Latest news with #USNH
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
University system doesn't take noncitizens over residents, chancellor says
The University System of New Hampshire does not prioritize international or noncitizen students at the expense of qualified residents for enrollment, officials said. Keene State College, Plymouth State University and the University of New Hampshire have a total 109 noncitizen students out of 21,427 enrolled this spring semester, according to numbers released in response to state Rep. Joe Sweeney's accusations that the state is admitting nonresidents at an alarming rate and denying admission to qualified residents. 'Students are denied admission if they are not academically prepared,' University System of New Hampshire Chancellor Catherine Provencher said in a written statement Wednesday. 'The last thing we want to do is have students paying tuition and possibly taking on debt if we do not think they will succeed academically. We do not admit any students from outside of New Hampshire at the expense of our Granite State students.' The number of in-state undergraduate students actually increased 2.8% last fall across the University System after 12 straight years of decline, officials said. The number of nonresident students, however, continued to fall. New Hampshire's university system doesn't accept noncitizens over residents, chancellor says State Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, has questioned the admissions policies in the University System of New Hampshire. USNH Chancellor Catherine Provencher said his accusations of favoring international and noncitizen students over residents is off-base. Sweeney, a Salem Republican and House deputy majority leader, has questioned the system's admission policy, filing at least two Right-to-Know Law requests, and has continued to criticize the university system. 'New Hampshire taxpayer funded colleges and universities are denying New Hampshire Residents admission while encouraging illegals to apply. This is just wrong!' Sweeney said in April after he launched the second request for records. The total number of international students — those attending from foreign countries on visas, separate from the 109 noncitizens — at Keene State, Plymouth State and UNH is 649. Sweeney contends that the university system accepted those students instead of 742 New Hampshire residents who were denied admission. Provencher said Sweeney is wrong and left out an important detail: Of those 742 who were not accepted, many had applied to more than state college or university, and many now attend one of the schools. Thirty-five percent of residents who applied to one state school also applied to at least one other, according to the USNH. 'In fact, USNH accepted 95.2% of New Hampshire resident students to at least one institution over the past four fall terms. The number of students denied admission to any institution over the past four fall terms was 1,083 individuals (4.8%) out of 22,557 applicants,' Provencher's statement said. Sweeney doubles down Sweeney released a written response Wednesday afternoon in which he doubled down on his criticism of the USNH. He said three of the 109 noncitizen students are 'either undocumented or under temporary immigration protections' and threatened to have campus police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 'restore accountability' if USNH officials didn't take his objections to their admissions policy seriously. 'USNH is publicly encouraging illegal aliens to apply and rewarding them with in-state tuition,' Sweeney wrote. Sweeney has based his disputed accusations on partial text from one sentence in a small section of a secondary UNH admissions web page concerning the policy for nonresident students. The section he continues to quote is not on the main admissions page – 'DACA applicants' is the 18th of 19 subsections of the that inside webpage for admission and reads in full: 'UNH encourages the application and enrollment of undocumented students and students granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to contribute to an environment of inclusive excellence where all students, faculty, and staff can thrive. DACA students are students that came to the U.S. as children and meet guidelines in which they can work/study in the United States. It is the student's responsibility to contact the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to request consideration of DACA. This determination is not made by the University of New Hampshire. DACA students are not eligible for financial aid.' To read the entire page, visit Sweeney did not respond to a phone call seeking clarification of his claims. Plenty of room in USNH Enrollment fell 11% from 2020 to 2024 with 2,709 fewer students enrolled in state colleges and universities, according to data from USNH. There's plenty of room for more state residents who are qualified, officials said. In fact, enrollment has decreased by 19% at Keene State and nearly 16% at Plymouth State during that time. Enrollment went up by 93 among the two UNH campuses from 2020 to 2024, but that's mostly due to Granite State College closing and about 1,000 of its students being absorbed into UNH Manchester. The enrollment at the public college level is similar to the statewide drop in kindergarten through 12th grade. From the 2019-2020 school year to the 2024-25 school year, K-12 enrollments fell 8% (13,508 fewer students), according to the state Department of Education. dpierce@
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House GOP leader challenges USNH on immigrant admission policies
A leading House Republican wants to know if there are any children of illegal immigrants attending any of the schools in the state's four-year university system. House Majority Leader Joseph Sweeney, R-Salem, said he's asking for the information after learning from a recent Right-to-Know Law request that 649 foreign students attend the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University and Keene State College in the current academic year. During the same period, 742 New Hampshire residents were denied admission: 655 at UNH, 16 at Plymouth State and 71 at Keene State, respectively, Sweeney said. Sweeney said he was alarmed to learn that UNH's admission website "encourages the application and enrollment of undocumented students and students granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)" — a policy he said was not disclosed in USNH's original response to his request for information. 'New Hampshire taxpayer funded colleges and universities are denying New Hampshire Residents admission while encouraging illegals to apply. This is just wrong!' Sweeney said in launching a second Right-to-KnNow Law request for records. Catherine Provencher, chancellor for the University System of New Hampshire, said all New Hampshire residents who met basic admission requirements were admitted and she said the colleges have additional capacity to admit even more qualified applicants. According to USNH's response, 85.5% of New Hampshire residents who applied to UNH were admitted, while the admission rates were much higher for both Keene State (96.3%) and Plymouth State (99.3%). 'Our public universities must prioritize New Hampshire students — not international applicants or undocumented illegal aliens,' Sweeney said. 'I will keep fighting to ensure accountability and fairness for our families and ensure that Granite Staters are put first." House Republicans have defended their decision to pass a proposed budget that cuts state aid to USNH by $25 million a year above the 4% cut that Gov. Kelly Ayotte had initially called for last February. USNH officials could not be reached for comment. klandrigan@
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
USNH says House-approved cut in state aid 'unsustainable'
Higher education administrators said the House-approved, $50 million cut in state aid to the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) is 'unsustainable' and risks tuition rate increases that could cause enrollments to plummet. USNH Chancellor Catherine Provencher said the cut would end six years of 'unprecedented support' from the state for the system that led last fall to the first increase in enrollment for the four-year colleges in more than a decade. 'This steep reduction is unsustainable for the university system,' Provencher told the Senate Finance Committee during a public hearing Friday afternoon. Responding to an intense lobbying effort on behalf of USNH, House Majority Floor Leader Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, said he filed a Right-to-Know Law request asking the system to identify how many foreign students attend the four-year public colleges and how many New Hampshire residents have been denied admission. During the presentation, Provencher and USNH board of trustees Chairman Michael J. Pilot didn't address the number of international students that attend USNH, but said for several years every New Hampshire resident who meets the minimum requirements has gained admission. Last year, 3,000 graduates from the system remained in the state with 80% of residents taking jobs in New Hampshire. 'About 20% of non-residents stay here. We need to keep New Hampshire students because they are much more likely to stay here and drive the workforce that all our employers need,' Provencher said. 'We have capacity if more students want to apply in state and out of state, we would welcome them.' The $50 million cut represents about a 30% reduction from the state aid in the current budget that ends June 30. Gov. Kelly Ayotte has proposed a 4% cut in state aid which Provencher said the system could withstand. Even with recent years of increased aid, New Hampshire continues to have the lowest level of state support for its public colleges and universities in the nation. Provencher said for comparison purposes, the $25 million reduction would be nearly a 5% cut of the $556 million that USNH receives in revenue to support educational programs. The rest of its budget is $221 million from room and board fees and $518 million the system receives from research grants that are '$1 in for $1 out,' Provencher said. Similar cut in 2011 House GOP leaders argued that the system received a similar cut in state aid in 2011 for the 2012-13 state budget and recovered from that. Provencher pointed out responding to that cut 14 years ago that the system trustees raised in-state tuition 19.5% in the first year and 13.5% in the second. 'No student would come ... if we even considered tuition increases at that level,' Provencher said. 'It would have to come, for the most part, from cuts and massive reductions.' USNH trustees have approved a tuition increase for New Hampshire residents of up to 2.5% in the coming academic year, she said. Both USNH officials stressed the system has undergone significant reorganization since 2019 to cope with declining numbers of available students and more competition from other schools as a result. They have cut full-time staff by 4.5% and part-time staff by 19% while twice increasing premiums paid by employees for their health insurance, Pilot said. Other changes include consolidating on all campus's procurement, human resources, accounting, finance and research administration. 'We have a system that is built for a market no longer available to us,' Pilot said. The chancellor and individual college presidents are working on a plan to make further budget adjustments to eliminate the structural deficit that would grow from $13 million in the current year to $58 million by 2030. 'USNH understands the landscape, it will right size and will continue to successfully manage through these real challenges, however, a steep reduction in the state's investment will be crippling during this period,' USNH officials said in the 15-page report to Senate budget writers. What's Next: The Senate Finance Committee has to recommend to the full Senate a two-year budget plan early next month. Prospects: The Senate is likely to restore much of the cut the House made beyond the 4% reduction Ayotte had proposed in February. klandrigan@
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Business coalition urges Senate to reject state aid cut to USNH
Business coalition fights proposed cut to four-year higher education system Mike Skelton, president and CEO of the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire organized a coalition of business leaders urging Senate budget writers to reject the House-approved state budget that cuts state aid to the University System of New Hampshire by about 30%. A coalition of business groups is urging Senate budget writers to restore $50 million cut by the House from state aid to the University System of New Hampshire. The Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire organized a Tuesday news conference meant to build momentum for the case that University System Chancellor Catherine Provencher and her team will make before the Senate Finance Committee on Friday. 'The funding of University System of New Hampshire is an investment in the future of our state's economy. USNH is a key partner that attracts talent to New Hampshire and prepares them to join our workforce and help our economy grow,' said BIA President and CEO Mike Skelton. 'While we understood this state budget cycle would be challenging, the proposed House cuts to the University System go too far and would harm our state's economic competitiveness.' The University System's four-year schools are the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University and Keene State College. Several speakers said the Senate should adopt the revenue estimates that Gov. Kelly Ayotte used when she presented her budget proposal two months ago. The House used a much lower revenue forecast — $700 million less from state taxes and fees for the two-year budget cycle that would run through June 2027. 'The revenue projections and USNH funding levels proposed in Governor Ayotte's budget are a realistic and pragmatic path forward that will allow USNH to continue as the business community's partner in attracting and developing our workforce of the future," Skelton said. USNH Chancellor Provencher said the House budget represents a 30% cut — $57.6 million less than current levels of state aid. 'Despite real headwinds in higher education caused by the declining number of high school graduates and intense competition in New England, for the first time since 2013, the number of in-state New Hampshire students attending USNH institutions increased, in part because of the state's investment to keep tuition down,' Provencher said. Tuition has remained unchanged for the past six years. USNH trustees have already announced that there will be an increase in tuition next year. House Republican budget writers maintain the state aid cut represents about a 2% reduction for a system that has annual revenue of more than $1 billion. They also point out that lawmakers made a similarly sized cut in 2011 to cope with a major real estate recession. Provencher said the system annually attracts nearly 13,000 potential future leaders and members of the workforce to come and study in New Hampshire. 'We as a state should not be gutting the investment in USNH when we have the opportunity to grow and attract businesses in the life sciences, advanced manufacturing and other innovative spaces,' Provencher said. The New Hampshire College and University Council is scheduled to release a study on the economic impact of higher education later Wednesday. Mica Stark, the council's president and CEO, said the University System system contributes $7.6 billion to the state's economy and supports 52,000 jobs. UNIQUE resource The coalition opposed the decision of House budget writers to claim as state aid $15 million in the UNIQUE college scholarship program managed for the state by Fidelity. Business coalition lobbies against cutting USNH aid University System of New Hampshire Chancellor Catherine Provencher will make her case to the Senate Finance Committee Friday against the House approved state budget that cuts the request of Gov. Kelly Ayotte by $50 million over the next two years. This year the program provided more than 7,700 scholarships. Since UNIQUE's inception in 1997 it has provided $213 million in financial aid to students. Edwin Gutierrez-Nunez, a sophomore at Franklin Pierce University, a private college in Rindge, said he's the first in his family to attend college as the son of immigrants from Mexico who work as housekeepers in Nashua. 'UNIQUE is a major reason why I attend college. My family can't afford tuition without these scholarship funds. Taking direct scholarship aid funds to balance a state budget is wrong, and it sends a terrible message to young people about the priorities of this state and its leaders,' Gutierrez-Nunez said. Bill Greiner, chairman of the board at Primary Bank, said these reductions would be shortsighted. 'The proposed cuts, especially to higher education, are wholly unnecessary and will only blunt the hard work our businesses and our citizens are doing every single day to build and maintain a strong statewide economy." Corinne Benfield, executive director of Stay Work Play NH, said a well-supported state college and university system is critical to convincing young people to remain in New Hampshire and pursue a career. 'If we aren't funding our educational system we risk falling behind; the message is that we don't care to compete,' Benfield said. She said USNH created Stay Work Play in 2009 when more than 50% of Granite State college graduates were leaving the state. Since then, the percentage of graduates remaining here is 'hovering around 60%,' Benfield said. 'It's progress, but this doesn't solve our problem, which is that the workforce gap has grown significantly," she added. Others who took part in Tuesday's event were executives with the chambers of commerce in Manchester, Nashua and Portsmouth, and officials with New Hampshire Life Sciences, Granite Edvance, Primary Bank and the New Hampshire Tech Alliance. klandrigan@
