Investing in public higher education

With recent investments in college affordability, Massachusetts jumped from 26th in the nation to 12th in the nation in financial assistance rankings. 

Not surprisingly, news broke recently in State House News Service that, “The number of students studying at the state’s community colleges shot up in the fall semester, driving the first undergraduate enrollment increase at Massachusetts public colleges and universities in a decade…”

“There were 152,739 undergraduates enrolled this fall across state universities, University of Massachusetts schools and community colleges, an increase of 2.9 percent compared to fall 2022, according to new Department of Higher Education data.”

“While the jump marks the first time total undergraduate enrollment was higher than the prior year since 2013, the trend was not universal across all campuses. The number of undergraduates dropped 1 percent at UMass campuses and 0.6 percent at state universities from fall 2022 to fall 2023, though officials said the decline at state universities was more muted than in recent years.”

“A sizable single-year increase — 8 percent — at community colleges drove the overall trend upward, the data show. Officials said each of the state’s 15 community colleges experienced some enrollment growth.”

Let’s keep pushing forward. If we make attending public colleges and universities more affordable, we’ll continue to see these gains — and we’ll all be stronger for it.