract in Higher Education Robert L. Woodbury 5 Editor’s Memo Fifty Years 29 Coming Together John O. Harney How a Half Century of Segregation and Desegregation Continues to Shape New England’s Future Short Courses Blenda J. Wilson 7 9 Message from the President 32 Visions: Reflections on the Past, Thinking Globally, Acting Regionally Predictions for the Future Evan S. Dobelle In Search of New NEBHEs Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson 11 Message from the Chair Demography Is Still Destiny Fifty Years of Expanding Educational Opportunity Peter Francese Lou D’Allesandro New England’s Going to Do It Again James T. Brett 48 Data Connection
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CONNECTION: THE JOURNAL OF THE NEW ENGLAND BOARD aybe it’s the retro NEBHE logo that makes the few remaining copies of OF HIGHER EDUCATION is published five times a year the NEBHE newsletter titled Higher Education in New England feel by the New England Board of Higher Education, so fifties. Maybe it’s the black and white photos of suit-and-tied men, 45 Temple Place, Boston, MA 02111-1325 M Phone: 617.357.9620 Fax: 617.338.1577 nearly all men, around meeting tables. Email: [email protected] Or perhaps it’s the global threat du jour. An item on inadequate college facul-
Vol. XX, No. 2 Fall 2005 ty salaries from the November 1957 issue describes a NEBHE conference where ISSN 0895-6405 “participants realized anew that Russia is putting its schools ahead of almost Copyright © 2005 by the New England Board everything else in its mad rush for world domination.” A 1959 issue notes that of Higher Education. New England colleges have refused a half-million dollars in National Defense Publisher: Evan S. Dobelle Education Act funds because of a requirement that students receiving the new Executive Editor: John O. Harney federal aid sign a statement disclaiming membership in subversive organizations. Senior Director of Communications: The collection of dog-eared HENE newsletters is the closest thing NEBHE Charlotte Stratton NEBHE/CONNECTION Intern: Michael Givens has to a storytelling grandfather, so to prepare this issue of CONNECTION marking Design and Production: tpgcreative, Boston, MA NEBHE’s 50th anniversary, I began reading. The specter of the Cold War aside, the story line is hauntingly familiar: a new Back Issues: Back issues of CONNECTION are accessible on the World Wide Web at technology looms, manpower shortages develop in this or that field, worries www.nebhe.org/connection.html. Hard copies of about teacher effectiveness and regional competitiveness follow. But there is regular issues may be purchased from NEBHE for $3.95 another feeling in those newsletters that seems quite foreign today: namely, the each; annual directory issue, $20. sense of a regional higher education enterprise in full-bore growth mode. For advertising information, contact Jodie LaBombard True, New England was bleeding manufacturing jobs at the time of NEBHE’s at [email protected]. founding, and the regional economy was stagnant. But college enrollment in the
CONNECTION is printed in New England. region had nearly doubled from 1939 to 1954, and more were on the way: nation- ally, nearly twice as many babies were born in 1956 as in 1936. HENE’s editor CONNECTION is indexed and abstracted in EBSCOhost’s (who one suspects might have moonlighted for CONELRAD) asked in boldface Academic Search Elite, Academic Search Premier and Professional Development Collection, and indexed in type: “When our children are ready for college, will our colleges be PAIS International, the MLA International Bibliography ready for them?” and ERIC’s Current Index to Journals in Education. At first, of course, the answer was no, the colleges were not ready, and there weren’t enough of them. But those bygone newsletters also reveal a palpable The New England Board of Higher Education is a nonprofit, congressionally commitment to regional action, which found its medium in the young New authorized, interstate England Board of Higher Education. NEBHE raised alarms about lack of space agency whose mission for the bulging student cohort, commissioned expert reports, convened confer- is to promote greater educational opportunities ences, forged collaborative agreements, prodded, pondered, then prodded some and services for the more. “Our Plans Aren’t Big Enough!,” shouted the NEBHE president in a 1957 residents of New England. HENE editorial. NEBHE was established by the New England The plans grew. The number of New England colleges increased from under Higher Education Compact, a 1955 agreement among 190 at the time of NEBHE’s founding to roughly 270 today. Graduate and contin- the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, uing education programs proliferated. Public higher education systems emerged New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. and public missions blossomed. The higher education-economic development Chair: Senator Lou D’Allesandro, nexus flourished along Route 128 and elsewhere. In time, New England’s colleges New Hampshire State Senate were associated with solutions and connections to all manner of New England President: Evan S. Dobelle challenges from early childhood education to workforce development to fixing deteriorating cities. With NEBHE’s help, the region was reinventing itself as the CONNECTION Editorial Advisory Board world’s premier “knowledge economy.” Cathryn Addy Now again, new technologies loom. Shortages develop in key fields. There are President, Tunxis Community College global threats and sometimes rash responses. And to complicate matters, there is Katherine Sloan President, Massachusetts College of Art no baby boom to power a future with sheer numbers. New immigrant groups could Robert Whitcomb pick up some of that slack, but even the vastly expanded higher education system Vice President and Editorial Pages Editor, does a poor job reaching them. There are other new challenges as well, ranging Providence Journal from ever-rising college costs to fierce international competition for research Ralph Whitehead Jr. funds and talent. One has to wonder yet again: Are our plans big enough? Public Service Professor, University of Massachusetts
Robert L. Woodbury John O. Harney is executive editor of CONNECTION. Former Chancellor, University of Maine System
CONNECTION FALL 2005 5 2
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Vacationland Blues Tourists spent more than $9 billion Mapping the Knowledge Economy: College Location and Income in Maine last year, making tourism Does the nearby pres- the state’s largest industry. But even ence of a college raise boosters concede that growth in this local incomes? industry can backfire. This map developed Addressing a conference spon- by the Federal Reserve sored earlier this year by the Maine Bank of Boston seems to Businesses for Social Responsibility, reveal a pattern: where Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce incomes are low to mod- CEO Costas Christ evoked the erate (noted by the shad- “Cancun syndrome.” ed areas), there tend not In the 1970s, Cancun was home to to be a lot of colleges a small population of fishermen and (noted by dots). merchants and a few small inns. The Fed draws no Today, the island off Mexico, which conclusions as to which is about the size of a typical Maine comes first, the colleges island, is home to 300,000 people and or the higher income. 26,000 hotel rooms. And bigger has Source: Federal Reserve Bank of not been better. Boston, 2005. “With little attention given to tourism growth planning, Cancun’s agreement with Cambridge College forests were cut and lagoons filled to Year Up As many as 180,000 New England gives Year Up participants freshman make room for more and bigger young people are idle—out of work status at the college. hotels,” Christ told the group. “The and out of school—and in danger of wildlife disappeared, as did many of sinking into a life of poverty, accord- Educational Leadership the local families, and along with ing to Northeastern University econ- School reformers are shining the them any sense of authenticity to the omists. Year Up is one of the groups spotlight not only on teachers but place.” With no provisions made for trying to do something about it. also on school CEOs: principals. the low-income workers who live in A nonprofit with locations in Over the summer, Massachusetts Cancun, a shantytown developed and Providence, Cambridge and down- became the first state in the nation to sewage flows into the bay untreated. town Boston, Year Up takes mostly adopt a new principal training pro- To stay afloat, Cancun hotels cut low-income urban youths who are not gram created by the nonprofit National rates and began catering to the ready for community college or the Center on Education and the Economy spring break college drinking crowd. workplace and trains them to become that incorporates simulations, action “Where have the up-market tourists productive workers. Applicants must projects, case studies and Web-based gone? South to the smaller Mexican have high school diplomas or GEDs, activities to train school leaders. And coastal communities, fishing hamlets basic computer skills, interest in a Lesley University is among several and less-developed beaches along technical field and a “spark,” as pro- schools that have incorporated the with the inland towns and villages gram organizers put it. new curriculum into their doctorate that still retain their character and Once accepted, students do a half programs in educational leadership. authenticity,” said Christ. a year of class work, working with The innovation comes as Christ urged Maine to aggressive- computer hardware and software, Columbia University’s Teachers ly protect the environment and local but also learning to write business College President Arthur Levine calls culture, so the state does not go the correspondence, discussing current for abolishing the educational leader- way of Cancun. “The decisions we events and learning how to market ship doctorate and replacing it with a are making now will determine themselves to employers. master’s in educational administra- whether or not Maine’s tourism In the second phase of the program, tion program to train principals in development will be sustainable,” he the students learn through internships both management and education. told the group. “No one has ever said in customer service, IT and support Levine contends that low admis- that a tourism destination was services at organizations such as sions standards and weak faculties spoiled because the environment State Street Corp., Fidelity and MIT. make the doctorate programs was still clean, the culture was still Students receive a stipend. If they are inappropriate for today’s principals vibrant, and the scenic towns and late for work, show disrespect for an but that universities see the pro- communities were still free from bill- employer or ignore constructive criti- grams as “cash cows” to fund higher- boards and sprawl.” cism, they’re docked pay. And an priority initiatives.
CONNECTION FALL 2005 7 How can we better prepare GED students for college?
Five years ago, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation established the New England ABE-to-College Transition Project – the first grantmaking program within our Adult Literacy initiative. Our goal was to bridge the gap between academic work required for a GED certificate and skills required for college-level work. We developed a partnership with the renowned New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC), whose expertise in educational transitions for adults inspired and shaped our undertaking. So far, the 25 ABE-to-College Transition programs that received our grants and participated in technical assistance activities with NELRC have prepared more than 1,600 GED recipients for college.
Recently, Dr. Julia Gittleman of Mendelsohn, Gittleman & Associates completed an evaluation of the Project. What resulted is one of the few studies that documents GED recipients’ access to higher education — The New England ABE-to-College Transition Project Evaluation Report.
To read the report online, please visit www.nmefdn.org or www.collegetransition.org.
1250 Hancock Street, Suite 205N • Quincy, MA 02169-4331 Tel. 781-348-4200 • Fax 781-348-4299 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Thinking Globally, Acting Regionally
EVAN S. DOBELLE
his 50th anniversary of the New Another important task before us is New England has all the pieces in England Board of Higher to strengthen the relationship place to be a leader in this industry. TEducation offers an important between campuses and local commu- Our backbone of universities and IT opportunity to look forward. NEBHE’s nities. Colleges already offer their companies have already spawned priorities over this next half century neighbors benefits like jobs, cultural dozens of software firms throughout will evolve. But a few goals will always amenities and continuing education. the region specializing in everything remain constant: to expand access and A conscious effort is required to from special effects to “massively opportunities to a greater number of expand those benefits. A good exam- multiplayer” online universes. our citizens; to strengthen the bonds ple may be found in Providence, Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s between campus and community; and where the Rhode Island School of recently launched computer game to prepare the region for success in Design, Johnson & Wales and Brown design major combining technical the global marketplace. universities and others working programming with humanities study First, we must continue to open the through the Rhode Island Campus reflects the cultural roots of this new doors of higher education to all stu- Compact have developed community art form—a plus for our “Creative dents regardless of income. We know service requirements for their under- Region.” We want New England to be now that this challenge requires atten- graduates. These include initiatives to the first place that comes to mind tion to students much earlier in their expand access to higher education when people think of “digital media.” lives. In the ‘50s, families were not pre- and support professional develop- As we act regionally, more than occupied with planning for college, ment of teachers in the local commu- ever before, we need to think globally. and not enough thought was given to nity. That sort of program—combined Our future depends upon global connections between early childhood with the colleges’ reclamation of old economic relationships and foreign education and future success. If we downtown buildings—has been key to immigration here at home. Cultural want to expand educational opportu- Providence’s revitalization. exchanges, such as the Yale-China nity to all our citizens, then we need to Healthy town-gown relations are Association, which recently celebrat- more than just a feather in a college’s ed its centennial, familiarize our develop pre-K-to-16 pathways for cap. When the Ivory Tower comes students with the countries that will every school district, rich and poor. down to the street, both win: the city be our partners and competitors over We also need to nurture our technol- gets more energy, revenue and sup- the next several decades. We can do ogy-based economy. Too many stu- port, while the college becomes more more by encouraging public and pri- dents, especially from disadvantaged attractive to potential students and vate colleges to require a year’s study minority groups, turn away from sci- faculty, and better positioned to tap abroad. We need to build international ence careers before giving them serious the wealth of real-world resources for cultural competency among gradu- consideration. Others start down the “hands-on” learning in the community. ates, so they can be ambassadors to path but never complete their degrees With regard to the global market- the global community. because they lack resources, encour- place, we cannot predict the next big All this will require creative think- agement or support. With India and thing with precision. But we can pre- ing. But that is nothing new for New China producing engineers twice as pare a highly educated, agile workforce England, where we live by reinventing fast as we do, this waste of talent is that is able to adapt to new technolo- ourselves. From textiles to biotech, intolerable. NEBHE’s Excellence gies and industries as they emerge. For clipper ships to the Internet, our for- through Diversity Program addresses example, as the content carried by our tunes have relied on our ingenuity. these issues by bringing underrepre- televisions, web sites, computer games And they will continue to. sented students together with role and movies becomes dramatically models through its annual Science more sophisticated and intertwined, a Evan S. Dobelle is president and Network meeting and online clearing- burgeoning digital media industry will CEO of the New England Board of house, but a more sustained regional demand creative technicians, produc- Higher Education and publisher effort is needed. ers, digital artists and programmers. of CONNECTION.
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Fifty Years of Expanding Educational Opportunity
LOU D’ALLESANDRO
s we celebrate the New Six visionary New England gover- conferences and publications, NEBHE England Board of Higher nors saw these changes coming and has succeeded in sparking vital collab- A Education’s 50th anniversary, I mounted a response. They knew then oration among six states that have can’t help but reflect on my own edu- what we all know now: that education sometimes been known for their lack cational experience. My parents, like is our future and that six states can do of communication and cooperation. most in their generation, never went more together than one can do alone. In its first few decades, NEBHE to college. But they impressed upon They set about creating a small orga- convened leaders on issues related to me the importance of education. They nization with the big goals of sharing higher education capacity and the wanted a better life for their children resources among the six states and economy. In more recent years, con- and they knew that road increasingly expanding educational opportunities. ferences have focused on issues rang- led through college. You can imagine Early in its history, NEBHE began ing from how campuses get along with my dad’s joy when his son enrolled at encouraging the region’s public their communities to building a world- the University of New Hampshire. My colleges and universities to share class creative workforce. mother had passed away when I was 7 academic programs. Today, NEBHE’s NEBHE began publishing the quar- years old, and thus never had a Regional Student Program (RSP) terly journal CONNECTION in 1986 to chance to share in this achievement. gives New England residents a sub- explore the vital relationships between At a time when only the privileged stantial tuition break at out-of-state New England higher education and the were going to college, I was able to public colleges and universities within region’s economic and civic life. Today, be a part of this experience. College the six-state region when they enroll CONNECTION is highly regarded as a pol- attendance rates in New Hampshire, in certain degree programs that are icy forum for New England educators, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont not offered by the public institutions elected officials, CEOs and others to were well below the national average. in their home states. Last year, more share best practices and new ideas and In New Hampshire, even among than 8,000 New England residents help shape a New England agenda. students who graduated in the top 25 enrolled in college through the RSP, Educators have much to tell us percent of their high school classes, saving more than $44 million in about the issues facing students and only half went on to higher education. tuition. The six states save untold mil- faculty. Legislators have the power to When the 1950s began, just 33 per- lions of dollars annually because they authorize and fund education and eco- cent of the U.S. population age 25 and don’t have to start up and run high- nomic initiatives. Through CONNECTION older had a high school diploma, com- cost academic programs that are and conferences, NEBHE brings them pared with 80 percent today, and only available in other New England states. together in an open forum to highlight 6 percent had four years of college, In more recent years, as New the latest thinking on pressing issues compared with 24 percent today. But England’s demography has changed, and facilitate change in our region. New England and the world were NEBHE has also initiated programs to NEBHE’s half century of service changing profoundly in the 1950s. encourage minority participation in has had a significant impact on New With World War II over and the GI Bill higher education and the skilled work- England. States are working together; in place, thousands of young New force. NEBHE’s Excellence Through lines of communication are open; key Englanders were newly poised to par- Diversity program seeks to address issues in higher education are being ticipate in higher education. And they lagging educational attainment among addressed; and the region, despite needed to. The region that had African-Americans, Latinos and other slow population growth, is educating depended on manufacturing compa- minorities, even as it tackles another of a workforce to thrive in the global nies, machine shops and brute New England’s dilemmas: shortages of creative economy. strength was gradually being trans- skilled people in crucial science, tech- formed into a “knowledge economy.” nology, engineering and math fields. Lou D’Allesandro is chair of the In many workplaces, critical thinking One of NEBHE’s central roles from New Hampshire state Senate Ways replaced rote tasks. Employers began its inception has been that of conven- and Means Committee and chair seeking college graduates with strong er, linking educators, legislators, busi- of the New England Board of technical and creative skills. ness leaders and others. Through its Higher Education. CONNECTION FALL 2005 11 Plan wisely. Build smart.
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160 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110 800.445.8030 www.massdevelopment.com The Fifties … Fifty Years Later CONNECTION Interviews Historian David Halberstam on a Half Century of Change
avid Halberstam graduated from Harvard University in 1955 after serving as managing Deditor of the Harvard Crimson. Upon gradua- tion, he joined the staff of the Daily Times Leader newspaper of West Point, Mississippi, and then moved on to the Nashville Tennessean, where he covered the Civil Rights Movement. Halberstam joined The New York Times in 1960 and won a Pulitzer Prize four years later for his critical reporting on the Vietnam War. He is the author of more than at rising above the level of their parents. There was a dozen bestsellers including The Best and the this great breakthrough in possibility as the govern- Brightest, The Powers That Be, The Reckoning ment became, in effect, a sponsor of higher education. and The Fifties, his colorful chronicle of the decade Small normal schools became universities. New colleges were built. We had a sense of a great force of Eisenhower, Oppenheimer, mass-produced ham- gathering—an America which was infinitely more burgers, Holiday Inns … and the birth of NEBHE. democratic in its educational possibilities and, not NEBHE President Evan S. Dobelle and surprisingly, infinitely more dynamic economically. There was in that period a quantum jump in national CONNECTION Executive Editor John O. Harney caught confidence and in personal expectations. up with Halberstam recently about the past 50 years But in retrospect, it was narrower than we thought. of educational progress in New England and the his- We perceived ourselves in the ’50s as a white society, torian’s childhood days in Winsted, Conn. … and the breakthrough was mostly limited to people who were descendents of Italian-Americans, Eastern European Americans, children of Jewish immigrants. CONNECTION: Looking back 50 years, what was the state of higher education circa 1955? They were suddenly getting a chance to go college. But the new college population was predominately white Halberstam: The early ’50s marked a very democratic and male along with small numbers of privileged white moment in higher education in the sense that the chil- women, more often than not, daughters of the existing dren of people who had not gone to college started to middle class or, more likely, the upper-middle class. In be able to go. The GI Bill had been a critical step in retrospect, that period seems much simpler and much America becoming a meritocracy. Up until then, people more innocent, at least in its challenge to the nation’s who had higher education—the town leaders, so to educational system. speak—continued to have it, and their children tended Now, we’re dealing with an infinitely more complex to be the only ones who had the expectation of going society of immigrants from Asia, Latin America and the on to college. The pool of people going to college Caribbean, many nonwhites, many whose parents don’t before the war was very, very small. An enormous have a tradition of education. amount of the country’s talent was being lost, because We’re also dealing with migrants from the American a huge body of people who might have had the natural Deep South who were, in effect, colonial subjects on our ability to go to college and thus enrich the society, did own soil. I believe we were the only great Western not have the resources or the confidence to try to go. power who had its colonial era on native soil. The The GI Bill just turned that around, as all kinds of British and French had to go to far parts of the earth to people from ordinary backgrounds suddenly had a shot get cheaper labor in warmer climes where there might
CONNECTION FALL 2005 13 be rubber trees or whatever they needed fed into the law school with enormous debt. So the need to validate economic system back home. But we could do all this the enormous investment is very different from the on native soil. We wanted tobacco and cotton, and we mid-1960s when it wasn’t quite so expensive. The need found these on indigenous soil and brought slaves to us. to find a place in the economy—the fear that it may not And eventually, in one of the great migrations of the be there—helps suppress some political dissent. modern era, in the years after World War II, the descen- In the ’60s, the country had been prosperous for dants of those slaves moved north from Mississippi and 20 years following World War II. America was rich in a Alabama and Florida to New England. They also moved world that was poor. And two very powerful forces from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. were taking place side by side. One was we were look- ing at ourselves in terms of race relations. It was 10 CONNECTION: The knowledge economy was begin- years since Brown v. Board of Education, and we’d ning to take shape at that time as well … had almost 10 years of civil rights protests. The other Halberstam: Yes, the entry-level job that was so was the challenge of a neo-colonial war in Vietnam. important in the blue-collar economy I was part of has And the economy was so formidable and energized disappeared. So the ability to go from the rural South that there was a feeling you could protest now and north to a city like Detroit and get a job at one of the worry about getting a job later. big manufacturing plants is gone, and that makes the By contrast, these days, everyone worries about get- process of moving into the middle class much harder now. ting into the right college and then the right business The other problem is that college is so much more school or law school and then finding the right job. The expensive now. When I went to Harvard from 1951 to pressure on the ablest kids to get a law school or busi- 1955, the total charges, including tuition and room and ness school degree is very great. And as that happens, board, were about $1,700. I worked summers as a your levels of personal freedom shrink. If you’re $150,000 ditch-digger for Oneglia & Gervasini in Torrington, in debt, your freedom to maneuver is narrowed. Conn., where I could make almost $100 a week. I could Traditionally, young kids come out of college, espe- make half the cost of college over the summer. In those cially those with liberal arts degrees, asking, “Who am days, you really could work your way through college. I?” or “Who will I be now that I’ve spent all of dad and Now, if you could get a summer job as a ditch-digger mom’s money for my college degree?” Those are tougher at all, I imagine you could make about $4,000 over 10 questions now because society is more demanding. weeks, but that would be a much smaller percentage When I was younger, you could go to college, you of the total college bill than I was able to make. College could screw up, you could make mistakes, you could bills have shot up disproportionately in terms of middle- get bad marks, but you could find out who you were class incomes, and there is a sense that education is pric- and eventually right yourself. It wasn’t as expensive a ing itself out of reach for a great many ordinary families. deal and you weren’t on this very fast pace to succeed. In the 1950s, someone who made maybe $4,000 or Now, there’s a fast pace at the high school to get into $5,000 a year in a factory was judged to be middle the right elite college and a fast pace at the college to class. He may not have had a lot of choice about what get into the right elite graduate school and a fast pace he did for work, but he was able to buy a home and at the graduate school to get into the right law firm or probably send his kids to school for relatively little. consulting firm. The pressure to get your place in this It’s hard to imagine someone who graduated from high economy is more stringent. school in New England in the 1950s and really wanted I think young people today have much more pres- to go to college not being able to do it. The dreams in sure on them, and it can be a huge burden. “So much many homes might not have included college, but it has been put into me, everybody else my age is already wasn’t because college was out of reach financially. making a couple-hundred-thousand a year at Goldman So a challenge for us is to keep the gap from widening. Sachs, what about me? Am I a failure?” It’s a much more success-oriented society than it was 50 years ago. CONNECTION: If, as you have observed, the ’50s And that’s not necessarily a good thing. sowed the seeds of turbulence that emerged in We’re also turning far too much of our talent into the ’60s, then what seeds are we sowing in this the Wall Street firms or big corporate law firms or first decade of the 21st century for the next consulting companies. These may not necessarily be generation of young people? workplaces where they’ll be happy. But they’re the Halberstam: It’s hard to tell. Right now, the country is places at the end of the treadmill these pressurized very quiescent. For new college graduates, there’s so young people have been on since they’ve been trying much pressure to get a job because so much is invest- to get into the right school to get into the right school. ed in them. With $200,000 invested in you, you’re fight- Now they have to justify that, though they might be ing like hell to get into one law school or another or happier being a teacher or something else, taking a one business school or another. Then you come out of chance on their secret desire.
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3KRWR&UHGLW" I recently went by my old stomping grounds at the they had grown up in poverty or in very austere Harvard Crimson and asked some senior executives circumstances where they learned about authority how many were going into journalism, and almost none firsthand in their own homes. And they taught you of them were; they were all going into consulting. The well—very well in fact. It was a calling for them. reason was obvious: if you start working at a newspa- Winsted was a melting pot. There was the Gilbert per, particularly because of the chains, you might start Clock factory and a factory that made rifle stocks—and at $30,000. If you go to McKinsey or some consulting we would pick up the unused stocks on the way home firm, you might start at $100,000. The question is would from school for kindling. It was blue-collar and predom- they go to McKinsey if it were only $50,000. Or are inately white, but multi-ethnic as we defined it in those those firms offering such high starting salaries because days, with people of all different nationalities. There otherwise the graduates wouldn’t join them? was no prejudice or at least very little that I was aware Because I worked those summers at Oneglia & of. Whatever background you came from, that was fine. Gervasini, I knew how lucky I was to be going to Regrettably, that was not true when we moved to college. Not everyone was trying to go to college then. Westchester County in 1947. There were a lot ethnic Now, the more and better educated you are, the better slurs on the playground, and I was shocked to have you can do. teachers who were anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism coming And the knowledge that the economy is dictated by from a teacher was a punch in the nose. I’d been all education is very palpable. The young people caught in over the country and I’d never had a teacher act that it may not articulate it, but they’ve been hearing about way. It was quite painful for me. it in different ways from their parents forever. And And when I got to the eighth grade in this affluent they’ve felt the pressure to do well since they were in Westchester system, they were not as advanced as we elementary school. had been in Winsted. The basic teaching in English and math in Winsted was very good, and I think it was just CONNECTION: Turning to our corner of the United a consensus on the part of town leaders that they States, you went to Harvard and grew up partly would have a great school system. in Winsted, Connecticut … What was that like? Recently, I got the class book from the 50th reunion Halberstam: We grew up all over the country because of the high school in Winsted, and I was very impressed of World War II. But New England was really the best by how well so many of my classmates had done, part of my childhood. I’ve got some New England including many who had not gone on to college. My roots. My mother grew up in Boston, went to Simmons sense was that they had come away from those years and had a teaching degree from Boston University. My with a core educational strength that allowed them to father had been a medic in World War I and then had hold down very good jobs. I have a very positive feeling gotten into college and then into Tufts medical school. about that school system and how things were done. In World War II, he went back in the service as a sur- Each grade was broken down into three classes: a geon. He was 45 at the time, but he felt that he owed smart or college track class, a middle track class and his country, and we were Jewish, and he felt he knew then a vocational track class. The smart class was the what that war was about. We lived for a time in my “C” class, the slow one the “A” class. uncle’s house in Winsted, then followed my father to Also in the smart class, there were about 25 girls Texas when he was stationed there, then back to and seven boys. Years later, I did a graduation speech Winsted, then back to Texas, then briefly to Rochester, at nearby Torrington High School and that situation Minn., and back to Winsted. By eighth grade, I had was about the same. The valedictorian was a boy, and been in six schools but the happiest part of this about the next 18 kids were girls. peripatetic childhood was in Winsted. The other thing we had in Winsted was “penny milk,” Winsted was a small milltown of about 8,000 in a nickel a week for milk, and if your family was so poor northwestern Connecticut, and it had a very good that you didn’t have it, it was very quietly arranged that school system. I’m one of the few people who can say the school system would take care of it. There were he’s known Ralph Nader since fourth grade. Another wonderful things built into the culture. There’s a great guy in our class, John Bushnell, went on to be deputy sense in New England of the value of education. assistant secretary of state for Latin America. Winsted had that traditional New England respect for educa- CONNECTION: Where do you see a region like New tion. A lot of our teachers were schoolmarms from England with very slow population growth going small towns in Maine where the Industrial Revolution socially and economically in the next 10 or 20 years? had not reached, so being paid $900 a year in a town Halberstam: The pull of the economy is I guess to the like Winsted where there was a manufacturing base Sun Belt. We’re in a youth culture, and the great migra- was a good deal. They’d been to normal schools and tion is to the Sunbelt. Cities that were not big cities are
CONNECTION FALL 2005 17 now major places to live in part because of the change I was born in the Bronx so I grew up as a Yankee in the economy and in part because of the coming of fan. Then in 1988, I did Summer of ’49. I got very air conditioning. Places that are considered very friendly with Dom DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr and desirable today were not desirable then because the Johnny Pesky, and I had a great day with Ted Williams. air conditioning was not part of the operable daily life. In general, I had a better time with the Red Sox play- Huge parts of the country including cities like Houston ers, the ones I’ve mentioned, and Boo Ferriss and Mel and Phoenix had no growth because of their climate. Parnell. I kept up my friendships with some of them. As the industrial economy has declined and Then Dom DiMaggio told me the story of the trip he service has taken its place, places in the Southwest and Johnny Pesky made to see the dying Ted Williams. have become greater magnets for young people. The And I thought, “What a wonderful story!” That will economies of Nashville, Tenn., and Charlotte, N.C., never happen again, four guys staying friends that long. are probably more energized than comparable cities So I am pulled to them. Besides, I’ve just finished a in New England and therefore are draws for young book on Bill Belichick, so I’ve been pulled once more people, so I suppose there has been an outmigration into the New England sporting world. of certain kinds of talent from New England, though not as bad as from the Rust Bowl. CONNECTION: So you are a New Englander at heart? CONNECTION: In several of your books, you have eloquently connected developments in baseball to Halberstam: I live in New York and I live in Nantucket changes in America society. Are you a Red Sox fan? as well. When I first visited Nantucket 37 years ago, Halberstam: Winsted was exactly in the DMZ between there were many things about it that reminded me of Yankee world and Red Sox Nation. When the Red Sox Winsted. New York still thrills me, but so does Boston. were playing the Yankees, they would load up one bus Recently, I went to Fenway Park—59 years after I visit- of Red Sox fans and one of Yankees fans. You could get ed the ballpark for the first time—and I was deeply the Yankees station on the radio or the Sox station— moved again. So I guess I qualify for dual citizenship, and root accordingly. a citizen of New York and a citizen of New England.
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18 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION Six States, One Destiny Critical Issues for New England
WILLIAM MASS AND DAVID C. SOULE
England, a number of regions that straddle state bor- idway through the first decade of the 21st ders are forming out of economic necessity. The region’s interstate highways offer case studies of how century, New England faces challenges that interlinked the state economies have become. Mwill test the heart and soul of the six states. Interstate 93, home of Boston’s “Big Dig,” links two Other regions of the nation and the world challenge of the region’s major airports while carrying a signifi- our strengths in innovation and creative capacity. We cant volume of interstate commuters to and from high- tech firms in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. As need foresight to understand what our emerging eco- New Hampshire prepares to widen its portion of the nomic sectors need to thrive. At the same time, our road, it has also taken on the responsibility for manag- demography is changing. We are losing 20- to ing the growth that comes from highway expansion. 34-year-olds and seeing a growing disparity in Meanwhile, Interstate 91 has been dubbed the region’s “knowledge corridor” by a coalition of leaders in household incomes in every state. Some folks are Massachusetts and Connecticut as they conduct the doing quite well; others are struggling. Some of our “unnatural act” of cross-border collaboration aimed local governments offer the purest form of democracy at capitalizing on the corridor’s higher education in the world—the open town meeting—but reliance resources. The I-95 corridor passes through five of the six states on its way south to Florida, leading to many on local property tax creates pressure for ever-more joint strategies. I-89 offers the same opportunity for growth to pay for local services. While New England New Hampshire and Vermont. states tend to “go it alone” in responding to change, The New England states share the promise of these economic corridors, but also the reality of very slow there are some things governors and legislators job growth. Employment in New England has grown should not do alone. We need to focus our still con- more slowly than the U.S. average over the past 15 siderable political strength on cooperative action. years. The two largest New England states— Connecticut and Massachusetts—ranked 50th and 48th, Economic Development respectively, in employment growth during this period. One challenge we face is that our economic region is Rhode Island was 47th and Maine, New Hampshire and different from our political boundaries. Within New Vermont were all in the bottom half of the states.
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development
A Timeline …
In the decade following World War II, 7.8 million U.S. veterans enrolled in educa- Against this backdrop, six visionary New England governors—Abraham A. tion programs with tuition fully paid under the G.I. Bill. From 1939 to 1954, col- Ribicoff of Connecticut, Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, Christian A. Herter of lege enrollment in New England nearly doubled, rising from 88,428 to 172,093. Massachusetts, Lane Dwinell of New Hampshire, Dennis J. Roberts of Rhode Further growth seemed assured. Nearly twice as many babies were born in the Island, and Joseph B. Johnson of Vermont—forged the New England Higher United States in 1956 as in 1936. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Education Compact. In 1955, the New England Board of Higher Education was Board of Education ruling was ushering in an era of progress—and setbacks— established to pursue the compact’s aims, namely to expand educational opportu- toward equal educational opportunity. And the Russians were coming. Or so nity and foster cooperation among the region’s colleges and universities. everyone thought. Cold War R&D would help New England universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology become research giants. Here is some of what happened after that … { {
Timeline by John O. Harney. CONNECTION FALL 2005 19 The employment impacts of the early 1990s reces- loss in the country. Both New Hampshire and Rhode sion were more severe in all six New England states Island suffered sharp employment declines. Rhode than elsewhere. Indeed, the six states ranked among Island’s job recovery—2.7 percent from peak to May the eight most severely impacted in the nation in terms 2005—was three times greater than the U.S. average of job loss. While New England experienced rapid job and, in percentage terms, New England’s most impres- growth during the late 1990s, much of that was making sive. These small variations cannot divert attention up for ground lost in the deep recession of the first half from the long-term challenges of limited regional of the decade. The 2001 recession was less severe employment growth, especially as each state’s future nationally than that of the early 1990s. But the jobless economic prospects are linked. recovery that followed lasted four years before peak employment levels were recaptured—more than twice Educational Leadership as long as it took to get back to peak job levels follow- Maintaining New England’s mature industries and nur- ing the recession of the ’90s. turing its newer knowledge-based industries requires a U.S. employment peaked in February 2001, but the highly educated workforce. Attracting and retaining the timing of the high point varied from state to state. quantity and quality of workers to sustain a competi- Massachusetts suffered the second steepest job decline tive workforce is a particular challenge for every New in the nation and continued stagnation in employment, England state. By one measure—the percentage of high losing more than 6 percent of its jobs from peak school students who go on to college—the New employment levels, which had still not been recaptured England states do relatively well. Massachusetts, as of May 2005. Connecticut, meanwhile, remained Rhode Island and Connecticut ranked fourth, eight and nearly 2 percentage points below its July 2000 peak 10th, respectively, by this measure in 2004, according employment, having experiencing the fifth sharpest job to the National Center for Policy and Higher Education.
Employment Change, Jan. 1990—May 2005 Decline from Peak Change from Peak U.S. Employment to U.S. Employment to U.S. % Change Rank Lowest Level (%) Rank May 2005 (%) Rank United States 22.2% -2.1% 0.6% Connecticut 1.2% 50th -4.6% 46th -1.8% 41st Maine 13.2% 41st -1.1% 9th 1.3% 19th Massachusetts 5.2% 48th -6.1% 49th -5.1% 49th New Hampshire 22.9% 29th -3.2% 34th 0.9% 24th Rhode Island 7.9% 47th -3.4% 36th 2.7% 14th Vermont 18.0% 38th -2.4% 25th 1.4% 18th
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Women account for 35 percent of U.S. college students. 1955 The New England Board of Higher Education is established as the executive arm of the New Gallup Poll shows New Englanders far more likely England Higher Education Compact. Boston University than other Americans to cite “unemployment” as the Chancellor Daniel Marsh becomes the first chair. most important problem facing their region.
Nearly 190 New England colleges and universities— University of Maine President Arthur A. Hauck more than half of them four-year colleges—enroll assumes NEBHE chairmanship. approximately 180,000 students. U.S. enrollment is estimated at 2,653,000. Credit: National Archives and Records Administration. 1957 The New England Higher Education U.S. Supreme Court orders “all deliberate speed” in Compact receives legislative enactment in all six the integration of public schools. 1956 Massachusetts Higher Education New England states. Assistance Corp., later renamed American Student Assistance, is chartered as a private, nonprofit NEBHE establishes the New England Regional Student { organization to administer student loans. Program, enabling New England students to pay the
20 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION Fiscal 2005 State Tax Appropriations for Higher Education, Per Capita and Per $1,000 of Personal Income, Plus 5-Year Change Appropriations per $1,000 Appropriations 5-yr % Change in Personal Income per Capita Fiscal 2005 (Fiscal 00 to Appropriations $ U.S. Rank $ U.S. Rank Fiscal 05) Connecticut $768,999,000 4.86 46th 219.49 22nd 11% Maine $239,662,000 6.07 33rd 181.94 38th 13% Massachusetts $880,555,000 3.34 49th 137.23 47th -15% New Hampshire $115,258,000 2.47 50th 88.69 50th 20% Rhode Island $174,255,000 4.89 45th 161.25 43rd 15% Vermont $79,023,000 4.01 47th 127.17 49th 25%
Source: Illinois State University Center for the Study of Higher Education Policy New Hampshire ranked 13th; Maine, 16th; and at the median sales price. While we are lulled into com- Vermont, 39th. placency by the lowest mortgage rates in years, New But while New England’s private colleges and England’s housing market, which suffered significant universities are considered among the best in the dislocation and significant price declines during the nation, the region’s public institutions have experi- recession of the early ’90s, may be heading for the enced relatively low public support. abyss once again. Housing prices may deflate as inter- Public investment in higher education has increased est rates creep back up, but we have still failed to cre- considerably over the past five years in every state, ate an adequate supply of housing that would establish except Massachusetts. Nonetheless, every state but long-term price stabilization. This means that New Connecticut remains well below the U.S. median in England hospitals, colleges and universities, tech firms state spending per capita on higher education and all and other employers seeking high-skilled workers may are substantially below the national average for appro- not be able to attract the talent they need to stay effec- priations relative to income. tive and competitive. Housing costs are influenced by local phenomena, Housing Affordability but powerful regional patterns come into play as well. Another compelling challenge for New England is Most recently, the Pacific region has experienced the housing affordability. The challenge no longer applies nation’s highest rate of housing price appreciation, while only to low- and moderate-income families. Now we New England has moved closer to the U.S. average. But face the task of meeting the housing needs of middle- earlier housing booms established a high base price in and higher-income workers as well. In fewer and fewer New England. Smaller percentage increases on a higher New England communities does a person with median base price still generate larger dollar-value increases. household income qualify for the mortgage on a home Indeed, the cost of New England single-family homes
lower in-state tuition rate at out-of-state public land- Convinced that computers have tremendous commer- grant universities within New England if they pursue cial potential, Kenneth H. Olsen leaves MIT to form 1958 Route 128 is completed as the first cir- certain academic programs that are not offered by Digital Equipment Corp. cumferential highway around a major U.S. city; the their home state’s public institutions. original stretch from Wellesley to Lynnfield, Mass., is Soviet Union launches already dotted with high-tech companies. NEBHE publishes Two Surveys, the predecessor of Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, CONNECTION’s Annual Directory of New England the first man-made satel- President Eisenhower signs National Defense Colleges & Universities. lites, setting off a super- Education Act, authorizing grants to colleges to power race for scientific provide low-interest, long-term loans for college NEBHE receives $10,000 from the W.K. Kellogg and technological superi- students and fellowships for graduate students. Foundation to study supply and demand of dental ority. United States Following the recommendations of a panel of personnel in New England. launches Explorer I a Massachusetts legislators and higher education lead- year later. The First National Bank of Ipswich (Mass.) issues the ers, Gov. Foster Furcolo proposes the adoption of a nation’s first guaranteed student loan to a student at Lowell, Mass. native Jack Kerouac publishes statewide system of community colleges. At the Endicott Junior College. On the Road. time, Holyoke Junior College and Newton Junior { CONNECTION FALL 2005 21 Change in Home Prices by Region In Connecticut, suburban Fairfield County’s per- (through First Quarter 2005) capita income was 20 percent higher than primarily Since urban Hartford County’s in 1970. By 2000, Fairfield’s Rank* 1-Year 5-Year 1980 was 57 percent higher. In Maine, Cumberland County’s Pacific 1st 21% 83% 383% per-capita income was 39 percent higher than Aroostook County’s in 1970. By 2000, income in the South Atlantic 2nd 15% 55% 244% southern Maine county that includes the thriving city Middle Atlantic 3rd 14% 64% 357% of Portland was 53 percent higher than Aroostook’s in the rural north. Mountain 4th 13% 40% 205% Moreover, the New England counties with high New England 5th 13% 70% 477% incomes also have high cost of living. As a conse- West North Central 6th 7% 38% 180% quence, we don’t really know how well people are doing even in Fairfield or Cumberland counties. In any East North Central 7th 7% 29% 202% case, the trend toward greater fiscal disparity doesn’t East South Central 8th 5% 23% 157% appear to be waning, placing greater stress on New West South Central 9th 5% 25% 98% Englanders with lower incomes. Many observers have concluded that there are really United States ** 13% 51% 249% two New Englands, one northern and rural and another * Rankings based on annual percentage change. southern and urban. This perception threatens the ** U.S. figures based on weighted division average. cohesion we need to meet current and future chal- Source: Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. lenges. True, there is a pattern of density that cuts has grown nearly fivefold since 1980. The next highest across five of the six states, from southern Connecticut was the Pacific region with a fourfold increase. to southern Maine. From a different perspective, how- Within New England, the trend has varied widely ever, this is the “sprawl line” that has galvanized from a nearly sixfold appreciation in Massachusetts to activists in each state to create broad smart growth a nearly threefold increase in Vermont since 1980. coalitions to keep our region’s best asset—our quality During the past year, Massachusetts had the region’s of life—from slipping through our fingers. Northern lowest rate of increase—a rate below the national forests and southern port cities share a common des- average for the first time in nearly a decade. tiny. Manufacturing centers have both a rural and an urban heritage. Seacoasts and ski slopes give this Fiscal Disparity region a place-based diversity in close geographic prox- New England’s general prosperity through the 1990s imity that is more rich and interconnected than any tended to mask a significant fault line—persistent other region in the country. We need our farms and our poverty. While the region posts per-capita incomes industries—old, new and still in the incubators—to fos- close to or higher than the U.S. average, levels of eco- ter new integrative strategies that will create the food, nomic security in different parts of the six states have the fuel, the pharmaceuticals and the creative strength grown increasingly inequitable over the past 20 years. to compete in the 21st century.
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
College—New England’s only two-year public NEBHE begins studying use of educational television College graduates account for 8 percent of U.S. population. colleges—enroll about 900 students. in the region’s colleges and universities. In the face of increased demand for higher educa- MIT spins off MITRE Corp., an independent nonprofit Connecticut and Rhode Island authorize their teachers tion, NEBHE predicts a shortage of higher education company, to develop air defense systems and pursue colleges to become state colleges; other states soon facilities and resources in New England. other engineering projects for the military. Fifteen follow suit. years later, MIT would spin off another key research NEBHE holds conference on college teaching. Among company—the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. St. Lawrence Seaway opens. speakers, Professor B.F. Skinner of Harvard discusses new teaching methods that allow students to work at Federal government establishes Advanced Research University of New Hampshire President Eldon L. their own pace. Projects Agency to oversee military space research. Johnson assumes NEBHE chairmanship. . y r . a D r
t b i h L g
i John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts is r e NEBHE receives $70,500 from the 1960 w w 1959 D
o :
elected president of the United States. t h i
Carnegie Corp. to study supply and quality of college n d e e s r i E {teachers in New England. C
22 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION Changing Demographics Political Clout New England lost more than 33,500 residents to other The framers of the Constitution, many of them New states from 1997 to 2001, most of them young workers Englanders, balanced power among the states by giving with the income, skills and freedom to choose wherever each state two senators. But the population-based they like to live. Meanwhile, the face of New England House of Representatives is where money bills origi- is increasingly diverse, not just in the urban areas, but nate. At the beginning of the 20th century, this worked even in suburban and rural areas that are still often in New England’s favor. By 1950, however, the shift in perceived as unchangingly homogeneous. Black, populations—and therefore House representation—was Hispanic and Asian families represent growing well underway. By the beginning of the 21st century, percentages of the population in many communities New England’s Southern competitors were approaching throughout all six states. a fivefold edge in the House. These trends, as they play Foreign immigration was a large factor in stabilizing out in red/blue alignments and changing seniority pat- New England’s population throughout the ’90s. In terns in House leadership and committee chairman- Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, new for- ships, present New England with political challenges eign immigration accounted for all population growth, that require concerted regional action. according to research by the Northeastern University In recent highway appropriation debates, much has Center for Labor Market Studies. Were it not for for- been made about donor states (who send more gas tax eign immigration, New England would have actually to the highway trust fund than they receive) and donee lost population due to slower birth rates and outmigra- states. But New England is a substantial donor region when all federal funds are considered. More importantly, tion among people in prime family formation years. the three states with the largest economies— Another less visible pattern—internal migration Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire— from one New England state to another—also comes are all major donor states and are giving increasingly into play. Internal Revenue Service data identifying more than they get back from Washington. Even in year-to-year changes in the residence of taxpayers the period of highest spending on the Big Dig, from 1997 to 2001 show that some New England states Massachusetts increased its giving by over 20 cents are gaining population from this intraregional migra- on the dollar. Only Vermont has been successful in tion, while others are losing people. Massachusetts switching its position from donor to donee status. suffered a net loss of almost 46,000 residents during this period, mostly to other New England states. Where Do We Go From Here? New Hampshire posted a net gain of more than 41,000, The six New England states share a common destiny. again mostly from within New England (and undoubt- The New England Initiative at UMass Lowell, estab- edly the lion’s share was from Massachusetts). Clearly, lished several years ago as a part of the Center for New England’s intertwined cross-border economic Industrial Competitiveness, has been working with dynamics are reflected in population movements of other New England organizations including the New relocation and longer commutes. England Council, the New England Board of Higher
Berkshire Community College is established as the first New Hampshire unifies its land-grant university and state-supported community college in Massachusetts. 1962 Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring, state colleges under one board of trustees. heightening awareness of environmental issues. Rhode Island Legislature votes to establish three Passenger rail service between Boston and Portland, public community college campuses. The stock market collapses. Maine, terminated.
John W. McCormack, a Democratic congressman from Congress passes Health Professions Educational 1961 Connecticut opens state technical Massachusetts, becomes speaker of the U.S. House of Assistance Act, funding expanded teaching facilities institute in Norwalk amid calls for more technical Representatives. He would serve in the post until 1971. and loans for students in the health professions. The education beyond high school. By 1977, the state Higher Education Facilities Act authorizes grants and would host five technical colleges, which would loans for classrooms, libraries and laboratories in New England governors, state legisla- merge with community colleges in 1992. 1963 community and technical colleges and other higher tors and educators meet to discuss higher education education institutions. University of Vermont President John T. Fey assumes and economic growth at NEBHE Legislative Work NEBHE chairmanship. Conference in Portsmouth, N.H. Rhode Island state Sen. Charles H. Bechtold assumes NEBHE chairmanship. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 23 Adjusted Federal Expenditures Per Dollar of Taxes by State, 1993–2003
Expenditures per Change Dollar of Taxes U.S. Rank 10-Year Change in in FY 1993 FY 2003 Spending per Dollar of Tax FY 1993 FY 2003 Ranking Connecticut $0.66 $0.65 ($0.01) 49th 48th -1
Maine $1.42 $1.36 ($0.06) 6th 16th 10
Massachusetts $0.99 $0.78 ($0.21) 31st 44th 15
New Hampshire $0.65 $0.64 ($0.01) 50th 49th 1 Rhode Island $1.08 $1.06 ($0.02) 25th 28th 3
Vermont $0.92 $1.14 $0.22 38th 23rd -15
Source: Sumeet Sagoo, “Federal Tax Burdens and Expenditures by State,” Tax Foundation, 2004.
Education, the New England Association of Regional with a broad coalition of New Englanders to help make Councils, the New England Governors’ Conference, the this happen. New England Futures Project, the New England Smart Growth Alliance and many others. One thing continues to emerge from these conversations and analyses—we William Mass is director of the New England must work together. With each successive report Initiative at the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s uncovering new dimensions of the fundamental chal- Center for Industrial Competitiveness. He is also lenges facing the six New England states, it becomes associate professor in the university’s Regional clearer that the region needs a permanent capacity, Economic and Social Development Department. built on a framework of political and business leaders, David C. Soule is senior research associate at the academics and civic partners to monitor trends, ana- UMass Lowell Center for Industrial Competitiveness lyze policy options, exploit opportunities and address and associate director of the Center for Urban and threats to our well-being. We look forward to working Regional Policy at Northeastern University.
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
families, providing support for programs such as Head Commission, comprised of the six governors Start and Upward Bound, and approving establishment and a federal cochairman, is created to promote of Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). economic development.
On the recommendation of Amherst, Mount Holyoke 1965 With passage of the Higher Education and Smith colleges and the University of Massachusetts Act, the federal government establishes an array of at Amherst, Hampshire College is founded as an student financial aid programs, including Guaranteed unstructured institution for motivated students. Credit: LBJ Library Photo by O. J. Rapp. Student Loans, as well as aid programs for colleges and universities. College students march in Boston and other major 1964 Congress passes Civil Rights Act, pro- cities to protest violent resistance to desegregation hibiting discrimination in public places for reason of President Johnson signs legislation establishing in the South. color, race, religion or national origin. National Foundation for the Arts and National Foundation for the Humanities. Nearly 600 technology-based businesses are operat- Economic Opportunity Act authorizes grants for college ing near Route 128. Over the next eight years, the {work-study programs for students from low-income Federally chartered New England Regional number would double.
24 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION Hardening Class Lines The Erosion of the Social Contract in Higher Education
ROBERT L. WOODBURY
have become increasingly populated by the most eco- lmost 50 years ago, a NEBHE newsletter edi- nomically advantaged students. torialized that “institutions of higher learning Public institutions with their more limited resources Amust not become devices to reverse our his- and lower tuition have become the places of necessity toric trend away from a class society. We should con- for middle- and lower-income families, if they can tinue to open wider doors of opportunity for students afford college at all. Both The Economist and The New York Times have devoted major efforts to an explo- of genuine ability without regard to (family) income.” ration of the role of higher education in hardening The Higher Education Act of 1965, with its commit- class lines in America. ment of federal support to new need-based student A Century Foundation paper on college admissions aid programs, and subsequent legislation establishing and socioeconomic status by economists Anthony Carnevale and Stephen Rose provides some overwhelm- Basic Grants, later renamed Pell Grants, seemed to ing statistics: At the 146 most competitive (and richest) confirm that aspiration. And indeed, the years follow- colleges in the United States, 74 percent of students ing NEBHE’s founding saw an enormous expansion come from the top social and economic quartile; only 3 in the number of citizens pursuing higher education. percent come from the bottom quartile; only 10 percent come from families below the median. Half the low- In recent years, however, that social contract income students who are able to go on to higher educa- between the government and the larger society to tion at all do so at community colleges where wealthier make higher education available without regard to students are a rarity. At elite private colleges and uni- versities, despite large commitments to financial aid, family income, has become increasingly threadbare. very few students even qualify for a Pell Grant because An avalanche of recent articles, books, and media of their family income. At the University of Virginia, reports document the proposition that the more com- fewer than 10 percent of students have Pell Grants, petitive institutions, whether private colleges or public which are generally awarded to students whose family universities, have become, to quote Mellon Foundation incomes are under $40,000. At the University of President William G. Bowen, “bastions of privilege” as Michigan, more students come from homes with family much as “engines of opportunity.” Over the past 25 incomes of $200,000 than with family incomes below years, the more competitive and wealthier institutions the national median.
New Hampshire Technical Institute opens in Concord; the Massachusetts voters elect Edward Brooke, the first Median salary for U.S. college presidents is $24,000. state will host seven technical schools by decade’s end. black U.S. senator in 85 years. Congress establishes Corporation University of Connecticut President Homer D. Congress passes National Sea Grant College and for Public Broadcasting. Babbidge Jr., assumes NEBHE chairmanship. Program Act, authorizing establishment of sea grant colleges and programs by initiating and supporting marine science education and research. 1968 From Prague to Paris 1966 American Council on Education publishes to Cambridge, college students engage in strikes, sit- its first annual report on attitudes of American college Congress passes Adult Education Act, authorizing grants ins, demonstrations and clashes with police. In New freshmen. Among the findings: 58 percent think its to state to expand educational programs for adults. England, the unrest focuses on student power, academic important to keep up with political affairs; 34 percent freedom and the Vietnam War. Gov. Ronald Reagan of listened to folk music in the past year. By 1994, California blames the turmoil on a conspiracy of left-wing 32 percent would consider it important to keep up 1967 Community and technical colleges elements; Connecticut Sen. Abraham Ribicoff denounces with politics; the question about folk music would join the RSP. the Chicago Police for their handling of protesters. be scrapped. New England River Basins Commission established. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 25 Among those who do go to college, advantaged cial aid to high-priced amenities such as fancy dormi- students have access to far richer resources than poorer tories and glitzy campus centers in order to attract students because the institutions they attend are far sought-after students. wealthier; the 10 richest colleges in America, for exam- In addition, state and federal governments have ple, have combined endowments of about $78 billion. A retreated from support of needy students and the institu- student at an elite private institution may have as much tions they attend. Financial aid programs cover less and as $75,000 of college resources devoted to his education less of college costs. In fact, Pell Grants covered 80 per- while only a small fraction of that sum will be available, cent of four-year college costs 20 years ago, but just from tuition and government resources, at a local com- 40 percent today. Individual states—once the primary munity college or regional public university. source of revenue for state colleges and universities— Moreover, the hardening of class lines in higher provide relatively less each year for higher education education has broader class implications because as as their budgets are squeezed by rapidly escalating the rewards for a college degree from a prestigious Medicaid, criminal justice and K-12 costs. Students institution become ever more valuable in the global at the less prestigious institutions are hurt most because economy, it is the already advantaged who reap the their institutions, with their smaller endowments and largest rewards from higher education. In addition, the less sophisticated fundraising operations, are most quality of a liberal education at all institutions suffers dependent on state aid and tuition revenue. when the economic diversity of the student body dis- Also, both public and private institutions have appears (an undergraduate at an elite college in Maine increasingly adopted market strategies that favor wealth- wrote recently about what it was like to be in a college ier students. Across the country, colleges and public where few students even knew anyone who was poor). systems are replacing need-based student aid dollars The growing stratification in higher education is the with “merit-based,” aid which helps institutions lure result of a variety of new factors that are reinforcing more “desirable” (usually wealthier) applicants who are one another. able to pay at least some of the freight. Others rely on First, because of growing income disparity, tuition the euphemistic tuition “discounting,” which offers some has exploded as a percentage of family income for students admission at below the advertised price for a middle- and especially lower-income families over the variety of reasons other than financial need. Many elite past 30 years, but has actually decreased slightly for institutions favor the “savvy” applicant through early wealthier families. And the widening gulf between rich admissions policies, which less well-counseled appli- and poor is reflected in disparities in public schools, in cants are less likely to be aware of. Attention to neighborhoods, in school “readiness” and many other “resume-building” also gives advantage to wealthy dimensions of everyday life that affect one’s course students who may be more familiar with ways to toward higher education. enhance their applications. And college recruitment Second, for hundreds of colleges and universities, strategies often target wealthier school districts. the quest for success in a very competitive market has Lastly, two powerful players in the marketing and led to an arms race that diverts resources from finan- admissions business play roles that tend to harden class
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
Maine creates a new University of Maine System, encompassing the University of Maine at Orono, a 1969 Yale University admits women for the 1970 Four students network of four-year state colleges and the two-year first time, as large numbers of historically single-sex killed by national guardsmen at college at Augusta. institutions go coed. Kent State University in Ohio during antiwar protest, spark- Edson de Castro leaves Digital Equipment Corp. to With key input from Massachusetts engineers, U.S. ing stepped-up demonstrations launch Data General; New England spinoff firms, Department of Defense implements the ARPAnet on New England campuses. themselves, are now spinning off new companies. computer network, which would evolve into the back- bone of the Internet. Congress establishes Maurice H. Saval, president of the American Universal Environmental Protection Agency, laying the founda- Insurance Co., assumes NEBHE chairmanship. College of the Atlantic is founded in Bar Harbor, tion for New England’s “envirotech” industry. Maine, offering a single interdisciplinary degree: the bachelor of arts in human ecology. Michael J. Zazzaro of Connecticut assumes { NEBHE chairmanship.
26 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION lines among institutions. The annual college recommendations stand out. First, the elite institutions, ratings edition of U.S. News & World Report plays who have long been “need blind” should now be “need an enormous role in the marketing of institutions and conscious”—in short, wealthy institutions who can college choice. Most of the criteria used in the rating sys- afford more financial aid should provide a “thumb on tem favor rich institutions and the recruitment of wealth- the scale” to enroll poorer students. Highly qualified ier students. One of the criteria, for example, awards lower-income students, even those with high SAT colleges points based on their budget per student. This scores, are now being rejected by elite institutions who provides a powerful incentive not to lower tuition are unaware that they have qualified lower-income stu- charges. Another measure uses SAT scores which are dents in their applicant pools. reliably correlated with family income and parents’ expe- Second, admission to college on the basis of “legacy” rience with college; the most heavily weighted criteria and athletic prowess should be seriously questioned. It focuses on “reputation” which tends to give momentum is particularly difficult to rationalize preferential treat- to the most established and elite institutions. ment for children of alumni at wealthy institutions that The SAT itself is an instrument of stratification in claim to exemplify the idea of a meritocracy. higher education, a measuring stick that generally corre- Third, much more aggressive steps should be taken lates with family income. Although most competitive to target less advantaged school systems in an effort to colleges use a variety of tools in selecting students for identify talented students at a much earlier stage in admission, the average or range of SAT scores at an their education and provide the support to help them institution plays a disproportionate role in admissions be successful. A recent report from the Lumina decision-making. Further, wealthier families and schools Foundation on the efforts of 15 colleges and universi- take extra advantage of test-preparation programs; the ties to reach out and provide programs for low-income new writing sample may, in fact, heighten that advan- students provides some good models for aiding less tage. There is also a long history of studies that suggest economically advantaged students. a cultural bias inherent in the SAT test itself. Fourth, the time has come to re-examine the SAT as If the causes and culprits of the increasing stratifica- an admissions requirement. Bates and Bowdoin col- tion of higher education between the rich and the poor leges in Maine have not required applicants to submit are many and complex, are there any steps we might SAT scores for many years. The two colleges have individually and collectively take? Certainly reducing found that those applicants who did not supply SAT the gaps between rich and poor overall in the United scores (and scored significantly lower on the tests) States would be a most effective strategy for reinvigo- ended up with almost identical grades in college and rating opportunity in education and many other arenas. graduation rates as those who did submit scores. But But there are other, less ambitious, possibilities as well. the major effect of dropping the SAT requirement has For starters, read the latest book by Bowen and his been a much larger and more diverse applicant pool. colleagues, titled, Equity and Education in American Fifth, it is time for college leaders, who privately Higher Education. I cannot do justice here to the deride the U.S. News rating system, to stop cooperating range and thoughtfulness of their analysis, but several with this deeply flawed system or encourage
Tufts University School of Veterinary 1971 Study by University of California Medicine opens seven years later. 1973 Cheit finds some improvement in business Professor Earl F. Cheit finds colleges and financial condition of higher education. universities facing a “new depression,” marked by Members of New England’s congres- rising costs and declining revenue. sional delegation establish professionally staffed A nine-member advisory board is formed to advise Congressional Caucus and Research Office. The office NEBHE on RSP matters. New England unemployment averages 7.1 percent would be disbanded in the mid-1980s. for the year, compared with 5.9 percent for the In the face of sharply rising oil prices, New England nation; more than 50 Massachusetts manufacturing Congress passes Higher Education Amendments, governors meet with Eastern Canadian premiers to plants close. introducing Basic Educational Opportunity Grants, discuss energy issues, signaling the beginning later renamed Pell Grants, as the chief source of of regular meetings among the leaders. federal aid geared to lower-income families. 1972 New England state colleges join the RSP. Defense closings cost New England 35,000 jobs. New Hampshire creates School for Lifelong NEBHE issues the first of two reports citing the need Learning—later renamed Granite State College—as for a regional veterinary school in New England; a unit of the public university system geared to adults. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 27 criteria that acknowledges the powerful role of diversity support and escalating tuition charges. As public sup- in education. The popular magazine is beginning to feel port has eroded, the claim to real access has become some heat about this. Its 2006 issue for the first time increasingly empty. includes a ranking of colleges and universities according Finally, financial aid on the basis of financial need to their “economic diversity,” by which it means the must recapture its preeminence in the system of percentage of undergraduates who receive federal Pell expanding higher education opportunity. For public Grants for low-income students. At Alabama A&M, institutions and state governments to divert resources for example, the figure is 83 percent. At Princeton, to so-called merit awards, for private institutions to tar- which tied for first in the magazine’s overall rankings of get key resources to tuition discounting as a marketing “America’s Best Colleges” this year, the figure is 7 per- tool, and for the elite colleges to provide financial aid cent. In other words, how institutions perform on this to the wealthy as a recruitment tool, is to hasten the measure still has no bearing on their overall rankings course to a more rigid class system in higher educa- that are so important to prospective students and vari- tion. In the end, the idea of equal opportunity will be ous benefactors. U.S. News might be encouraged to gravely weakened, and so will the economy and society adopt a rating system that makes student diversity— that depend upon it. by family income, race and ethnicity, even a student’s As higher education analyst and Pell Senior Scholar age and employment status—part of the methodology. Thomas G. Mortenson editorialized recently: “Since Further, important efforts are underway to develop more 1973, the only earned path to the American middle thoughtful ratings systems, based less on “inputs” and class goes through higher education. This makes higher more on what a college does for a student. University education the gatekeeper to the middle class in the leadership and the media could support and encourage United States. This makes federal, state and institution- these alternative rating systems. al decisions more important to America’s future than Sixth, and more important, is the general plight of they have ever been.” the public higher education systems, where most of America’s students go to college. A number of public universities now receive less than 10 percent of their Robert L. Woodbury is the former chancellor of the revenue from their state government. They should be University of Maine System and former director of congratulated for their success in attracting other the John W. McCormack Institute for Public Affairs at resources. But most students attend public institutions the University of Massachusetts Boston. He was whose quality and capacity are based primarily on state NEBHE chair from 1990 to 1992.
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
The Council of Presidents of the six public New England NEBHE links nearly 70 academic and public libraries Land-Grant Universities is founded to exchange infor- through the New England Library Information Network, 1975 New England suffers deep recession, mation on academic affairs, government relations, and provides on-line bibliographic searches through its with regional unemployment averaging 10.3 percent. management issues and intercollegiate athletics. Northeast Academic Science Information Center. The U.S. figure is 8.5 percent.
Maine Senate Majority Leader Bennett D. Katz Boston School Committee rejects court-ordered busing Women represent 45 percent of U.S. college enroll- assumes NEBHE chairmanship. plan for desegregation, leading to two years of racial ment and hold 5 percent of college presidencies. violence in the region’s largest city. Grants account for 80 percent of federal student aid, 1974 NEBHE receives support from the Economist Rudolph Hardy proposes creation of a while loans account for 17 percent; within 15 years, U.S. Public Health Service to study graduate and New England Assembly with the power to conduct the breakdown would be closer to 50-50. continuing education in nursing, as well as the regionwide planning. Robert W. Eisenmenger, first vice president of region’s manpower needs in the fields of optometry, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, assumes osteopathy and podiatry. Congress establishes National Center for { Education Statistics. NEBHE chairmanship.
28 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION Coming Together How a Half Century of Segregation and Desegregation Continues to Shape New England’s Future
BLENDA J. WILSON
in U.S. District Court, but the court ruled against the f you were an African-American student in a large school board. Nevertheless, decades of political Northern city 50 years ago, your public school, activism in opposition to the law took extreme forms, Ivery likely, would have been segregated—even including violent protest and boycotts that will forever in New England. Only one year earlier, in Brown stain Boston’s reputation on matters of race. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the U.S. In 1972, a group of African-American parents in Boston filed a class action suit charging that the city’s Supreme Court had ruled that legally sanctioned public schools were intentionally segregated. Two school segregation violated the 14th Amendment years later, U.S. District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity to the Constitution. ordered the School Committee to produce and imple- Following the Supreme Court decision, ment a racially balanced student assignment plan as a Massachusetts took legislative action, recognizing that temporary remedy and to create a permanent plan. segregation in housing had restricted certain racial and Over the next 15 years of active court involvement, the ethnic groups, including African-Americans and judge issued a series of remedial orders on a range of Latinos, to neighborhoods whose schools were inferior issues, including assigning students to schools, busing to schools in predominately white communities. In students to schools beyond walking distance, closing 1965, Massachusetts Gov. John A. Volpe proposed and and opening facilities and recruiting and assigning the state Legislature approved the Racial Imbalance faculty and staff. Act, which prohibited racial imbalance and discour- Boston was not alone in refusing to comply with aged schools from having enrollments that are more the law. The Springfield schools were not fully desegre- than 50 percent minority. The state Board of Education gated until after the Massachusetts Board of Higher required written desegregation plans from school com- Education filed four separate lawsuits against that mittees in segregated cities, including Boston, city’s School Committee. Springfield and New Bedford. One of the striking successes of Massachusetts Sadly, the Racial Imbalance Law ran into staunch legislative action was the creation of the Metropolitan resistance in many parts of the state. The Boston Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO Inc.). School Committee immediately challenged the law This state-funded, voluntary education desegregation
Rhode Island state Sen. John C. Revens Jr., assumes 1976 Congress approves demonstration pro- NEBHE chairmanship. .
gram to promote delivery of health, education and y t r e
public service information via telecommunications. h o D 1978 In response to budgetary concerns, a 25 m U.S. college enrollment stands at 11,012,137. h a percent tuition surcharge on RSP students is initiated. S
: t i d
e Caucus of New England State Legislatures is established. r 1977 First wave of New England colleges and C John C. Hoy, former vice chancellor for university universities begin divesting endowment funds from Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Thomas P. companies that do business in South Africa. Within a and student affairs at the University of California, O’Neill Jr. becomes speaker of the U.S. House of Irvine, and Wesleyan University admissions dean, decade, more than 30 New England institutions Representatives, a position he would hold for 10 years. becomes NEBHE president and CEO—a post he would have divested more than $200 million. Most would hold for 23 years until his retirement. would reverse the policy with the dismantling of Biogen is founded in Massachusetts. By 1990, the state apartheid in 1991. would host more than 100 biotechnology companies. Price of postage stamp rises to 15 cents. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 29 program helped eliminate racial imbalance by enabling number of African-American and Latino students in children from Boston, and later from Springfield, to desegregated educational settings within four years. attend participating suburban public schools. METCO Legal challenges to the intent of the law have also has been a key player in the regional battle for equal undermined educational advances on behalf of minori- educational opportunity. Today, more than 3,000 ty students. In 1996, for example, two lawsuits were METCO students attend schools in one of 38 filed by Michael C. McLaughlin, a white Boston attor- participating districts, including Braintree, Brookline, ney whose daughter had been denied admission to the Cohasset, Framingham, Hampden, Lexington, prestigious Boston Latin School. At the time, Boston’s Longmeadow, Newton and Reading. Since the organi- “exam schools” reserved 35 percent of the student zation was established in 1965, nearly nine out of 10 slots for African-American and Latino students. METCO graduates have gone on to college. McLaughlin’s claim was that his daughter’s grades and During the era of desegregation, the number of entrance exam scores were higher than those of many minority students who graduated from high school minority candidates who were granted admission. The increased sharply and racial test score gaps narrowed. lawsuit was dismissed when the schools agreed to Despite the evidence of METCO and other successful reserve half the seats in the district’s three exam educational interventions that quality education can schools for students with the highest scores and to fill enable all students to achieve at high levels, however, the remaining slots through a system that permitted the promise of equal education in New England consideration of test scores and race. In a later case, remains elusive. Even today, residential housing pat- the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that compromise terns in many of New England’s low-income, multicul- unconstitutional. As a result, fewer African-American tural cities mimic earlier patterns of segregation and and Hispanic students attend Boston Latin School and produce inferior schools and unequal education for Boston Latin Academy today than during the years of poor, immigrant and minority children. court-ordered school desegregation. Because immigrant and minority children represent So how far have we come? Neither the country at the fastest growing segment of the population in New large nor New England has succeeded in eliminating England, redressing modern-day segregation is particu- segregation, whatever its cause. The familiar phenome- larly challenging. A good example may be seen in non of “white flight,” where white families migrate out Hartford, Conn., where the student population is of the region’s cities or send their children to parochial 95 percent minority. The Connecticut Supreme Court or private schools, has created “majority minority” found the state of Connecticut in violation of a man- student populations in many urban public schools. date to reduce racial, ethnic and economic segregation Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island now in Hartford regional schools. To achieve diversity, rank among the U.S. states in which white exposure Hartford plans to develop inter-district magnet schools to blacks is the lowest, and Latino segregation contin- to bring together students from the city and from the ues to increase in every region of the country. So, if you suburbs. Hartford’s goal is to significantly expand the are an African-American or Latino student in a large
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
Financing Higher Education: The Public Investment 1979 NEBHE creates Commission on Higher 1980 High-technology executives in are published a year later. 1 Education and the Economy of New England, com- Massachusetts help push through Proposition 2 ⁄2, prised of bank executives, college presidents, labor a sweeping referendum capping property taxes. A NEBHE survey finds that fewer than half of New officials, professors, publishers and business leaders. England leaders of government, higher education, Ronald Reagan is elected president, ushering in era business and labor view higher education as “above U.S. Department of Education is established as of administration calls for cuts in federal spending average” or “outstanding” in meeting the labor cabinet-level agency, with Shirley M. Hufstedler as on higher education and scientific research. force needs of the region’s industries. first secretary. Reagan administration cuts funding of New England For the first time, women outnumber men on U.S. 1981 NEBHE publishes Business and college campuses. Academia: Partners in New England’s Economic Renewal, the first in a series of three books on New Number of high school graduates begins to decline. England higher education and the regional economy. { New England’s Vital Resource: The Labor Force and
30 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION Northern city today, or even in parts of New England, from low-income families and sponsoring college there is still a good chance that your school is access programs such as Upward Bound, TRIO and racially unbalanced. GEAR UP to increase the college readiness of students Moreover, the Harvard Civil Rights Project, in a from underperforming schools. Similarly, state support recent study titled, A Multiracial Society with of public colleges and universities was designed to Segregated Schools: Are We Losing the Dream?, found enable all students who were capable of pursuing post- that the progress in reducing educational disparities secondary education, regardless of income, to enroll in that had been achieved during the era of desegregation college—opening the doors of opportunity to histori- has been eroding in the 1990s. cally disadvantaged groups. The good news, however, is that, despite continued The major policy advances of this new century housing segregation and stubborn resistance to com- contain a commitment to educate all children for a pensatory strategies, schools have made progress over competitive world. In addition to historically underrep- the past 50 years in reducing educational inequities resented populations—African-Americans, Latinos, based on race. According to the National Assessment Native Americans—New England is experiencing a of Educational Progress (NAEP), performance gaps large influx of immigrants from all over the world, between white and minority students in reading and including large numbers of school-age children from math have closed to the narrowest point in 30 years. Brazil, Portugal, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic NAEP assessments in 4th grade writing also show a and India. While these groups may live in relatively narrowing in the black-white gap in average scores. homogeneous neighborhoods more as a result of African-American and Latino students have gained at choice than discrimination, the educational challenge an even faster rate than white students on these mea- remains the same as the struggle of the past sures, according to a recent report of the Center for 50 years—to provide a high-quality education for all. Education Policy. And while students of color still The rapid increase of immigrant populations in New account for only 20 percent of enrollments on the England should give new urgency to the region’s com- region’s college campuses, they are making progress. mitment to education reform and enhancing achieve- Between 1993 and 2003, African-American enrollment ment of underserved groups. Adlai Stevenson once said, increased by 31 percent, Latino enrollment by 51 per- “The most American thing about America is the free cent and Native American enrollment by 21 percent. common school system.” We must hold those schools Progress is slow, but encouraging. accountable not only for advancing educational equity, Brown v. Board of Education set in motion a half but for sustaining an inclusive democracy. century of fits and starts toward equal educational opportunity for citizens of color. The federal govern- Blenda J. Wilson is president and chief operating ment played an important role by providing grants and officer of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation in loan guarantees to make college affordable to students Quincy, Mass.
Regional Commission and New England River New England unemployment averages 7.8 percent, Basins Commission. 1982 NEBHE’s Commission on Higher Education as recession pushes U.S. jobless rate to 40-year high and the Economy issues A Threat to Excellence, calling of 9.7 percent. Yale University, the city of New Haven, the state of for a variety of partnerships among New England Connecticut and Olin Corp., establish Science Park colleges, secondary schools and businesses. Mitchell Kapor launches Lotus Development Corp. Development Corp. in an effort to lure high-tech and biotech firms to New Haven. New England Education Loan Marketing Corp. (Nellie Mae) is chartered as first regional secondary market 1983 NEBHE publishes Higher Education Tuition and mandatory fees at New England’s private in the United States. Telecommunications: A New England Policy four-year colleges average $4,874, compared with Imperative, urging that New England adopt a regional $3,709 nationally. Tuition and mandatory fees at the Congress passes Small Business Innovation policy to coordinate educational telecommunications. region’s public four-year colleges average $1,019, Development Act of 1982, setting aside a small por- compared with $819 nationally. tion of federal research funds for small businesses. National Commission on Excellence in Education publishes A Nation at Risk, warning of mediocrity Quinebaug Valley Community College President in public schools and leading to stepped-up school Robert E. Miller assumes NEBHE chairmanship. reform efforts across the country. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 31 Visions: Reflections on the Past, Predictions of the Future
o mark NEBHE’s 50th anniversary year, CONNECTION invited a small group of visionary commentators to submit short “statements” on the future of New England’s economic and civic development, Ttomorrow’s technologies and the changing shape of higher education …
“NEBHE” to bring these inventive New Englanders In Search of New NEBHEs together, to play the convener role, to forge collabora- NEAL PEIRCE AND CURTIS JOHNSON tions that reduce the region’s energy vulnerability? NEBHE at 50—survivor of several economic ups and • Maine figured out how to give I-95-weary tourists a downs and the comings and goings of many a political rail alternative to get to its seductive coastal hide- regime—stands as the region’s best evidence that con- aways, but finds resources hard to come by. Boston, necting New England assets pays off. pockets picked bare by the Big Dig, debates whether The next 50 years will be tougher. There is no prece- to build a rail connection between North and South dent for what New England faces if it hopes to add stations or build the circumferential ring through the new chapters to its success story. The region has to suburbs. Connecticut spends millions on a freeway flat-out commit to getting every willing young person interchange to a road that’s not going to be built, prepared with an appropriate college education. This while Bradley airport lacks vital rail connections. will require not only money, but also transformative Where is the “NEBHE” to make sense of this hash, to institutional changes. ask and answer the questions about New England’s What New England also needs—and soon—are new obvious infrastructure needs for this century? “NEBHEs” to address different problems. On the biggest • If broadband at ever increasing speeds and conve- problems, the region’s famous fondness for intense local- nience is the opportunity ticket to breathe new life ism will fast prove to be an unaffordable sentimentality. into the remotest reaches of northern New England, • Somewhere in western Massachusetts an entrepreneur where’s the leadership structure to gather the cash operates a small biodiesel plant, processing local crops and clout this proposition requires? into fuel for nearby customers. At the University of New • Maine suggests it can fill the health care coverage gap Hampshire, physics professors refine the technology for with its Dirigo program. All six governors sound the biofuels. In Storrs, Conn., economists publish a study alarm over rising publicly paid health costs. But there’s showing how a push for renewable fuels could improve no arrangement for blending the region’s wisdom and the New England economy. Where’s the energy-related resources, devising solutions on a true regional scale.
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
U.S. News & World Report publishes Rhode Island state Sen. Robert J. McKenna assumes With support from the Massachusetts Centers of its first annual “America’s Best NEBHE chairmanship. Excellence Corp., Worcester, Mass., begins a major Colleges and Universities.” initiative to join Cambridge as a center of the growing biotechnology industry. NEBHE and Caucus of New England 1984 NEBHE publishes Renewing Excellence, State Legislatures earn support revealing, among other things, that New England leg- Bates College makes SAT optional for admissions. from the U.S. Department of Education to islators see higher education playing an important role begin a series of legislative briefings aimed at pro- in retraining workers for high-demand occupations. viding New England lawmakers with information on 1985 NEBHE creates New England South higher education and the economy of their states. Rhode Island voters reject Greenhouse Compact, a African Student Scholarship Program, enabling comprehensive economic development plan developed New England colleges to support black South African Congress authorizes challenge grants aimed at by Ira Magaziner and others to encourage business students at “open universities” in South Africa. giving colleges an incentive to seek alternative expansion, research and job growth in Rhode Island. sources of funding. NEBHE and National Institute of Education cosponsor Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act continues Northeastern Regional Conference on Quality in { federal support for vocational education. American Higher Education, bringing together gover-
32 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION Some question whether, now that the Red Sox have Item Three: Outmigration of young adults from New won the World Series, there’s any need for a New England is high and likely to grow. Most of the college- England. As outside observers—and admirers of New bound high school seniors here seem to prefer to enroll England—we’d suggest there’s more need than ever. somewhere other than in New England. People under But without more “NEBHEs” pushing on multiple age 18 can vote only with their feet, so they’re sending us fronts, don’t expect much progress. voters a pretty clear message: “You don’t really want us here anyway, so we’ll just go to college someplace else, Neal Peirce is chairman of the Citistates Group and and don’t be surprised if we stay there after graduation.” a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post New England has become, demographically speaking, Writers Group. He has written several books on U.S. the oldest region in the country. All six New England states and regions including The New England States: states rank among the 12 oldest in the nation. Maine just People, Politics and Power in the Six New England edged out West Virginia to have the distinction of the States. Curtis Johnson is president of the Citistates oldest population on average in the United States. Group and former chair of the Metropolitan Council This region’s population is aging so fast that one of Minneapolis-St. Paul. third of New England’s counties have had more deaths than births since 2000. Aging also means that because such a high percentage of women in New England are Demography Is Still Destiny out of the childbearing age range, the number of chil- PETER FRANCESE dren will decline. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that Few things focus the mind as well as increasing aware- 10 years from now, there will be about 100,000 fewer ness of impending doom. If I were working at one of 14- to 17-year-olds in New England. New England’s colleges or universities, the focus of my Jared Diamond, in his book Collapse, chillingly mind would be sharpening on a few rapidly developing describes past societies that perished because they trends that bode ill for my institution’s future. refused to recognize how their actions, so deeply root- Item One: Most towns in New England have devel- ed in their culture, were so self-destructive. Here in opment policies that discourage parents with school- New England, the culture that allows small towns age children from moving there because voters, most (especially college towns!) to stay small by prohibiting of whom now have no kids at home, don’t want to raise the construction of any reasonably priced housing, their property taxes to pay for educating someone except for senior citizens, will mean a grim future for else’s children. our economy and for higher education. Item Two: Many towns in New England are actively Not only will New England’s colleges find it harder to encouraging older people to stay here or move here by recruit students, they will find it harder and more expen- heavily favoring, and sometimes mandating, housing sive to recruit workers. Going to a private four-year col- that is legally restricted to people ages 55 or older. The lege in New England already costs 24 percent more than U.S. Fair Housing Act of 1968 forbids virtually any type in the nation as a whole, and in-state yearly charges for of discrimination in housing, but not this; it’s OK to public four-year colleges are at least 15 percent more. exclude families with kids. Rising labor costs will mean pricing our colleges out of
nors, legislators, college presidents and others to discuss Reagan defense buildup reaches peak. NEBHE publishes Economic Competitiveness and quality of college curricula, teaching and assessment. International Knowledge and The Impact of Tuition and mandatory fees at New England’s private Globalization on Higher Education, exploring links Tufts University President Jean Mayer assumes four-year colleges average $7,739, compared with between U.S. competitiveness and international NEBHE chairmanship. $5,793 nationally. Tuition and mandatory fees at the aspects of higher education. region’s public four-year colleges average $1,590, compared with $1,137 nationally. A record 25 percent of college freshmen say they 1986 NEBHE begins publish- plan to pursue careers in business, according to the ing quarterly journal, titled American Council on Education. By 1992, the number CONNECTION: NEW ENGLAND’S JOURNAL OF 1987 NEBHE asks leaders of business, gov- had dropped to 14 percent. HIGHER EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC ernment and education to peer into New England’s DEVELOPMENT. In 2001, the journal future and identify issues that will be critical to the The stock market crashes. would adopt its current name, region’s prosperity. The result is the Future of New CONNECTION: THE JOURNAL OF THE NEW ENGLAND BOARD England Leadership Survey Report. OF HIGHER EDUCATION. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 33 reach for more and more students who can just go else- market for New England students who are on the fence where for less. about going to college at all. And they are discouraging What can be done? For starters, everyone who students from elsewhere who may now find a better works for a college or university or cares about New price-to-value relationship nearer to home. Colleges England’s future must get involved with their local gov- across New England need to rethink their value propo- ernment to stop permitting only age-restricted housing sition. What exactly is the primary benefit of a New and start doing whatever it takes to get some afford- England higher education? And how should New able workforce housing. This may mean changing England colleges market the unique benefits they offer? school funding formulas so the cost of education does New England is the smallest, oldest and nearly the not fall so heavily on small school districts. slowest-growing region in the nation. But it also has But just as much as the region needs more housing, the nation’s highest level of educational attainment it also needs much better public schools. Whatever the among adults age 25 and older and the nation’s highest region’s colleges and universities are doing to help raise household income. It’s time we used some of that the quality of primary and secondary schools, it clearly money and expertise to craft a better future for our- hasn’t been enough. One-quarter of New England’s selves than these ominous trends would suggest. public high school students still don’t graduate and of those that do, only about half go on to higher education. Peter Francese is director of demographic forecasts Second, the region needs a large, well-funded and for the New England Economic Partnership and long-range marketing program to change the image of founder of American Demographics magazine New England in the rest of the nation. We’re danger- ously close to becoming just a big theme park. As someone suggested at a recent meeting I attended in New England’s Going to Do It Again South Carolina: “New England’s a fine place to vaca- JAMES T. BRETT tion, but you wouldn’t want to live there or send your New England is a region at a turning point in its kid to college there.” history—again. As we reinvent ourselves this time, The most important part of any marketing program the region faces some particular challenges. is the upfront research that will reveal, not only what A study conducted this year for The New England we think of our region, but what people in the rest of Council by the global management company A.T. the nation, particularly parents of college-age kids, Kearney points to some troubling trends: an aging think of New England. The research should include workforce; outmigration of young, educated people; exit interviews with some of the young people who aging and insufficient infrastructure moving goods and have chosen to leave the region. people; and lack of aggressive marketing to attract busi- Third, the historical ability of New England colleges nesses and skilled workers to the region. Added to these and universities to counter the region’s deteriorating challenges are an overall high cost of doing business and demography by attracting talent from across the nation high cost of living, including some of the fastest-rising and around the world is seriously in question. This housing prices of any region in the country. region’s colleges are pricing themselves out of the It’s not difficult to imagine why more affordable regions
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
New England’s regional unemployment rate dips to U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, a Democrat from Maine, 1988 NEBHE publishes Biomedical an average of 3.1 percent, while the U.S. rate aver- becomes senate majority leader. Mitchell opts not to Research and Technology: A Prognosis for ages 5.5 percent. seek re-election in 1994. International Economic Leadership. The report of NEBHE’s Commission on Three-term Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis loses Vermont Technical College begins experimental two- Academic Medical Centers and his bid for the presidency against the backdrop of a way interactive link between its Randolph campus the Economy of New England crashing economy and state fiscal crisis. Budget woes and the North Country Union High School in Newport, explores the promise of hit Beacon Hill first, but within two years, all six a pioneering program in using telecommunications to New England’s biotechnolo- states are cutting programs, laying off workers and connect colleges and high schools. gy industries and issues searching for new revenue. University of New Hampshire President Gordon A. major recommendations The William T. Grant Foundation’s publication of Haaland assumes NEBHE chairmanship. to encourage biotech The Forgotten Half focuses attention on the manufacturing in inadequacy of school-to-work programs for New England. { non-college-bound students.
34 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION are now outpacing New England in job creation and doing a better job at attracting growth companies and people. The Human Development Gap JAMES P. COMER, M.D. Despite these trends, New England remains a global leader on many fronts, particularly in the area of tech- The past half century has witnessed the greatest scientif- nological advancement. We are known as a world ic and technological change in the history of the world. leader in health care, and thousands come to the region A significant consequence is that living wage employ- to take advantage of the best in higher education. ment, desirable family and community functioning, and But the A.T. Kearney study and other published societal well-being now require a very broad base of analyses point to weaknesses that threaten our leader- well-educated people. But while higher education has ship in these areas as well. New England cannot afford played a central role in promoting scientific and social to be complacent. And it clearly is not a productive progress, it also has helped create a gap between those strategy to undernourish or underinvest in the critical who are developed well enough to function effectively resources of our economy, such as higher education. and those who are not. The myriad reports that cite the forces working Academic learning and child development are inex- against New England’s growth often return to educa- tricably linked. And good social, psycho-emotional and tion as a source of answers and strategy. Our lowest- moral-ethical development is as important as brain in-the-nation public investment in higher education is development and physical, linguistic and cognitive- an example of the type of irony that may ultimately intellectual development. By focusing primarily on undermine our efforts. improving academic achievement gains rather than Even more than financial support, collaboration overall development, a human development gap has between higher education and the business community been created and is almost certain to widen. will play a critical role in the future success of the New Underdeveloped young people are less likely to per- England economy. form well in school and later as family and community New England has stood at this crossroad many members and responsible citizens. They are more likely times before and successfully transformed its economy to display socially and financially high-cost problem to keep it vibrant. From the early days of agriculture, behaviors—just at the time we face significant economic we moved to excel in an industrialized society; domi- and social challenges from other nations. nance in shoes and textiles turned to pioneering in There are more than 2 million American men in jail, software and defense. Today, technology and life sci- contributing significantly to school, family and commu- ences lead the way. We may not know what the future nity problems. Mental and physical health problems, holds, but we have a history of charting the right unemployment and welfare dependency, domestic course for the future, and there is every reason to violence, child abuse and neglect are all influenced by believe we will do it again. human underdevelopment. Our failure to prepare our young people for responsible civic participation is a James T. Brett is president and CEO of The New major reason they don’t vote or volunteer as adults. England Council. It is irresponsible to argue that such development
Rhode Island Children’s Crusade launched, guaran- legal profession has not worked to curb legal costs, 1989 The “miracle” is over. New England teeing full college scholarships to economically reach more middle class and poor people or ensure unemployment rate rises; personal income growth disadvantaged Ocean State students. professional competence. falls. Wang, Digital, Data General and Prime Computer announce major layoffs. Through its Regional Project on the Global Economy Tuition surcharge on Regional Student Program is and Higher Education in New England, NEBHE briefs raised to 50 percent. NEBHE issues Equity and Pluralism: Full Participation state legislators in all six state capitals on the inter- Number of New England high school graduates of Blacks and Hispanics in New England Higher nationalization of higher education and the economy. Education. The benchmark report of NEBHE’s Task begins sharp decline. NEBHE issues Law and the Information Society: Force on Black and Hispanic Student Enrollment and Boston University wins approval to manage the Observations, Thoughts and Conclusions about Legal Retention in New England offers 20 major recom- Chelsea, Mass. public schools, becoming the first pri- Education, Law Practice and the New England mendations to ensure greater participation and vate institution to manage a public school system. success among blacks and Hispanics in New England Economy, the report of a NEBHE panel of distin- higher education and the educated workforce. guished lawyers, judges, law school deans and busi- Massachusetts Institute of Technology becomes the ness leaders. The report finds that while lawyers have first university ever to be granted more than 100 contributed to the region’s economy, growth in the patents in one year. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 35 should take place at home when there is research evi- universities is deeply affected by their digital experi- dence that a school experience that addresses develop- ence, the Education Establishment has shown extraor- ment can help. But higher education has not done dinary passivity toward development of the experience. nearly enough and is not doing nearly enough to pre- How young people experience the digital world is pare a pre-service and in-service administrator and shaped by the tools offered by the computer industry: teacher workforce with the knowledge, skills and office suites, search engines, games and chat rooms. incentives needed to create a school-based culture in School has been entirely reactive: “computer literacy” which the full development of students can take place. is defined as mastery of the proffered tools, “educa- Indeed, the neuroscience research base needed to tional technology” is defined as “integrating” these guide change in teacher preparation is sparse and tools into teaching practices. I find it quite extraordi- underutilized. And the policies and practices are not nary that schools have not taken advantage of the love in place to enable even willing institutions to join affair between children and computers to give the sci- development and pedagogy. ence underlying these wonderful machines a signifi- It is very unlikely that new educator programs now cant place in the school curriculum. If this were emerging outside traditional higher education can successfully done, the young generation would have address the need. And it is the height of self-deception the chance to develop a love for science by seeing it to believe that our country can remain competitive and used in an area that affects them. Indeed, they could reasonably well-functioning with a widening human development gap. Higher education must seriously use it themselves by engaging in intellectually deeper address issues of childrearing and development if our applications of the technology. country is to remain strong. It is quite paradoxical that the standards for science education systematically exclude the sciences of com- Dr. James Comer is the Maurice Falk Professor of putation, information and complexity (CIC) in favor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of updated versions of the disciplines established in earli- Medicine’s Child Study Center and founder of the er centuries. This is made doubly paradoxical by the Comer School Development Program, which promotes fact that the CIC disciplines have spawned new ways the collaboration of parents, educators, and commu- of doing science that could empower young learners as nity to improve outcomes for children. they empower professional scientists. For example: many cutting-edge scientific problems that were too complex for equation-based theories succumb to pro- A Future in Concrete? gramming-based modeling; in the same way, children SEYMOUR PAPERT who have learned to program are able to think cre- I accuse the system of Higher Education of failure to atively about problems too complex for the old-fash- carry out due diligence in considering the opportuni- ioned mathematics that is being cast in the concrete ties for early learning created by digital technologies. of school standards. While it is widely recognized that the baggage of My accusation is less that schools mindlessly follow knowledge and attitudes brought by students entering the curriculum than that the intellectual world is
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
University of Maine at Augusta begins offering cours- than 19,000 fall-term openings for qualified fresh- es at remote sites via fiber optic and microwave, men as of the traditional May 1 deadline. 1991 NEBHE publishes special issue of beginning one of the nation’s leading educational CONNECTION, titled Thinking Environment, advancing telecommunications programs. National Center on Education and the Economy pub- regional assessment of environmental education and lishes America’s Choice: High Skills or Low Wages!, technology in New England. Median salary for U.S. college presidents is $126,027. including benchmark recommendations to increase workforce productivity. New England unemployment rate averages 8 percent, compared with national average of 6.7 percent. 1990 National Science Foundation awards mul- Congress passes the Student Right-to-Know and timillion-dollar National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Campus Security Act, requiring colleges and universi- A string of more than 30 Massachusetts bank failures to Florida State University over the Massachusetts ties to provide information on graduation rates of over two years culminates with the collapse of the Institute of Technology, symbolizing for many the ero- student-athletes and crime statistics. Bank of New England, the nation’s fourth largest sion of New England’s longstanding research edge. bank failure at the time. The bank’s assets are University of Maine System Chancellor Robert L. acquired by Fleet/Norstar Financial Group of The Baby Bust reaches New England campuses; Woodbury assumes NEBHE chairmanship. Rhode Island, which would also take over Bank of {NEBHE’s 31st annual vacancy survey reveals more Boston before being acquired by Charlotte N.C.-based Bank of America. 36 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION passively unconcerned about whether there might college education rather than secondary schooling. Higher be something better. education must rise to this challenge, rethinking both its mission and its relationships with economic development Seymour Papert is cofounder of the MIT Artificial groups and workforce training organizations. Intelligence Lab and founder of the Maine-based This transformation will require a few immediate Learning Barn. For more along these lines, see: shifts in standard operating practices, including: www.learningbarn.org • Shifting the emphasis in general education course- work from providing basic knowledge about the sub- Teaching Expert Thinking ject area to instead modeling and experiencing the types of expert thinking and complex communication CHRIS DEDE in which that field’s practitioners engage. For exam- The new baseline for entry into the 21st century work- ple, courses in history would have as their primary force is no longer a high school diploma, but rather, an educational objective enhancing students’ skills in associate degree—and a decade from now, an even interpretive reasoning given incomplete, inconsistent greater level of education will probably be required. and biased data. In their 2004 book titled The New Division of Labor, economists Frank Levy of MIT and Richard Murnane • Reconfiguring the structure of public education to of Harvard document how: “Declining portions of the K-14 as the minimum educational attainment guaran- labor force are engaged in jobs that consist primarily of teed through universal access. This change would routine cognitive work and routine manual labor—the require much closer alignment between higher educa- types of tasks that are easiest to program computers to tion and secondary schooling, with massive shifts in do. Growing proportions of the nation’s labor force are both types of organizations’ curriculum, pedagogy, engaged in jobs that emphasize expert thinking or com- assessments, organizational structure, staffing and plex communication—tasks that computers cannot do.” incentive systems. Levy and Murnane go on to explain that “expert • Investing in the sophisticated information and commu- thinking” involves “effective pattern matching based on nications technology infrastructure necessary to foster detailed knowledge, and metacognition, the set of skills educational, workforce and economic development used by the stumped expert to decide when to give up through lifelong activities on and off campus, in paral- on one strategy, and what to try next.” lel with forward-thinking nations’ strategies for suc- “Complex communication,” the two economists cess in the global, knowledge-based marketplace. note, requires “the exchange of vast amounts of A lesser response would be like shifting deck chairs verbal and nonverbal information. The information on the Titanic. flow is constantly adjusted as the communication evolves unpredictably.” Expert thinking and complex communication require Chris Dede is the Wirth Professor in Learning sophisticated skills and knowledge typically infused by Technologies at Harvard University.
Military operations $10,017 nationally. Tuition and mandatory fees at New England public colleges and universities stung . s s e
r end at Pease Air the region’s public four-year colleges average by budget cuts. The state higher education appropria- P
A Force Base. $3,439, compared with $2,137 nationally. tion in Massachusetts is down more than 30 percent M
U from 1988. Z / r Security concerns e f f e i stemming from 1992 Congress passes Higher Education New England is mired in recession. Newsweek tells K y r Persian Gulf War Amendments, tightening rules for institutions partici- readers: “The trick this year is finding those regions a G
pating in federal aid programs and establishing con- and occupations displaying a bit more strength than
: result in cancellation t i d e of various study- troversial State Postsecondary Review Entities to set others. The Southwest and Mountain states, for r C abroad programs. statewide standards and deal with fraud and abuse. instance, are growing modestly. One quick bit of Massachusetts and West Virginia make unsuccessful advice: forget the Northeast; it’s a disaster.” Defense “drawdown” rattles defense-dependent local bids to lure students from heavily damaged economies from Groton, Conn., to Bath, Maine. Franklin Pierce College President and former Kuwait University. Connecticut sees value of defense contracts shrink New Hampshire Gov. Walter Peterson assumes Tuition and mandatory fees at New England’s private from $5 billion to $3.1 billion in one year. NEBHE chairmanship. four-year colleges average $13,487, compared with { CONNECTION FALL 2005 37 their financial need, despite a nationwide shift toward Affordability and Opportunity non-need-based “merit aid.” SANDY BAUM It would be a mistake for New England to follow New England’s future well-being depends upon the example of those states that are attempting to use continually expanding educational opportunities. But their funds to induce students who might otherwise go college tuition levels in New England are high. On to college out of state to study locally. Both equitable average, the published price of a four-year college and efficient use of public funds require using our dol- education in the region is about 30 percent higher than lars to change the behavior of students who would not the average for the nation as a whole. Though incomes otherwise be able to afford college. Attracting college are also higher than average in four of the six New graduates with loan forgiveness or other incentives England states, the $7,000 or so price of a year at a would be a better approach to any outmigration prob- typical four-year public institution in New England is lem than would luring college students with merit aid. out of reach for a significant portion of the population. Providing realistic opportunities for all young It may be somewhat encouraging to note that college people, as well as for older individuals who need prices have risen more rapidly elsewhere in the coun- additional education and training to succeed in the try over the past decade. But the access problem will workforce, must be a priority for all the New England remain very real no matter what happens to tuition states. We should develop programs that provide a and fees, as living costs and foregone earnings alone clear and reliable commitment to children from low- provide insurmountable barriers to college for many. and moderate-income families that the funds they need How can New England ensure that it not only pre- to finance a college education will be available if they serves its standing as a well-educated region, but also meet the academic requirements. increases the proportion of 9th graders who earn col- An innovative approach might involve annual con- lege degrees in a timely manner—a share that is above tributions to college savings accounts for children the national average, but still below 30 percent in from low-income families. A program that provides every New England state? these young people with their own funds years before Higher education is obviously not the only answer they finish high school would address their financial to this problem, given the difficulties at earlier stages problems and academic preparation problems simulta- of the education pipeline. But it is an indispensable neously. This type of policy would go a long way piece of the puzzle. toward ensuring that New England weathers future economic slowdowns without sacrificing the educa- Access and affordability depend more on the price tional opportunities that provide the foundation for a students actually pay for college than on the published healthy economy over the long run. Any sense of com- tuition levels. Considerable effort must be made to placency or loss of focus on these goals will cost the guarantee that whatever levels of tuition prevail, all region dearly for years to come. low-income students who can benefit from higher edu- cation have access to sufficient grant funds to enroll Sandy Baum is a professor of economics at and succeed in college. New England has generally Skidmore College in New York and senior policy succeeded in directing grant aid to students based on analyst at the College Board.
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
of activist First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who ify the challenges and opportunities the field presents 1993 NEBHE creates the New England graduated from the women’s college in 1969. to New England. Technical Education Partnership, bringing together educators and other professionals to improve New With support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford England’s two-year technical education programs. 1994 NEBHE establishes Regional Commission Foundation and others, NEBHE and two other regional on Telecommunications and Distance Learning to clar- education agencies—the Southern Regional Education Congress passes Student Loan Reform Act, calling Board and the Western Interstate Commission for for “direct lending” from the U.S. Treasury through Higher Education—launch “Compact for Faculty colleges to students, and National Service Trust Act, Diversity” program to increase the number of African- providing education grants in exchange for Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans who com- community service. plete Ph.D.s and enter college teaching. Total charges at Yale University pass the $25,000 mark.
Wellesley College reports a 15 percent rise in fresh- {man applications, attributed partly to the popularity Credit: Bill Winer/PDI. 38 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION Loans would be encouraged, and when consolidating A Plan for Higher Education Access loans, students could choose between a low fixed or JOHN F. TIERNEY variable interest rate with a low cap, saving borrowers A recent New England Council report emphasized thousands of dollars. a well-known fact: a strong public higher education Finally, our initiative would simplify the financial aid system is critical to a state’s economic viability. application process by establishing a procedure to give Businesses rely on public college and university gradu- students early estimates of federal student aid eligibili- ates—almost 80 percent of whom remain in state—as ty so they and their families can plan ahead. the next generation of innovators and as a necessary A strong federal-state partnership to provide quality, highly qualified workforce. affordable higher education is critical, and businesses The reauthorization of the federal Higher Education and families must insist that we adequately invest in Act underway in Congress has provided a forum for our future. Such opportunity must be part of New debate of issues such as college access and affordabili- England’s, and America’s, competitive strategy. ty. An alternative supported by House Education Committee Democrats addresses college affordability U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney (D-Mass.) is the only and accessibility in several ways. New England member on the House Committee on First, the plan would require states to restore fund- Education and the Workforce. ing for public higher education. A direct parallel exists between shrinking state support for public higher education and higher tuitions for students and their Diversifying Academic Knowledge families. States should be obligated to maintain a ESTHER KINGSTON-MANN reasonable contribution if they are to receive federal In a world of media spin, where each talking head lays assistance in administering education programs. claim to a different and contradictory set of “facts,” the All institutions—whether public or private—could good news is that today’s academic scholarship also also benefit from new incentives to keep costs down. produces many facts that are not contradictory and The U.S. Department of Education would research suc- provide opportunities for understanding and compe- cessful cost containment strategies and share them tence that were nonexistent 20 years ago. Many of broadly. Schools that keep costs within a higher educa- these new resources were the creations of diversity tion price index would receive bonus Pell Grant funds research—scholarly investigations that place the het- to award to eligible students, with special benefits erogeneity of human life and experience at center stage. when a commitment is made and kept to hold those In the l960s, before the explosion of research in all rates down for the students’ entire four-year stay. fields that critiqued, challenged and transformed what Because more students are qualifying for college, was previously viewed as the best and soundest schol- and more families are financially eligible, the Pell arship, the university’s traditional academic course Grant maximum would be doubled, helping lower- and offerings were prone to highlight the universal achieve- middle-income families meet tuitions. For those who ments of a Western European, male middle class. must borrow to meet obligations, cost-saving Direct Although this group remains eminently worthy of
Clinton administration unveils plans for National Information Infrastructure, and plans to relax 1995 NEBHE launches New England 1996 U.S. 5th Circuit Court ruling bars use of 60-year old federal communications regulations. Environmental Education Program, including an race in college admissions in Texas, Louisiana and internship program that would provide more than Mississippi. California voters approve ballot question A consortium of Vermont’s six public higher education 200 New England students from 59 colleges and uni- banning race in admissions at public colleges. institutions agree to manage all employee education versities with jobs, academic counseling, professional and training for IBM Burlington, Vermont’s largest development and leadership training through real- New England’s total college enrollment dips to private employer. world environmental work experiences with New 795,000, down from a peak of 827,000 in 1992. England corporations, state government agencies Connecticut Higher Education Commissioner Former Rhode Island Higher Education Commissioner and nonprofit organizations. Andrew G. De Rocco assumes NEBHE chairmanship. Eleanor M. McMahon assumes NEBHE chairmanship. NEBHE receives federal grant to help schools and col- leges introduce fiber optics technology into curriculum. 1997 Federal Taxpayer Relief Act creates Connecticut adopts 10-year, $1 billion UConn 2000 Hope Scholarship, Lifelong Learning Tax Credit and initiative to modernize Storrs campus. other tax benefits for college. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 39 careful study, it represents only a part of the human that this research will fail to enhance the competence of story. And as my philosopher-colleagues like to remind scholars, policymakers and practitioners of family and me, the part is not the same as the whole. So: If we individual therapy who work with diverse populations. believe that academic knowledge is valuable because it In these fields and in many others, advances in fosters, however imperfectly, a better understanding of scholarship are opening new possibilities for productive reality, and more competent engagement with the encounters with a complex and heterogeneous world. world, then it becomes necessary to consider not only Take a moment to imagine this message as a clear and this much-studied group, but also the majorities that the unapologetic statement about the aims and goals of Uruguayan essayist Eduardo Galeano once described as higher education. There are no guarantees of course, the hundreds of millions who have “been standing in but educators should nevertheless take heart. A wide- line for centuries to get into history.” spread and massive engagement with academic knowl- Two examples: 1) In the field of medicine, an exclu- edge might in fact produce some welcome surprises. sive focus on males as the appropriate research subjects produced cardiovascular research that prevented doc- tors from recognizing the significant differences Esther Kingston-Mann is a professor of between men and women both in symptoms and history/American studies at the University of response to treatment of heart attack (or from noticing Massachusetts Boston, where she received the 2005 that cardiac death rates among black women are two- Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Scholarship. thirds higher than for white women). Scholars who raised questions about gender and race opened the Close the Latino Education Gap possibility for better medical treatment for everyone. MARILDA L. GANDARA Unfortunately, much of the research on diagnosis and Thoughtful people across the political spectrum debate treatment in the last 20 years continues either to the merits of educational programs for African-Americans, exclude women entirely or include only limited Latinos and other minority groups. Differences of opinion numbers of women. 2) In the study of adolescents and around affirmative action, Head Start, the No Child Left families, Western mainstream scholarship traditionally Behind Act and the education of immigrant children lead focused on the universality of “adolescent stress,” to intense arguments. Yet I rarely hear discussion about caused by inevitable tensions between family demands how insufficient financial support for college costs and the peer pressures that foster disregard for them. impacts this population. However, cross-cultural research indicates that in many I came to this country in 1960. In eight years, I was contexts, adolescence instead marks the transition to able to attend a private college with only a partial schol- more adult roles within the family and community (with arship, minimal debt and the hard work of my parents. peer pressure a far less influential factor). Cross-cultural Later, my law school tuition was $1,500 a year. While it investigations have increased from 5 percent of the total was not easy it, was doable; all we had to do was dream in the l950s to 14 percent in 2005. It is hard to imagine big and work hard. I wonder if that is true today.
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
Annual survey of priorities by the Association of NEBHE launches New England Public Policy Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges finds Collaborative to provide a regional framework for 1999 NEBHE and the John W. nation’s higher education leaders focused on congres- the region’s policy research expertise and enhance McCormack Institute of Public Affairs at the sional proposals to expand the federal role in mak- access to policy research. Funded by the AT&T University of Massachusetts-Boston conduct ing college more affordable as well as looming Foundation, the collaborative hosts two regional The Future of New England survey asking changes in health-care and copyright laws. “New England Agenda” conferences and introduces a 1,000 New England opinion leaders and NEBHE web page linking 300 public policy research 1,000 New England households their views NEBHE launches AQUA initiative providing aquacul- centers and institutes. on pressing public policy issues, regional ture-related curriculum and professional development economic prospects and opportunities for for schools and colleges. Nellie Mae Education Foundation created as New interstate action in New England. England’s largest philanthropy devoted to educational NEBHE sponsors mock “Race for Governor of the achievement and equity for underserved populations. 1998 Congressional reauthorization of Higher State of New England,” in which six New England Education Act creates GEAR UP programs to encour- University of Massachusetts President-emeritus political leaders debate regionwide campaign “plat- age college access while eliminating student aid David C. Knapp assumes NEBHE chairmanship. forms.” The “candidates” include: then-Connecticut { state Senate President Kevin Sullivan; then-Maine eligibility for students with drug convictions.
40 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION I recently talked to a young Latina who reminds me of myself at age 19. She came to this country at age 3 Attracting Students to Science GEORGE M. LANGFORD and completed high school with honors in a middle- class suburban town. She then enrolled in a nursing Undergraduate science and engineering (S&E) majors program at a New England university where she are the bright minds that become the scientists and attained a 3.5 grade point average in her first year. This engineers of tomorrow. Technically trained students summer, after receiving a letter notifying her of anoth- graduate with high employment potential and usually er tuition increase, she calculated that her debt at grad- land jobs with high salaries. One might ask then, why uation would be more than $150,000. How could she do U.S. undergraduates pursue S&E majors at lower hope to pay that off? Feeling a sense of defeat, she rates than their counterparts in other countries? decided to quit college and go to work instead. The United States ranks 17th globally in the propor- One-third of Americans finish college, but only one- tion of its college-age population that earns S&E third of Latinos finish high school. Given rapidly chang- degrees, down from third several decades ago, accord- ing demographics, the nation’s future in a competitive ing to the Council on Competitiveness. China, because global economy depends to a considerable degree on of its large population, graduates three times as many how successful we are at closing that education gap. engineers from its colleges as the United States does. Transitional action to even out the playing field is in Many other nations today boast a higher percentage of everyone’s best interest. We need to continue affirmative 24-year-olds with S&E degrees than the United States. action and effective programs like Head Start. Working As the number of U.S. students studying science and with parents of students in middle school or younger, we engineering in graduate schools has dropped, schools and need to experiment with ways to orient the entire family employers have compensated by enrolling and employing toward the value of higher education and the long-term more students and professionals from other countries. planning needed to successfully navigate a college educa- In 2003, foreign students earned 38 percent of science tion. We also need to explore curricular changes such as doctorates awarded by U.S. universities, and foreign offering an organized academic program in small busi- professionals occupied 22 percent of all U.S. science and ness development, which could be particularly attractive engineering jobs, up from 14 percent just 10 years to a population that is very entrepreneurial. before, according to National Science Board data. Latinos want the same thing as everyone else—a But we cannot tolerate a continually low participa- reasonable shot at the American Dream. If that dream tion rate of U.S. students in science and engineering is only accessible to the wealthy, we will not have to fields and growing reliance on foreign S&E talent. worry about immigration for long. If there is no credi- Over-reliance on foreign-born scientists and engi- ble dream to strive for, it is not only the fate of Latino neers discourages U.S. students from entering these children we will need to consider. fields for two important reasons. First, an abundance of international scientists and engineers eager to work Marilda L. Gandara is president of the in the United States produces downward pressure on Aetna Foundation. U.S. wages. Second, it takes the pressure off our
state Senate Majority Leader Chellie Pingree; former Massachusetts state senator and gubernatorial candi- 2000 New England sustains lowest-ever date Patricia McGovern; former New Hampshire state unemployment rate of 2.7 percent. Region’s representative and congressional and gubernatorial technology-intensive companies cannot fill jobs candidate Deborah “Arnie” Arnesen; former Rhode as a skilled labor shortage dogs the region. Island Gov. Bruce Sundlun; and then-Vermont state Treasurer James Douglas, who would later become Vermont state Sen. Nancy I. Chard assumes Vermont’s governor. NEBHE chairmanship.
Castle College of Windham, N.H. ceases operations, Credit: Andrea Booher/FEMA News Photo. signaling consolidation in the New England higher 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks prompt education market. Within a year, Bradford and restrictions on student visa policies and usher in an New England bleeds 85,000 jobs over the course of Aquinas college will follow suit. The Art Institute of era of reduced foreign enrollments, increased cam- the year, many in technology industries. Boston will merge with the larger Lesley University, pus security and constraints on freedom of speech. Former U.S. Rep. Robert A. Weygand (D-R.I.) and Maine’s Casco Bay College will merge with becomes NEBHE president and CEO. Andover College. { CONNECTION FALL 2005 41 schools and colleges to strengthen programs to attract • Provide scholarships and other forms of financial and train students in S&E disciplines. assistance for full-time enrollment in S&E fields. Reversing this pattern will be challenging. For one • Expand university faculty and teaching labs for S&E thing, U.S. students have a broad range of attractive education in areas of national need. career options from which to choose. In addition, • Increase student transfers from community because the American educational system is controlled colleges to four-year S&E programs. by state and local school districts and autonomous higher education institutions, generating change on a • Expand recruitment of underrepresented minorities national scale is difficult. and women in S&E. The good news is that a large number of U.S. domes- We face a long-term challenge to sustain the U.S. tic students begin with an interest in science. About global advantage in science and technology by fielding 30 percent of students entering U.S. colleges intend to the world’s best S&E workforce. We should not allow major in S&E fields. This proportion has remained fairly the strength and vitality of the nation’s scientific and constant over the past 20 years. However, a considerable technology enterprise to slip away. gap exists between freshman intentions and successful degree completion. Undergraduate S&E programs report George M. Langford is dean of the College of the lowest retention rate among all academic disciplines. Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University Fewer than half of the students who began S&E pro- of Massachusetts Amherst. grams in 1990 completed S&E degrees in five years, according to one study published in 1996 by the National A Regional Resource for R&D Center for Education Statistics. ANDREW G. DE ROCCO Rather than assume that the foreign supply of talent For a decade or more, a shifting pattern of postgradu- will always be available to fuel our technology-driven ate study has been taking place. Not only has a greater economy, we need to work harder to attract and train proportion of degrees in the sciences been awarded to those bright kids who become tomorrow’s scientists foreign nationals, but their subsequent opportunities and engineers. One way to start is to implement the abroad have grown, loosening our hold on their imagi- recommendations of the 2003 National Science Board native exploration of the unknown. report titled The Science and Engineering Workforce– In addition, as both China and India, among others, Realizing America’s Potential, which called on the plan for increased educational opportunities locally, federal government to take primary responsibility in the longstanding appeal we have held for able students meeting long-term needs for science and engineering may well shrink. Together with a modest domestic skills in the U.S. workforce. Specifically, the report enrollment in these areas of study, one is given to won- called on the federal government to: der what impact this diminishing cadre will have on • Direct substantial new support to students and institu- what has been characterized as our “creative econo- tions to improve success in S&E study by American my.” If we cannot depend on past patterns of enroll- undergraduates from all demographic groups. ment, can we establish new ones?
A Half Century of New England Higher Education and Economic Development, continued
NEBHE launches Project PHOTON2, 2002 NEBHE initiates series of three confer- 2003 NEBHE launches New England Higher an initiative funded by the National ences addressing key issues and challenges in work- Education Excellence Awards program to honor New Science Foundation to give force development. A resulting policy report, titled England individuals and organizations who show educators the knowl- Building Human Capital: A New England Strategy, exceptional leadership in behalf of higher education, edge and resources recommends steps to improve science and math public policy or the advancement of educational oppor- needed to implement teaching in New England schools, expand adult literacy tunity. First-year winners include: U.S. Sen. Edward M. and teach photonics programs and reform community colleges. Kennedy (D-Mass.); Dr. Marja Hurley, a professor at technology at their institutions. the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, the University of New Hampshire awarded National late Eleanor M. McMahon, who served as Rhode Island NEBHE cosponsors Portland, Maine, conference, on Endowment for the Humanities grant to host Center higher education commissioner from 1982 to 1989, reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, in which for New England Culture. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. New England members of congress and education leaders warn of congressional proposals to deeply Middlesex Community College President involve the federal government in higher education Carole A. Cowan assumes NEBHE chairmanship. { pricing and policies.
42 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION The colleges and universities of New England have of Higher Education has expanded educational oppor- been significant contributors to the nation’s “intellectu- tunity for thousands of students through its Regional al capital” and the resulting “spinoffs” have boosted the Student Program, saving families millions of tuition economy. We might ask: Can NEBHE play a useful role dollars. State governments have saved untold millions in advancing the strength of our regional potential for by not having to replicate costly programs that exist at study, discovery and utilization? And if so, how? out-of-state institutions. The growing vitality of our publicly supported univer- NEBHE’s studies, conferences and publications sities suggests a possibility. Can NEBHE help to broker focused on the higher education “industry” have height- additional research and study opportunities across the ened awareness on the part of policymakers of the public-independent divide? Our independent colleges importance of sustaining the region’s many colleges and have an enviable track record in fostering the sciences, universities and promoting their well-being as a vital and a few offer an undergraduate degree in engineering. part of the “creative economy.” Are there as yet underdeveloped possibilities for cross- As we celebrate NEBHE’s past achievements, it enrollment and research internships for students? is important to look ahead and envision other ways Research faculty are alert to the advantages of collabo- NEBHE may fulfill its mission. Today, we have technology ration. Can NEBHE help foster a greater conjunction not imagined in 1955 that opens enormous possibilities between our research centers, public and private? for sharing resources not only among public institutions, While these suggestions raise questions of asset but also between the public and private sectors. allocation, organization and management and of con- Competition can be replaced by collaboration. But tractual obligations, all of which will require a sensible this will require imaginative leadership. It will call for realization of the benefits to be enjoyed, none need be an exchange of ideas by college trustees, administra- a barrier to a freer association of talent and interest. tors, faculty and staff. NEBHE can play an extremely If we think and act regionally, setting aside historical valuable role as facilitator, helping to develop the most differences, it may be possible not simply to maintain complete, comprehensive and efficient education con- our distinction but to hone it to an even finer edge. sortium in the United States. A tall order to be sure, but one that is attainable given New England’s tradition Andrew G. De Rocco is the former Connecticut of innovation and NEBHE’s record of service to the commissioner of higher education. He served as higher education community. NEBHE chair from 1994 To 1996. Robert E. Miller is the former president of Quinebaug Valley Community College. He served A Tall Order for New England as NEBHE chair from 1981 to 1983. ROBERT E. MILLER A half century ago, six New England governors estab- lished one of the nation’s most successful agencies for interstate cooperation. The New England Board
U.S. Supreme Court NEBHE is awarded a one-year, $200,000 grant by upholds affirmative 2004 David M. Bartley, retired president the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services action in cases involv- of Holyoke Community College and former to study the feasibility of creating a Multi-Tribal ing the University of Massachusetts House speaker, becomes NEBHE College in New England. Michigan. The court’s interim president and CEO, succeeding Weygand, who rulings reaffirm that becomes vice president for administration and finance New Hampshire Senator Lou D’Allesandro assumes racial quotas are at the University of Rhode Island, his alma mater. NEBHE chairmanship. unconstitutional, but NEBHE sponsors conferences in Woodstock, Vt., allow colleges to con- focusing on the future of e-learning in New England 2005 Evan S. Dobelle, former president of tinue taking race into account in other ways in their and beyond. The conference features keynote Middlesex Community College of Massachusetts, the admissions policies. The court struck down the specific addresses by Jack Wilson, president of the University City College of San Francisco, Trinity College and the method used by the university to achieve diversity in of Massachusetts system, and Laura Palmer Noone, University of Hawaii, and former two-term mayor of undergraduate admissions by automatically awarding president of the University of Phoenix. Pittsfield, Mass., becomes NEBHE president and CEO. points to every under-represented minority applicant solely because of race. { {
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MICHAEL LESTZ
years, while foreign graduate enroll- rightly seize a grant to fund a particu- merican higher education is one ment has dipped by nearly 3 percent lar venture and instead focus on the of this nation’s most distinctive with more dramatic declines apparent objective of the effort. and productive resources. Over A in some academic settings. The work of Profs Without Borders the years since World War II, American Economic circumstances and might be propelled into existence colleges and universities have taught threats, real and imagined, and a weak by a local crisis such as a famine or men and women from every country on economic picture suggest that it will be epidemic—as is the case with pro- the face of the earth. Higher education a long time before U.S. institutions of gramming undertaken by Médecins in America has been a seeding machine higher learning regain even a moderate sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without that has spread its style, its institutional version of the role they played in the Borders. But more mundane challenges DNA, its instructional paradigms and, postwar period in educating interna- that could be addressed by American most importantly, its values and content tional students. In the meantime, how- educators in areas from historic preser- to a host of other institutions of higher ever, there is a way to carry the best in vation to law enforcement could also be education abroad and through them to American education abroad in accor- the catalyst for projects. Thoughtfully millions of students. dance with our country’s highest ideals, formed groups of specialists across Today, in the post-September 11 while providing a bridge between uni- fields—including individuals with era, many exchanges and promising versities that do not ordinarily cooper- regional expertise and a sophisticated initiatives that linked American higher ate. The strategy would be to organize sense of local sensibilities—would be education to other parts of the world a new educational entity, a university assembled to address complex issues have foundered. New visa restrictions without walls or buildings or a standing in conjunction with counterparts in and an insularity that spins from our faculty, which might be called “Profs the international community. concern for homeland security have Without Borders.” In the wake of a tragedy like last made it more difficult for universities Unlike government-affiliated orga- year’s devastating tsunami, Profs and colleges in the United States to nizations like the U.S. Information Without Borders could have assembled build and sustain the bridges of Agency or UNESCO, or private-sector a multidisciplinary team to promote knowledge and friendship that are think tanks that operate as vendors of the reconstruction of a destroyed city vital to the construction of a world information to clients, Profs Without in Thailand or Indonesia. The team order within which America is viewed Borders would be an NGO born from could bring a “best practice” approach as a friend, not an adversary. the university milieu. and advice on creating rapid and cost- What’s more, in many cases With complex internal bureaucra- effective solutions to housing and a American degree programs have cies of their own and ongoing rivalries host of other practical problems in the priced themselves out of the market. with others in the perpetual struggle affected area and, in the process, pro- Chinese, Hungarian, Indonesian, for grant dollars, universities are not vide models that might work else- Vietnamese, Russian and Indian stu- configured to launch pro bono pro- where. Reports and research data dents who once might have studied at jects to pool expertise and focus it on obtained in the course of a project colleges in New England now study in international projects. Furthermore, could be published and shared with Australia or other countries that have there is currently little incentive to other NGOs and the international recognized the value of building a pull in academics from an array of community of researchers working population of brilliant overseas stu- unrelated schools to cooperate on on parallel ventures. dents. They have taken measures to transformational projects of the type If Uzbekistan or another new democ- make their schools welcoming set- Profs Without Borders might pursue. racy in Central Asia were writing a new tings for international students and As a trans-university NGO, Profs constitution, Profs Without Borders scholars. In the meantime, foreign Without Borders would enable project could send a team to help. Participants undergraduate enrollment in the teams working under its umbrella to might include specialists in constitu- United States has dropped by more sidestep quarrels about which depart- tional law, historians with knowledge than 5 percent in the past several ment or research institute would of the formation of new constitutional
CONNECTION FALL 2005 45 We want you to TM know Coverage and Services With You and Your Students in Mind
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CONNECTION FALL 2005 47 DATA CONNECTION
n Percentage of working college and university trustees whose primary job is in the field of education: 13% Special Events in Boston November 2005 n Percentage whose primary job is in business: 51% Presented in conjunction with n Brand names as a percent of the average two-year-old’s vocabulary: 10% the opening of the Museum’s n Average number of food ads children ages 6 to 11 see on television each year: acclaimed traveling exhibition 11,000 FIGHTING THE n Percentage of white males ages 12 to 18 who are overweight: 15% FIRES OF HATE I n Percentage of Mexican-American males ages 12 to 18 who are: 27% n Average expected change in number of military jobs in states that voted America and the for George Bush in 2000 and 2004: +500 Nazi Book Burnings n Average in states that voted against George Bush in 2000 and 2004: -1,300
on view at the n Among all bachelor’s-degree holders who did not vote in 2004, Boston Public Library, percentage who said they were too busy: 22% Copley Branch n Percentage of whites with bachelor’s degrees who voted in 2004: 80% November 7, 2005– January 19, 2006 n Percentage of Asian-Americans with bachelor’s degrees who did: 47%
n Approximate number of Cambodian-Americans living in Lowell, Mass.: I November 7 6:30– 9 p.m. 25,000 Confronting the Past and National Identity: n Number who are registered to vote in Lowell: 1,889 The Power of Historical n Percentage of U.S. white adults who believe black children in their communities Documentation have as good a chance as white children to get a good education: 84% Cosponsored with the Elie Wiesel n Percentage of black adults who agree: 51% Center for Judaic Studies at Boston University n Percentage of 13- to 17-year-old boys who think schools should be able to Location: Boston University restrict what they wear to school: 42%
n Percentage of 13- to 17-year-old girls who do: 57% November 9 I 6–7 p.m. New England n Number of women among the 100 highest-paid CEOs in Massachusetts: 1 Holocaust Memorial Ceremony n Percentage of workers in Cornwall, Conn., who are self-employed: 26% Location: Faneuil Hall and the New England Holocaust Memorial n Percentage of workers in Hartford, Conn., who are: 3% n Number of cruise ships that visited Bar Harbor, Maine, in 1999: 39 November 10 I 7– 8:30 p.m. n Number that visited Bar Harbor in 2004: 87 How Do We Fight the Fires of Hate Today? n Number of New England institutions among the 10 U.S. colleges and Cosponsored with the universities with the largest endowments: 3 Jewish Community Relations Council n Number of New England institutions among the 10 U.S. hospitals and medical Location: Boston Public Library, centers with the largest endowments: 1 Copley Branch n Number of New England institutions among the 10 U.S. arts groups, museums, All programs are FREE and open to the public. libraries and public broadcasting stations with the largest endowments: 1 For additional information: Sources: 1,2 Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges; 3 American Newspeak; www.ushmm.org/newengland 4 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; 5,6 National Center for Health Statistics; 7,8 The Connecticut Economy; 9,10,11 Postsecondary Education Opportunity; 12,13 University of Massachusetts Lowell; 14,15,16,17 Gallup Tuesday Briefing Youth Survey; 18 CONNECTION analysis of Boston Business UNITED STATES Journal data (Axcelis Technologies CEO Mary Puma ranked 61st with total compensation of $1.17 mil- HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM lion.); 19,20 The Connecticut Economy; 21,22 Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce; 23,24,25 The Chronicle of Philanthropy (Harvard, Yale and MIT rank 1st, 2nd and 7th, respectively among colleges 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW and universities. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ranks 7th among hospitals. Boston Symphony Orchestra Washington, DC 20024-2126 • www.ushmm.org ranks 8th among arts groups.)
48 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Register Today! The New England Board of Higher Education’s 50th Anniversary Conference and Dinner Celebration
October 28, 2005 • Mystic Marriott Hotel, Groton, Connecticut The Conference The Creative Region: Channeling New England’s Arts and Culture Assets for Success in the New Economy Arts educators, legislators, business and community leaders explore ways to position New England in the global creative economy. • Bestselling author Dan Pink on why the MFA is the new MBA • New York Times columnist David Brooks on the creative economy • U.S. Congressman Christopher Shays, co-chair of the Congressional Arts Caucus, on investing in arts and culture • Washington Post Writers Group columnist Neal Peirce, America’s leading authority on metro regionalism, on positioning New England in the global creative economy • Other speakers and panelists include: Aetna Foundation President Marilda Gandara, Marlboro College President Ellen McCulloch-Lovell and Rhode Island School of Design President Roger Mandle. Dinner Celebration • U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Hartford Courant Publisher and CEO Jack Davis and others join NEBHE chair and New Hampshire state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro and NEBHE President Evan S. Dobelle to celebrate the New England Board of Higher Education’s half century of service to the region. • Evening keynote by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David Halberstam. For registration information, call Sarah Maloney of Preferred Meeting and Event Services at 781.849.6130, ext. 349. For sponsorship information, call David O’Brien of NEBHE at 617.357.9620, ext. 121. For general information, visit: www.nebhe.org. Thanks to our sponsors: TD Banknorth • Nellie Mae Education Foundation • Gilbane Building Co. • Dalkia JPMorgan Chase Bank • Topham Foundation • Webster Bank • The College Board • TERI • Hartford Steam Boiler Mass Envelope Plus • University System of New Hampshire • University of Connecticut
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