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Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Despite federal cuts to higher ed, Mass. free community college presses on, transforming students' lives
'Whenever I thought about going back to school, I knew that if, for some reason, I got overwhelmed with work and couldn't go to school, I'd accrue that debt,' Hannigan, 43, told the Globe. 'It's one of the things that dissuaded me from going to school again.' Advertisement Hannigan is now president of the Greenfield Community College student senate, president of the college's permaculture club, and two classes short of graduating with a degree in farm and food systems. With straight As, he hopes to transfer to a four-year college next year. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up His turnaround is thanks to a program called MassReconnect, which launched in 2022, offering free community college to state residents over age 25 who don't have a bachelor's degree. It is the precursor to the state's MassEducate program, which started a year later, offering free community college to all residents. Early data suggest Massachusetts' experiment with free community college has been successful. Enrollment has shot up by Advertisement But while state funding for the programs is ensured for next year, federal cuts to higher education put the long-term feasibility of the program on shaky ground. Many students say their lives have been changed by free community college. 'If it wasn't for free community college, I'd just be working some manual labor job at UMass right now, not even thinking about college,' Hannigan said. Pedro Rentas also didn't see college in his future. When he moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic, he heard friends and family complaining about student loans. 'I was like, 'I'm going to avoid that one,'' he said. But when he heard about MassReconnect, he enrolled the same day. Rentas tore through school, finishing in a year and a half. Immediately after graduating, he applied for a position as a branch manager for Reading Cooperative Bank in Lawrence. His associate's degree came up in the interview; he cinched the job. Today, his salary is nearly double what it was before college. This fall, he's enrolling in the University of Massachusetts Lowell to pursue his bachelor's degree in criminology, with a long-term plan to become an immigration lawyer. But many community college students still face barriers. The state will only pay what's left after a student uses up other financial aid. Since low-income students— many of whom are students of color — already depend on aid like Pell Grants, they're the least likely to benefit from these new programs. That may explain why, according to state data, MassEducate students are more likely to be white and less likely to be Black, African-American, Hispanic, or Latino compared with the overall student population. Advertisement Additionally, the programs cover only tuition and fees. Those costs make up just While the state offers a $1,200 living stipend for low-income students and up to $1,200 for books and other supplies, that still falls short of the roughly 'I've heard stories of students living in shelters, in friends' attics, or in other unstable housing just to stay in school,' Hannigan said. 'So even with tuition, fees, and books covered, college still isn't accessible for everyone.' Bahar Akman, managing director of the Hildreth Institute, a Boston-based higher education research group, says that students who don't have additional financial support need to work more hours while in school, 'negatively [impacting] their ability to attend full-time and increase the likelihood of [dropping] out before completion.' It may become more difficult for the highest-need students to find additional support as the Trump administration seeks deeper federal funding cuts. Already, a statewide program to provide wraparound services will receive $700,000 less for the next fiscal year. The cascading effects of other federal cuts, particularly to Medicaid and food assistance, may mean that state lawmakers will eventually be forced to use discretionary funding meant for free community college to cover costs of other social programs. 'While this is a great program for students, it's coming at a time when we are getting this onslaught of federal garbage that is putting the colleges in this tough situation,' said Claudine Barnes, president of the Massachusetts Community College Council and professor of history at Cape Cod Community College. She's already seen cuts to programs that mention DEI. 'At community colleges where we have such a diverse student body, using that to cut funding for the neediest of students is just appalling.' Advertisement Core funding for free community college is safe — for now. In the latest fiscal budget, the Legislature allocated $120 million to fund both programs for the next year. 'We're proud that in a challenging budget year, Massachusetts was able to continue funding one of the most comprehensive free community college programs in the country,' said Noe Ortega, the state commissioner of Higher Education. To address students' unmet needs, schools across the state have begun opening food banks to support the In percent said improved access to food reduced their depression and anxiety. In 2022, Massachusetts launched the Hunger-Free Campus Initiative, which supports food security efforts. The Legislature is now considering Kiara Rosario, a single mother, relied on food support from Roxbury Community College to get through a degree in psychology. She helped to set up the Rox Box, the school's food bank, to assist other students in need. Without state and federal aid, Rosario said she would not have been able to attend college. And without more tailored, individual support from RCC — such as gas cards and a work-study job — she would not have been able to stay enrolled. Advertisement Now graduated, she's hoping to finish her bachelor's in psychology at Boston College, and then to become a social worker. For inspiration, she holds onto how she felt a few years ago, when free community college was first announced. At the time, she was on a Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges advisory committee, which helped to design and implement the program. She was worried the state wouldn't be supportive. 'I had the perspective that the wealthy usually win, so I thought they would go against it,' she said. When it was approved, 'I couldn't believe it, it was our dream. I couldn't believe they were really listening to us.' This story was produced by the Globe's team, which covers the racial wealth gap in Greater Boston. You can sign up for the newsletter . Mara Kardas-Nelson can be reached at
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Greenfield professor receives 2025 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship
GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Greenfield Community College is celebrating a major academic honor as Associate Professor of History Alyssa Arnell has been awarded a 2025 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship. The national award, granted by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), recognizes 45 doctoral students across the country who are breaking new ground in humanities and social sciences research. All Our Kids launches Foster Care Awareness Campaign during Foster Care Awareness Month Arnell's selection from a pool of nearly 900 applicants highlights the significance of her work, which examines the 1962 removal of Fazendeville–a historically Black community near New Orleans–to expand the Chalmette National Battlefield. Her dissertation focuses on how historical preservationists and political leaders invoked patriotic narratives to justify the displacement of a self-sustaining and politically active community, ultimately challenging conventional interpretations of democracy and historical memory in the U.S. 'We are incredibly proud of Alyssa's recognition and her contribution to both our academic community and historical scholarship,' said Dr. Michelle Schutt, President of Greenfield Community College. 'Her work embodies the college's commitment to equity and excellence in education.' The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship was launched in 2023 with a mission to support scholars who are taking risks and introducing novel approaches in their dissertation research. In addition to a stipend, the fellowship provides funding for research expenses and professional development, enabling recipients to push boundaries in their academic fields. Alison Chang, ACLS Program Officer in US Programs, praised this year's cohort of fellows. 'ACLS is proud to support these fellows, who are poised to conduct groundbreaking dissertation research and broaden the audience for humanistic scholarship,' Chang said. Arnell, who serves as both Associate Professor of History and Chair of the History Department at GCC, is widely respected for her emphasis on inclusive historical inquiry. Under her leadership, the college has expanded its curriculum to include courses in civil rights history, Indigenous studies, and queer history. She is also a participant in the Mellon-funded Five Colleges Building Academic Leadership in the Humanities initiative. Her scholarly work and campus leadership have earned Arnell multiple accolades, including the African American Female Professor Award and GCC's Martin Luther King Jr. Living the Dream Award. For more information on the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship, visit Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WWLP.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These are 4 of the most impactful cuts to higher ed in Trump's proposed budget
A partial budget proposal released on Friday from the Trump administration lays out a long list of impacts to higher education across the country, aiming to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion and taper its involvement in education. The 46-page 'skinny' budget isn't finalized for the 2025-2026 fiscal year but will be in the coming weeks. It is up to Congress to determine how the federal money is used. It calls for $163 billion in cuts across the government. At the same time as Trump cuts back on education, the administration is increasing in some areas like defense spending, adding a proposed $1 trillion to its budget. 'President Trump's proposed budget puts students and parents above the bureaucracy,' said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a statement. 'The President's Skinny Budget reflects funding levels for an agency that is responsibly winding down, shifting some responsibilities to the states, and thoughtfully preparing a plan to delegate other critical functions to more appropriate entities. It supports the President's vision of expanding school choice and ensuring every American has access to an excellent education,' she said. Charter schools are one of the only educational initiatives the federal government plans to funnel more funding into, increasing by $60 million. Here are a few of the ways higher education could be hit in the proposed budget: Eliminating federal work study programs The skinny budget calls federal work study programs a 'handout to woke universities and a subsidy from Federal taxpayers, who can pay for their own employees.' The budget aims to have the remaining funding from federal work study redistributed to institutions that serve low-income students and provide a 'wage subsidy to gain career-oriented opportunities to improve long-term employment outcomes of students.' Michael Hannigan, a Greenfield Community College student, mentioned during a hearing at the Joint Committee on Higher Education on Monday the importance of his federal work study to stay in school. He returned to college at the age of 42 after years of working low-paying manual jobs, he said. 'Each week we read about new threats to students, especially those who have been historically shut out from higher education — students of color, first generation students, students with disabilities," said Hannigan, who is the student senate president at the community college. 'I myself am a first-generation student and I rely on SNAP benefits and the federal work-study program to stay enrolled. When I hear about possible cuts to these programs, it makes my path to feel a lot less secure,' he said. Cuts to science and research The budget plan proposes cutting $18 billion from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), more than one-third of its budget. The cut comes in part due to NIH promoting 'radical gender ideology' by funding studies on transgender youth on hormones, according to the administration. The administration aims to eliminate funding for the National Institute on Minority and Health Disparities, the Fogarty International Center, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the National Institute of Nursing Research. It would also cease research on 'climate change, radical gender ideology and divisive racialism.' 'NIH has broken the trust of the American people with wasteful spending, misleading information, risky research, and the promotion of dangerous ideologies that undermine public health,' the administration said in the proposed budget. On top of that, Trump proposed cutting around half of the funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This week, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that it was among 13 research universities and three organizations suing NSF, after the agency's efforts to slash indirect costs at grant-receiving institutions. The lawsuit follows a Friday announcement from NSF stating that it would cut the rate of reimbursement to higher education institutions for 'indirect costs' or overhead costs for institutions that receive grants to 15%. The 15% maximum rate applies only to new awards on or after May 5, 2025, according to the announcement. On top of the cuts to reimbursement rates, NSF told staff members at the end of April to stop awarding funding until further notice. NSF has terminated approximately 1,425 grants, according to Nature. 'Besides its destructive impact on research and training, this latest effort violates longstanding federal laws and regulations that govern grantmaking. We are seeking to prevent implementation of this poorly conceived and short-sighted policy, which will only hurt the American people and weaken the country. We look forward to making our case,' the organizations suing said in a statement. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Energy have similarly announced that they would cut 'indirect costs' or overhead costs for institutions that receive grants. However, those were halted by federal judges following lawsuits against it. Continuing the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education The budget makes steps to begin eliminating the U.S. Department of Education by walking back much of its funding by $12 billion. The federal administration wants to reduce the department by $127 million or 30% for program administration. The budget comes after Trump signed an executive order that begins the efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Finalizing the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education is likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979. However, despite needing Congressional intervention, Will Ragland at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, told MassLive that the Trump administration can effectively shut the department down by stripping it back until it barely has anyone working there and can't operate. The Trump administration has already been gutting the agency. Its workforce has been slashed in half and there have been deep cuts to the Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation's academic progress. All those at the regional Boston office of the U.S. Education Department were fired. As part of the new budget, Trump is proposing to reduce the Office for Civil Rights, which protects students from discrimination, by 35% or $49 million. This is a broader effort to 'refocus away from DEI and Title IX transgender cases' and clear its backlog, according to the federal administration. Trump also proposed to defund Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, which offer students between $100 to $4,000 per year for undergraduate students with 'exceptional financial need,' according to the website. The administration claims that the grants are given more frequently to families with higher incomes than lower incomes and are awarded more to private institutions than public colleges. TRIO and Gear Up are also programs that are proposed to be cut, described as 'a relic of the past,' by the administration. The two programs help students from low-income backgrounds, first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities prepare for higher education, according to the U.S. Department of Education website. 'Today, the pendulum has swung and access to college is not the obstacle it was for students of limited means,' the administration said. The federal government also proposes cutting funding to English language learning programs, adult education programs, migrant education, subsidizing child care for parents in college and teacher training on topics such as DEI. Eliminating agencies that fund arts, humanities Trump proposes in the skinny budget to eliminate funding to arts and humanities agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Each of these fund programs to help people participate in the humanities and the arts. The administration said that the cuts are 'consistent with the President's efforts to decrease the size of the Federal Government to enhance accountability, reduce waste and reduce unnecessary governmental entities,' according to the document. More Higher Ed Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Healey awards $1.5M in grants to 500 Mass. community college students
Gov. Maura Healey awarded about $1.5 million in Training Resources and Internships Network (TRAIN) grants to several community colleges to help over 500 students. Money from these TRAIN grants will go to over 500 unemployed and underemployed students and will be administered through the state's 15 public community colleges, Healey's office said in a statement. 'These grants... are designed to equip adult workers with the skills necessary to thrive in key industry sectors, ensuring that the workforce is prepared with the skills for the opportunities of tomorrow‚" Healey's office said. This program is intended to support new workers who are long-term unemployed or underemployed, giving them help with targeted industry skills and workforce readiness training. 'These TRAIN grants will connect hundreds of community college students to the skills, support, and opportunities they need to succeed in growing industries and help ensure our economy works for everyone," Healey said in the statement. 'Community colleges are at the heart of workforce development in Massachusetts,' Education Secretary Dr. Patrick Tutwiler said in the statement. 'Through this investment, we are creating pathways for adult learners to thrive — both in the classroom and in high-demand careers.' Greenfield Community College, Certified Production Manager Training – $50,593 Northern Essex Community College, Customer Service Training – $29,619 Berkshire Community College, Phlebotomy Technician Training – $34,541 Bunker Hill Community College, Pharmacy Technician, Dental Assisting, Google IT and Red Hat Operations Technician Training – $132,005 Bristol Community College, Cyber Security Certificate Training– $94,241 Cape Cod Community College, Addiction Recovery and Wellness Coach Pre-Certification Training – $79,843 Greenfield Community College, Certified Nursing Assistant Training – $61,509 Holyoke Community College, Paraeducator and Nurses Aid Training – $103,851 Massasoit Community College, Commercial Driver's License and EKG Technician Training – $120,485 Mass Bay Community College, Certified Nursing Assistant, Behavioral Health Technician and Information Technology Help Desk Training – $124,600 Middlesex Community College, Advanced Manufacturing Training – $44,029 Mount Wachusett Community College, Certified Nursing Assistant and Information Technology Tech Training – $93,971 Northern Essex Community College, Certified Nursing Assistant & Pharmacy Technician Training – $110,453 North Shore Community College, Dental Assisting Training – $122,558 Quinsigamond Community College, Personal Care Aide Training – $85,033 Roxbury Community College, Cyber Security Certification Training – $72,162 Springfield Technical Community College, Certified Nursing Assistant Training – $137,966 Eye-popping gift from closed Central Mass. college will help school mission continue An ultimatum for Harvard: Provide info on foreign students or lose them An alum bought a closing Eastern Mass. college. Here's what he plans to do with it At Harvard, American and international students vow they won't let Trump divide them Harvard task force reports reveal discrimination, hate on campus, president apologizes
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Greenfield Community College to host 2nd annual Nursing Health Expo
GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Greenfield Community College (GCC) is inviting the public to its second annual Nursing Health Expo, a free, family-friendly event offering engaging health education, interactive activities, and community wellness resources. DCR offers free family events during April school vacation week The expo, scheduled for April 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., is part of a student-led service-learning initiative designed to promote public health and wellness, while giving nursing students the opportunity to showcase their knowledge and connect with the broader community. 'This is a great opportunity for the community to learn the latest information about safety and healthcare practices and for our students to share what they've learned with the broader community,' said Melanie Ames, Dean of Nursing at GCC. This year's event will highlight various timely health topics, including CPR techniques, stroke awareness, nutrition tips, sun safety, menstrual equity, and family support services. Attendees will also have a chance to interact with health professionals to learn about career pathways in the healthcare field. In addition to the educational components, the event will feature hands-on attractions for all ages: A LifeFlight Air Ambulance helicopter tour A 'Touch a Truck' exhibit with police and fire vehicles A mobile library booth courtesy of local libraries The expo reflects GCC's ongoing commitment to experiential learning and community engagement, providing a valuable platform where education meets public service. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
