A Deeper Look into Massachusetts’ Struggling Community College System

By: Konrad Mugglestone   To me, one finding from our recent deep dive into Massachusetts public higher education has been particularly shocking. Bay State students of color are much more likely to attend a community college than the national average and much less likely to complete their degrees. Massachusetts Black high school graduates are 50 percent more likely,

No Commencement in the Commonwealth

Contact: Erika Soto Lamb, 646.580.5281; erikasotolamb@edreformnow.org   No Commencement in the Commonwealth: New Report on Public Higher Education in Massachusetts Reveals Bay State’s Latino College Graduation Gap is 37th Worst in the Country Education Reform Now’s Finding Is Particularly Striking as the Black Graduation Gap is 3rd Best in the Nation and as Latino Students in Massachusetts Have Higher

The Moral Imperative to Tackle Higher Ed Reform

by Michael Dannenberg and Konrad Mugglestone Education reform advocates should recognize that extending their work to higher ed is a moral imperative that also happens to present a political opportunity.   Here’s a summary of our argument: Education reform will fail to deliver on its goals if we do not improve the quality of higher education

Are College Graduation Gaps in Massachusetts Improving or Getting Worse?

By: Konrad Mugglestone Recently, Michael Dannenberg and I released a report entitled No Commencement for the Commonwealth. In it, we highlighted startling discrepancies in the way that Massachusetts’ public higher education system serves their Black and Latino students – resulting in a White-Black bachelor’s degree completion gap that ranks as the 3rdsmallest out of the

No Commencement in the Commonwealth: Summary Presentation

By: Michael Dannenberg and Konrad Mugglestone In the midst of college graduation season, Education Reform Now recently released a new report, “No Commencement in the Commonwealth: How Massachusetts’ Higher Education System Undermines Economic Mobility for Latinos and Others – And What We Can Do About It” (available here) that analyzes public higher education in the Bay State and reveals that the

Interview: “Time to Degree” is Key

Michael Dannenberg sat down with Commonwealth Magazine’s Executive Editor Michael Jonas for an in-depth discussion on what makes for a quality, state or national college promise program. Jonas’ write up appears below. His full podcast interview and be accessed here. Michael Jonas, Commonwealth Magazine No one doubts the value of a college education. It is increasingly a

Louisiana Could Have Redefined ‘Merit’ Scholarships with TOPS Reform

By Konrad Mugglestone “If you have to be cynical, if you can’t think about the kids, if you can’t acknowledge that our society owes them a chance, then fine. I’ll settle it for you: Educate them or support them. Can we build enough projects? Enough prisons? Can we hire enough policemen? Can we, in fact, support them?”

College Dropouts Now Exceed High School Dropouts. What Are We Going to Do About It?

Guest Post by Chad Aldeman Three years ago, I wrote about an eye-opening statistic: There are more American adults who have dropped out of college than who have dropped out of high school. After updating the data, the long-term trends look even more compelling. The graph below shows what I found. The blue line tracks

Immigration Policy Affects College Students, Too

by Janette Martinez  Earlier this week, we highlighted how current immigration crackdowns threaten to undo decades of progress in the Latinx* community, and how those crackdowns are hurting K-12 students. Today, we look at how immigration policy also affects higher education. More Latinx students are enrolling in college than ever before. The gap in college

Four More March Madness Matchups to Watch

By Emily Labandera and Janette Martinez Earlier this week, we brought you five matchups to watch in this year’s March Madness tournament. Today, we bring you three more real March Madness head-to-head matchups (and one hypothetical) based on institutional costs and student outcomes. Check out our matchups based on enrollment, cost, aid, debt, and graduation