Public Higher Education
Legislation Not Acted Upon 

Did you know that Massachusetts ranks 49th in the nation in state spending on higher education per $1,000 of state income and 47th in the nation in state spending on public higher education per capita? Are you aware that Massachusetts is the only state in the nation that is spending less on public higher education than it was spending ten years ago?

You may be wondering how all of this affects your business. Eighty-five percent of Massachusetts public higher education students upon graduation stay in Massachusetts and work here. They are literally the Massachusetts work force of the present and the future.

The Senate has already passed a public higher education bill, Senate Bill 2380, supporting access and excellence in public higher education. While this bill is an important first step, it does not ensure that the state meet its annual full funding obligation as recommended by the Senate Task Force. [The Task Force report notes that today, the formula reveals a gap of $400 million and recommends that the Commonwealth increase support for public campuses to the level necessary for success by fully funding the formula over a 5-7 year period.]

In its current form the bill includes various amendments from the bill sponsored by the Joint Committee on Higher Education (SB2364), which was based on the Task Force report. Most significant of these amendments is a reduction in the autonomy of local boards of trustees for state and community colleges. The Senate engrossed version of the bill restricts the setting of in-state tuition and general fees, which will allow our local institutions to thrive even when full funding obligations are not met.

A public higher education bill still needs to be passed in the House that will allow our public higher education institutions to maintain the quality of education even when state funding is insufficient. Please note that there is no state funding guarantee even with passage of a higher education bill in both chambers of the legislature.

The Chamber has been busy advocating for the passage of a public higher education bill in response to a directive from our members and in hopes of closing the $400 million funding gap while preserving the autonomy of local boards of trustees for state and community colleges. In an effort to galvanize the business community the Chamber coordinated a coalition letter signed by 11 other chambers, all of which represent businesses in regions where state and community colleges contribute to goals of fostering economic opportunity. The letter was sent on September 8th to the Speaker of the House, Salvatore F. DiMasi, and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini. The Chamber sent an additional letter, signed by several members of our delegation, to the leadership asking that they make passage of a public higher education bill and appropriate funding a priority at the State House. The delegation letter was sent on September 19th. We encourage you to contact members of your delegation to remind them of the business community’s support for the passage of a public higher education bill.

We encourage you to contact members of your delegation to confirm the support of the business community for closing the funding gap while allowing the needed flexibility for local boards of trustees to create a thriving educational environment at our state and community colleges.

Please click to read: “Coalition Letter"