Some of the most common cybersecurity threats are malware, ransomware, phishing and spam. For their victims, including higher education institutions (HEIs), cybercrimes range from inconveniences to data breaches to grand heists. The threat that cyberattacks pose for HEIs is extremely costly and increasingly frequent, according to April 2022…

On May 11, the U.S. Department of Education released guidance for the $36 billion in emergency funding available to higher education institutions (HEIs). This new round of funding--authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act--makes $10 billion available to community colleges, $2.6 billion to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs),…

There must be transparency about the total cost of education in order to give students an opportunity to make informed decisions about which courses and programs fit not only their career goals but also their budgets--and that includes the price of course materials. In fact, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 requires it. This…

The author graduated with an associate degree in liberal arts from Northern Essex Community College (NECC) in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Although he was one of over a thousand students to graduate that day, his situation was a little different than those of his peers. The author is a full-time faculty member at NECC with a Ph.D. in organic…

The 2019 "Education Next" Poll found 60% of Americans endorse the idea of making public four-year colleges free, and 69% want free public two-year colleges. There are also critics of free college schemes. They include some families who had to scrimp and save for their children to earn degrees. The "New England Journal of Higher…

Andrew Delbanco is a professor of American Studies at Columbia University, author of several books. In this Q&A, "New England Journal of Higher Education" ("NEJHE") Executive Editor John O. Harney asks Delbanco about the state of higher education and intellectual life today.

Community colleges offer an important pathway to the middle class. However, many students fall off the path along the way; almost half of students drop out and only 38% complete a degree within eight years, according to an analysis by Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute. These statistics are even worse for at-risk, minority and…

College completion matters, especially from the perspective of equity. Who finishes, how long it takes them, how much they benefit economically and how their citizenship benefits local communities all "matter." This is especially true of knowledge-driven, innovation economies in New England. For Massachusetts--a state that ranks third…

The Pathways Program allows juniors and seniors in high school who have a high school GPA of 3.0, a demonstrated capacity for college work, and a recommendation of the high school guidance counselor, to pursue their associate degrees at Thomas College in Waterville, Maine, while completing the requirements for their high school diploma at…

This article reports on a skills gap problem experienced in New England states where the economy has improved, but economic opportunity and skills gaps contribute to slower growth in employment, income, and social mobility. The article suggests ways to overcome this gap by building stronger bridges between education and employment…

Community colleges have traditionally responded to the financial needs of their students by removing or minimizing financial barriers to attending. Efforts to make community college tuition free fit with this philosophy, but where efforts to minimize or remove financial barriers to attending community college fall short is in empowering students…

Across the U.S., an estimated 60% of incoming community college students require developmental courses to be ready for college-level work, according to estimates by experts. As these courses act as a gateway to further studies, those who fail are most often lost to higher education: Less than a quarter will earn a degree or certificate within…

More than 20 states now allow community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees. Florida has been a trailblazer, with 14 community colleges currently authorized to offer bachelor's degrees, and 12 already doing so. Some critics have observed that community college baccalaureates will lead to low-quality degrees, take resources from needy students and…

The debate over the value of a college education appears to be settled, not only do employers value employees with a bachelor's degree, they may actually value them too much. This author believes that there is a dramatic credentials gap in the American workforce between the education levels employers are requesting in job postings and the…

For southern New England, the middle-skills gap is projected to become acute by 2020, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Historically and currently, the middle-skills labor pool in Massachusetts has been significantly below national rates and has been recently experiencing a decline. Closing the middle-skills gap depends on improving…