Latest news with #AmherstCollege
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
When College Graduates Face Reality
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning. 'History found you.' In 2020, Caitlin Flanagan told recent college graduates that their dreams were interrupted in much the same way her father's dreams had once been interrupted. In 1941, he was a new student at Amherst College, 'and he thought it was paradise,' Caitlin wrote. Then the Pearl Harbor bombing happened, and he and his college peers enlisted in the Army the very next day. History found both of these generations and left them with a whole lot of plans deferred, but perhaps also something great—'As very young people you know something powerful: that you have been tested, and you did not falter,' Caitlin wrote. 'You kept going.' Caitlin's essay is one of a series of commencement speeches The Atlantic commissioned in 2020 for students who would not be able to attend their graduation. In them, writers spoke to young people growing up in the shadow of loss, who were watching as humanity as a whole was tested. While 2025 isn't the same topsy-turvy reality as 2020, students still face a core uncertainty about what comes next. Below is a collection of honest, not-always-rosy, but often hopeful advice for the graduate in your life. On Graduating You Thought You Were Free, but History Found You By Caitlin Flanagan The 2020 commencement speech you'll never hear Read the article. I Didn't Get to Graduate Either By Bridget Phetasy In May 1998, I should have been finishing my first year at an Ivy League college. Instead, I was in a state-funded halfway house in Minneapolis trying to recover from a heroin addiction. Read the article. A Commencement Address Too Honest to Deliver in Person By David Brooks I couldn't say these things during a traditional ceremony, but these aren't traditional times. Read the article. Still Curious? 'I didn't have any graduation wisdom. So I asked 19 smart people instead.' Joe Pinsker relayed what a novelist, a therapist, a Buddhist teacher, and others had to say to the class of 2020. The long goodbye to college: Any recent graduate will tell you that their head felt heaviest after the cap came off, Amogh Dimri writes. Other Diversions The Nobel Prize winner who thinks we have the universe all wrong How to look at Paul Gauguin The curse of Ayn Rand's heir P.S. I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. 'Sunrise symmetry: a reminder of the order that exists in this chaotic world,' Courtney C., 74 , from Bermuda Run, North Carolina, writes. I'll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks. — Isabel Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
3 days ago
- General
- Atlantic
When College Graduates Face Reality
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning. 'History found you.' In 2020, Caitlin Flanagan told recent college graduates that their dreams were interrupted in much the same way her father's dreams had once been interrupted. In 1941, he was a new student at Amherst College, 'and he thought it was paradise,' Caitlin wrote. Then the Pearl Harbor bombing happened, and he and his college peers enlisted in the Army the very next day. History found both of these generations and left them with a whole lot of plans deferred, but perhaps also something great—'As very young people you know something powerful: that you have been tested, and you did not falter,' Caitlin wrote. 'You kept going.' Caitlin's essay is one of a series of commencement speeches The Atlantic commissioned in 2020 for students who would not be able to attend their graduation. In them, writers spoke to young people growing up in the shadow of loss, who were watching as humanity as a whole was tested. While 2025 isn't the same topsy-turvy reality as 2020, students still face a core uncertainty about what comes next. Below is a collection of honest, not-always-rosy, but often hopeful advice for the graduate in your life. On Graduating You Thought You Were Free, but History Found You By Caitlin Flanagan The 2020 commencement speech you'll never hear Read the article. I Didn't Get to Graduate Either By Bridget Phetasy In May 1998, I should have been finishing my first year at an Ivy League college. Instead, I was in a state-funded halfway house in Minneapolis trying to recover from a heroin addiction. Read the article. A Commencement Address Too Honest to Deliver in Person By David Brooks I couldn't say these things during a traditional ceremony, but these aren't traditional times. Still Curious? 'I didn't have any graduation wisdom. So I asked 19 smart people instead.' Joe Pinsker relayed what a novelist, a therapist, a Buddhist teacher, and others had to say to the class of 2020. The long goodbye to college: Any recent graduate will tell you that their head felt heaviest after the cap came off, Amogh Dimri writes. Other Diversions P.S. I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. 'Sunrise symmetry: a reminder of the order that exists in this chaotic world,' Courtney C., 74 , from Bermuda Run, North Carolina, writes. I'll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Republican admits he voted for the GOP megabill, though key elements were ‘unknown' to him
On the surface, the House Republicans' massive reconciliation package — the inaptly named 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' — focused on redistributing wealth from the bottom up. Republican policymakers set out to reward the wealthy with tax breaks, while punishing struggling families with cuts to health care and food assistance. But before last week's House vote on the legislation, GOP officials tucked all kinds of smaller provisions into the bill, some of which have gone largely overlooked. For example, as Austin Sarat, a political science professor at Amherst College, explained in a piece for MSNBC, the Republican's proposal 'snuck in a little noticed but very important provision into the megabill that would effectively remove from judges the ability to hold litigants who defy court orders in contempt.' The apparent goal, Sarat added, was to 'insulate [Donald Trump] from judicial accountability.' With this in mind, Republican Rep. Mike Flood held a town hall meeting with constituents in his Nebraska district, and some wanted to know why the congressman would vote to restrict the ability of federal courts to hold the president and his administration in contempt of court. As HuffPost noted, Flood had to admit something deeply embarrassing: He didn't know that was in the bill. 'I do not agree with that section that was added to that bill,' Flood said, prompting a roar of disapproval from the crowd. 'I do believe that the federal district courts, when issuing an injunction, it should have legal effect.' Then Flood got unusually candid for a member of Congress. 'I am not going to hide the truth. This provision was unknown to me when I voted for that bill, and when I found out that provision was in the bill, I immediately reached out to my Senate counterparts and told them of my concern,' Flood said. As part of the same comments, the GOP lawmaker said he intends to tell his Republican colleagues the party 'cannot support undermining our court system' — despite the fact they put this provision in the legislation, and despite the fact that Flood already voted for it. At face value, Flood's apparent ignorance (I'm assuming he was actually in the dark and didn't lie to his constituents about his foreknowledge) isn't too surprising. House Republican leaders wrote and rewrote their not-so-beautiful bill in the middle of the night, and it was changed repeatedly in response to backroom deals. House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team then rushed the bill onto the floor for a vote before members could read it. But at that point, it was incumbent on policymakers such as Flood to use their leverage, slow the process down and tell their party that they wouldn't vote for a bill this important without knowing what's in it. The Nebraska Republican didn't do anything of the kind. He chose instead to link arms with his far-right brethren and pass the wildly regressive legislation — while effectively wearing a blindfold about its contents. No wonder his constituents didn't seem pleased. As for the road ahead, the reconciliation package is now pending in the Republican-led Senate, where it's unclear whether the provision in question will remain intact. Watch this space. This article was originally published on
Miami Herald
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
College Uncovered: The Student Trade Wars
U.S. universities have long relied on international students, and the big tuition checks they bring, to hit enrollment goals and keep the lights on. But now, just as the number of American college-aged students begins to fall - the trend that higher education experts call the "demographic cliff"- global tensions are making international students think twice about coming to the United States for college. In this episode, hosts Kirk Carapezza and Jon Marcus take you inside the world of international admissions. With student visa revocations on the rise and a growing number of detentions tied to student activism, some international families say they are rethinking their U.S. college plans. And that has college leaders sounding the alarm. In fact, international student interest was already falling. Now, as the Trump administration ramps up immigration crackdowns on campuses across the country, many worry the U.S. could lose its status as the top destination for global talent. So what happens if international enrollment drops just as domestic numbers dry up? The stakes are high, not just for international students and colleges but for what everybody else pays - and for the whole U.S. economy. TRANSCRIPT [Jon] This is College Uncovered. I'm Jon Marcus … [Kirk] … and I'm Kirk Carapezza. [sound of presentation, in Mandarin] [Kirk] That's Xiaofeng Wan, making his pitch in Mandarin to Chinese students and parents at a high school in Shanghai. Wan used to be an admissions officer at Amherst College in western Massachusetts. Now he's a private college consultant, guiding Chinese students through the maze that is college admissions in the U.S. [Xiaofeng Wan] So I'll walk them through the initial high school years before they apply. And then by the time of their college applications, I'll help them go through the process as well. [Kirk] This is big business for colleges. Like most international students, Chinese families do not qualify for financial aid, and often they pay the full cost. Wan also trains guidance counselors across China, showing them how to support students heading abroad. So he's got a front-row seat to what Chinese families are thinking right now. [Xiaofeng Wan] They see the United States as a primary study-abroad destination. [Kirk] But Wan says that might be starting to shift. [Xiaofeng Wan] America has an image problem right now, so we will definitely start to see reluctance from families. [Kirk] I caught up with him while he was in Ningbo, a port city known for manufacturing, on the same morning President Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods took effect. [sound of news anchor] Across the globe this weekend, world leaders are trying to figure out how to respond to President Trump's attempt to reshape the global economy by imposing steep tariffs. … [Kirk] Just hours later, the Chinese government warned the more than 270,000 Chinese students already studying in the U.S. to think twice about staying. Wan says that kind of message stokes fear that's been building. House Republicans sent letters to six universities saying America's student visa system has become a Trojan horse for Beijing, and a lot of Chinese parents worry the U S government doesn't want their kids. [Xiaofeng Wan] That's what they've been hearing from President Trump, his rhetoric toward Chinese students. And now they're seeing news about how international student visas are being revoked. [Kirk] This is College Uncovered, a podcast pulling back the ivy to reveal how colleges really I'm Kirk Carapezza with GBH News … [Jon] … and I'm Jon Marcus with The Hechinger Report. Colleges don't want you to know how they operate, so GBH … [Kirk] … in collaboration with The Hechinger Report, is here to show you. This season, we're staring down the demographic cliff. [Jon] If you're just joining us, a quick refresher here: The demographic cliff is a steep drop in the number of 18-year-olds. That's because many Americans stopped having children after the Great Recession of 2008. And now, 18 years later, colleges are feeling the pinch. [Kirk] Yeah, and just when many of them thought the situation couldn't get any worse, international students are under threat. During President Donald Trump's first term, we saw visa restrictions and travel bans contribute to a 12 percent drop in new international enrollment. So we'll ask, could that happen again, just as schools are scrambling to fill empty seats? [Jon] And we'll explain what all of this means for you, whether you're an international student or a domestic one, and why you should care. Today on the show: The Student Trade Wars. [Kirk] Since Trump's return to power, his administration has yanked more than 1,000 student visas, often without explanation. Some students have been detained and faced deportation, fulfilling a pledge he often made on the campaign trail. [Donald Trump] If you come here from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or antisemitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you. You'll be out of that school. [Kirk] In just a few months, that hardline rhetoric has become policy, putting campuses on edge. ICE agents have detained pro-Palestinian student activists, including Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia and Rumeysa Ozturk at Tufts. [sound from arrest of Rumeysa Ozturk] [Kirk] This video of her arrest has shaken the international campus community and sparked protests across the country. [sound of protesters] Free Rumeysa, free her now! We want justice, you say how? Free Rumeysa, free her now! [Kirk] And now many international students won't even go on the record, too scared the federal government will target them, or that they'll be doxxed and ostracized online. [Frank Zhao] The biggest difficulty for us is building trust. [Kirk] At Harvard, student journalist Frank Zhao has seen that fear firsthand. He hosts the weekly news podcast for the student newspaper. [sound of podcast] From The Harvard Crimson, I'm Frank Zhao. This is 'News Talk.' [Kirk] Zhao isn't an international student himself, but the Chinese-American junior from Dallas is plugged into the campus, where a quarter of students are international. How would you describe the current climate for international students? [Frank Zhao] The overwhelming sentiment is anxiety. There are so many international student group chats where students were saying, 'Oh my gosh, there are ICE agents on campus.' And so it's quite the Armageddon scenario. [Kirk] The Trump administration has demanded Harvard turn over detailed records of all foreign students' - quote - illegal and violent activities, or lose the right to enroll any international students. Harvard says it has complied but won't publicly disclose details. The university is suing the administration over this and other demands, but some faculty and students question how hard Harvard is really pushing back. Conservatives, though, defend increased immigration enforcement. [Simon Hankinson] If a student is studying and minding their own business and obeying the rules of the college and of the United States and the state that they live in, they have nothing to worry about. This is a very small number of people that is being looked at for fraud. [Kirk] Simon Hankinson is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He says visa vetting on and off campus is essential for national security after a year of disruptive campus protests. [Simon Hankinson] Maybe your parents are shelling out a lot of money for you to go, or you're getting a scholarship. Get your education. Make that the priority. Sure, go out and hold a placard if you want to, and do your thing, light a candle, but if your primary focus is protest and vandalism, I think you're on the wrong type of visa, and we don't have a visa for that. [Jon] Higher education is now a global marketplace, and international students have emerged as a key part of the university funding equation. They're fully baked into the business model as full-pay customers for colleges who subsidize the cost for domestic students. [Kirk] And even before the demographic cliff, the competition for international students was fierce. [Gerardo Blanco] It always has been and sometimes it is intended to be that way, but this is just making it like the Hunger Games [Kirk] That's Gerardo Blanco, director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College. He warns tht Trump's America First approach, combined with federal funding cuts, is putting U.S. colleges at risk of losing a generation of global talent. Is that hyperbole? [Gerardo Blanco] I don't think it's hyperbole in any way. [Kirk] Why not? [Gerardo Blanco] The system has been built on the assumption that there wouldn't be decreases in a dramatic scale to the funding dedicated to research. And therefore they have made some decisions that are somewhat risky. [Kirk] What's your biggest concern when it comes to international students? [Gerardo Blanco] It's just the generalized sense of uncertainty. I think there are so many balls up in the air and I think it's really difficult to even focus our attention. [Kirk] Take the reduction of research funding, for example. It's affecting many graduate students, especially those who are international and can't find work in labs. Some schools like Iowa State University, Penn, and West Virginia University are rescinding graduate admissions offers. [Gerardo Blanco] So that's one squeeze. We also are looking at just the general rhetoric that tends to be negative. [Kirk] And Blanco says that rhetoric matters. One survey at the start of Trump's second term found that nearly 60 percent of European students were less interested in coming to the U.S. Blanco said, considering the demographic cliff, the timing for all of this uncertainty couldn't be worse for colleges. [Gerardo Blanco] The clock is ticking and nobody really knows what's happening. [Kirk] Okay, so, Jon, why should American students and citizens care about all of this? [Jon] Well, international students bring different perspectives and experiences to the classroom. And as we said earlier, they also tend to pay full tuition. So they subsidize tuition that American students pay. But a drop in international student numbers isn't just a college cash-flow problem. It's a broader economic one. International students infuse $44 billion into the U.S. economy each year. Here's Barnet Sherman, a business professor at Boston University. It's New England's largest private university, and one in five students there are international. [Barnet Sherman] Look, I just teach business and finance. So if one of my top 10 customers comes to me with $44 billion to spend and creates a lot of American jobs, over 375,000 American jobs, I don't know about you, but I'm opening up the door and giving them the best treatment I possibly can. [Jon] Here in Massachusetts alone, there are about 80,000 international students contributing $4 billion to the state's economy each year. That puts the state fourth in the U.S., after California, Texas and New York. So, yeah, this matters. But Sherman says the impact goes far beyond big cities like Boston, New York, and L.A. Take the tiny town of Mankato, Minnesota, for example - population, 45,000. [Barnet Sherman] And they've got about 1,700 international students there contributing to the local economy. They're bringing in literally over $25 million to, you know, a perfectly nice burg. [Jon] In addition to tuition dollars, these students contribute to businesses and local communities that are losing population. [Kirk] And, Jon, if fewer international and domestic students are coming through the pipeline to fill jobs that require college educations, it puts the U.S. at a serious disadvantage, just as other countries are actively recruiting talent and increasing the number of their citizens with degrees. More and more countries are recruiting international students, including Canada, France, Japan, South Korea and Spain, but also countries that hadn't recruited before, like Poland and Kazakhstan. Right before Trump's first term, I went to Germany, where the government was offering free language classes to attract international students and scholars, including Americans. Because just like the U.S., Germany is losing population. A demographic cliff has already hit Europe, so it needs immigrants and international students, too. Think of it like this: It's a global talent draft. All of these students, they're the trading cards. The collectors are the countries. And the more talent you attract, the more ideas, innovation and business growth you get. [Dorothea Ruland] If you look at Germany, the only resource we do have are human resources, actually. [Kirk] Dorothea Ruland is the former secretary general of the German Academic Exchange Service, which is in charge of Germany's international push. When I visited Bonn, we had coffee at her headquarters. [Dorothea Ruland] We depend on innovation, on inventions, of course, and where do they come from? From institutions of higher education or from research institutions. [Kirk] Ruland told me nearly half of foreign students earning degrees in Germany stick around. And not just for the short-term. About half of them stay for at least a decade. In the U.S., most international graduates leave and take their talent back home, often because of scarce visas available for skilled workers. Do you see Germany competing with American universities? [Dorothea Ruland] Yes, I would say so. You know, we are doing marketing worldwide because we are part of this world and we cannot neglect these trends going on. So of course we are competitors. [Kirk] But she also made it clear the student trade war isn't just about competition. It's about collaboration. [Dorothea Ruland] If you look at the global challenges everybody's talking about, questions of climate change, energy, water, high tech, whatever, this cannot be solved by one institution or one country. So you have to have big international networks. [Kirk] Since my visit, though, isolationism has been creeping in, not only in Germany, but Hungary and Russia, and obviously here in the U.S., too. Some professors and students have pointed to recent issues with visas and detainments without due process and accused the Trump administration of taking an authoritarian approach. [sound of protest] [Kirk] Outside Harvard's Memorial Church in Cambridge, more than 100 students and faculty recently held signs and waved American flags, cheering the university for standing up to the White House and calling on Harvard to do more to protect their civil rights. Among other things, they spoke out about visa revocations. It is incredibly scary here. Leo Gerdén is a senior from Sweden. He says the administration is trying to divide the campus community. [Leo Gerdén] At first I was very anxious about speaking up. They want us to point fingers to each other and say, you know, deport them, don't deport us. And you know, it's classic authoritarian playbook. [Jon] Trump supporters? Well, they see it very differently. [Simon Hankinson] I would call that ridiculous. I mean, that's an insane argument to make. [Jon] Simon Hankinson is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Border Security and Immigration. We heard from him at the top of this episode, and we should also add he's a career foreign service officer. [Simon Hankinson] So I've certainly interviewed tens of thousands of these applicants, including thousands of students. [Jon] Hankinson acknowledges the uptick in visa revocations lately, but says it's still a tiny number compared to the one million international students in the U.S. [Simon Hankinson] But just looking at the scale of it all, it is more than we've seen in the past, because, generally speaking, this wasn't something that the government devoted a lot of resources to. But it was always a power that they had. [Jon] And he's not buying the narrative that these changes and the crackdowns on visas will scare off students from coming to the U.S. [Simon Hankinson] Are people not going to go to Harvard because, you know, they're afraid that they're going to get hassled. No. Try going to Russia or China and speaking your mind. Good luck with that. [Jon] Hankinson also argues some universities - especially ones with a high percentage of international students, like Columbia, NYU, Northeastern, and Boston University - they have a financial incentive for complaining. [Simon Hankinson] It's a strong constituency that they want to keep happy and they want to keep the money flowing. So they want to make this as big an issue as possible. They want to cry panic. [Jon] So, Kirk, colleges signal all the time that they're open to international students. Just listen to some of these welcome videos. [sound of international recruiting videos] [Jon] But parents like Claire from Beijing don't feel like their kids are welcome. [Claire] I think the government is really hostile right now. [Jon] Claire asked us to withhold her full name, worried it could affect her son, who's already studying here. She also has a daughter in high school who was thinking about college in the U.S., but now they're rethinking her plans and looking at schools in the UK, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong. [Claire] You know, we have to consider all the possibilities, obviously in a trade war, you know, like, because next year, when my child has to go to college, you know, Trump is still the president. [Kirk] Claire says she still believes in the power of an American education, so it's really hard for her to just write it off completely. [Jon] Okay. So, Kirk, we've tackled a lot in this episode. Bottom line, do you think American colleges will still be able to recruit and enroll enough international students to help offset this looming shortage we've been talking about in the number of 18-year-olds? [Kirk] Well, it's not looking great for colleges. International enrollment, as we said, dropped 12 percent during Trump's first term, and now we're heading toward a 15 percent drop in the number of 18-year-olds by 2039. That's a big gap to fill, and the reality is the current climate would have to shift dramatically and quickly for the U.S. to stay competitive. International students are essential for filling seats and making budgets, especially in regions like New England and the Midwest, where the demographic cliff isn't coming - it's already here. A college consultant once told me, if your campus isn't near an international airport, the clock is ticking on your institution. And that was before America developed this reputation as an unwelcoming place. [Jon] So what do you think you'll be watching as we continue to cover this issue? [Kirk] Yeah, for me, one of the biggest questions is how colleges handle what I see as a major communication and messaging problem. Administrators and faculty haven't done a great job telling the full story of what U.S. universities actually do, or why international mobility benefits the country as a whole. [Jon] This is College Uncovered. I'm Jon Marcus from The Hechinger Report … [Kirk] … and I'm Kirk Carapezza from GBH News. [Jon] This episode was produced and written by Kirk Carapezza … [Kirk] … and Jon Marcus, and it was edited by Jonathan A. Davis. Our executive editor is Jenifer McKim. Our fact checker is Ryan Alderman. GBH's Robert Goulston contributed reporting to this episode. [Jon] Mixing and sound design by David Goodman and Gary Mott. All of our music is by college bands. Our theme song and original music is by Left Roman out of MIT. Mei He is our project manager, and head of GBH podcasts is Devin Maverick Robins. [Kirk] College Uncovered is made possible by Lumina Foundation. It's a production of GBH News and The Hechinger Report and distributed by PRX. Thanks so much for listening. The post College Uncovered: The Student Trade Wars appeared first on The Hechinger Report.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State lawmakers float new tax on Mass. colleges as higher ed faces federal firestorm
As a mounting list of executive orders and federal actions has been waged against higher education, some Massachusetts lawmakers aim to tax colleges that prioritize legacy applicants, children of donors and offer early decision. The bill, which was discussed during a hearing at the Joint Committee on Higher Education on Monday, would make those institutions pay a public service fee to fund state institutions based on their endowment size. That would force institutions like Harvard University to contribute over $106 million, Amherst College to contribute $8.6 million, Williams College to contribute $5.6 million and Wellesley College to contribute $4.5 million, among others. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts Amherst wouldn't be taxed because they don't use the admissions practices. During the hearing, Brad Freeman, vice president of government relations for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, raised concerns about the bill, especially given the current challenges higher education is facing. 'As Massachusetts prepares for demographic changes and economic headwinds along with daily chaos... from D.C., it would be harmful to prohibit colleges and universities from utilizing proven admissions processes such as early decision, which allows campuses to begin building out their classes with students who are passionate about joining that community,' Freeman said. 'The banning of this admissions tool, which enrolls students ranging from Pell-eligible students with a hundred percent financial need. To full-pay students would make Massachusetts the only state in the country with such a policy and put to commonwealth our colleges and universities, our students and parents at an enormous disadvantage,' Freeman said. The bill comes at a time where President Donald Trump is threatening to strip Harvard's tax-exempt status, barring the institution from receiving new federal grants and threatening to take away federal funding from many higher education institutions. In a statement to MassLive, Democratic Rep. Simon Cataldo said the admissions practices are wrong regardless of who is president. 'Meaningful admissions reform in higher education must transcend political cycles — ensuring basic principles of fairness and merit remain steadfast priorities, no matter who occupies the White House. The pernicious practices of donor-based, legacy and binding early decision admission were wrong when we first introduced this bill in January 2023, and remain wrong in our current higher education landscape,' Rep. Cataldo said. However, Freeman said the decision to seek early admission is a choice families should make, not legislators. The tax is 'punitive' and ultimately will drive students away rather than attract them to Massachusetts, he said. 'Higher education is facing a crisis in Washington and I urge the committee to not add to the regulatory and financial burden that is ascending on our sector,' he said. In response to Freeman's comments, Sen. Pavel M. Payano, who sponsored the bill, asked Freeman during the hearing how he'd address concerns that early decision might disadvantage students from low-income backgrounds and Black and Brown communities who can't commit without being able to compare financial aid offers. 'It creates, I think, a difficult situation when you see individuals that are getting in — it looks like there [are] seats for individuals that have wealth,' Payano said. Freeman said he has heard from institutions that Pell-eligible students are represented in both early decision and regular decision and that institutions have gone need-blind or are meeting the full need of students from families with a certain income level. For instance, Harvard University announced that it will cover tuition for families that earn $200,000 or less and will cover tuition, food, housing, health insurance and travel costs for families with annual incomes of $100,000 or less. Read more: Why are more Mass. colleges and universities offering tuition-free programs? The legislation has been discussed for a couple of years now. In 2023, Rep. Cataldo and Sen. Payano introduced the bill, entitled 'An Act to advance fairness, integrity, and excellence in higher education admissions.' Both Rep. Cataldo and Sen. Payano filed the bill in anticipation of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions, according to past reporting from MassLive. In addition to taxing institutions based on admissions practices, the bill requires colleges and universities to share admissions data, such as the number of legacy students admitted. The information would then be shared publicly to the office of the Attorney General and the state's Department of Higher Education. Other bills were also discussed during the hearing, which focused on eliminating legacy admissions from colleges and universities in Massachusetts. One of those bills is sponsored by Sen. Lydia Edwards and Rep. Michael Moran entitled 'An Act banning legacy preferences in higher education.' The ban would be in both private and public institutions. California, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and Colorado have all banned legacy admissions in part or all of their institutions. Four-year institutions that consider legacy in admissions has plummeted from 49% in 2015 to 24%, according to a report from Education Reform Now. Several students, legislators and organizers spoke to the importance of getting rid of legacy admissions in Massachusetts during the hearing. 'When I talk to my classmates from these very wealthy backgrounds, I find it shocking how many of them knew that Harvard would be their school because of their legacy status,' said Maddie Register, a first year at Harvard. These are 4 of the most impactful cuts to higher ed in Trump's proposed budget MIT sues federal science agency over cuts to 'crucial research' Eastern Mass. college creates new scholarship for laid-off federal workers Town vote paves the way for new uses for closing Western Mass. college Lawsuit against Trump balloons in size as foreign students face rising risks Read the original article on MassLive.
