CHERISH Act
Full title: An Act committing to higher education the resources to insure a strong and healthy public higher education system (H.1260/S.816)
Lead sponsors: Rep.Sean Garballey & Rep. Pat Duffy; Sen. Jo Comerford
Committee: Joint Committee on Higher Education
The Issue
Our public colleges and universities are essential vehicles for economic mobility and economic stability. Studies have shown that college graduates are more likely to be healthier, earn significantly more on average, and are less likely to face job loss during an economic recession, and graduates of our public colleges and universities are more likely to stay in Massachusetts to live and work, contributing to our Commonwealth and common wealth.
However, our state has been disinvesting from public higher education for the last two decades, with funding for public higher education still below its (inflation-adjusted) value in 2001. When the state reduces funding to public colleges and universities, the result is higher tuition and fees, and a growing debt burden faced by students and families.
The published in-state tuition and fees increase at public 4-year institutions in MA increased 135 percent from 2001 to 2021 after adjusting for inflation, and for two-year institutions, 81 percent, but real Median Household Income in Massachusetts only increased by 8 percent. When we close off opportunities for our students, we are all worse off. Just between 2009 and 2021, the average student debt rose 52% for four-year graduates and 62% for community college graduates. When we close off opportunities for our students, we are all worse off.
The Solution
The Cherish Act provides a blueprint for a world-class system of public higher education by committing to robust funding for public colleges and universities, creating a program to enable students to graduate debt-free, increasing student supports, ensuring that faculty and staff receive fair pay, and improving the health and sustainability of campus buildings.
Highlights
- Creates a program that would enable students to graduate from public higher education debt-free
- Increases investments in expanded student support services
- Ensures that adjunct faculty and part-time staff are eligible for state health care and retirement benefits
- Establishes a Commission on Wage Equity and Working Conditions to recommend changes aimed at eliminating pay inequities based on gender, race, and job category
- Institutes fair and adequate minimum funding levels for public higher education phased in over five years, and prohibits tuition and fee increases during this implementation as long as the state’s funding commitment is met
- Creates a commission to evaluate the health, safety, and energy efficiency of public college and university buildings, develop a set of standards, and recommend a plan to bring all buildings into compliance with this standard by 2035
- Alleviates campuses’ debt burdens by requiring the state to assume the full cost of state salaries and fringe benefits, future capital construction, and renovations to campus facilities, and to pay for campuses’ existing capital debt service obligations
Did you know?
- The published in-state tuition and fees increase at public 4-year institutions in MA increased 135 percent from 2001 to 2021 after adjusting for inflation.
- MA ranks 6th among states with fastest tuition and fees increase at their public 4-year institutions. The average increase for other states is 81 percent.
- The published in-state tuition and fees increase at public 2-year institutions in MA increased 81 percent from 2001 to 2021 after adjusting for inflation.
- MA ranks 13th among states with fastest tuition and fees increase at their public 2-year institutions. The average increase for other states is 52 percent.
- Today, 40% of a four-year public institution’s total revenue comes from tuition and fees, up from less than a quarter in 1980.
- In 2017, the average annual net price for a public four-year institution in Massachusetts was 21% of a white family’s median household income, 38% of a Black family’s median household income, and 43% of a Latinx family’s median household income.
- Massachusetts ranks 37th in terms of the financial aid it provides to students.
- The state’s largest need-based grant program (MASSGrant) covers only 8 percent of tuition and fees for students in the UMass system.
Contact Your Legislators
Find your legislators’ contact information here.
Dear [Legislator],
I was happy to hear Governor Healey express interest in increasing our Commonwealth’s commitment to our public colleges and institutions, and the Cherish Act (H.1260/S.816), filed by Sen. Jo Comerford and Reps. Sean Garballey and Pat Duffy, offers the right model to do so.
The bill offers a blueprint for a world-class system of public higher education by committing to robust funding for public colleges and universities, creating a program to enable students to graduate debt-free, increasing student supports, ensuring that we are paying faculty and staff well, and improving the health and sustainability of campus buildings. Can I count on you to co-sponsor this bill and advocate for it this session?
Our public colleges and universities are essential vehicles for economic mobility and economic stability. However, our state has been disinvesting from public higher education for the last two decades, with funding for public higher education still below its (inflation-adjusted) value in 2001. When the state reduces funding to public colleges and universities, the result is higher tuition and fees, and a growing debt burden faced by students and families.
Our public colleges and universities are bedrock institutions for economic opportunity, for reducing racial and economic inequality, and for driving the prosperity of our commonwealth.
- When we disinvest from public higher education, we close off opportunities for too many students. It’s time to commit to fully funding public higher ed by passing the #CherishAct.
- The cost of attending public colleges and universities has risen much faster than income. That’s unsustainable. We need to pass the #CherishAct so that we can deliver on the promise of public higher ed.
- Years of cutting the budgets for our public colleges and universities has led to higher tuition and greater student debt. We need to set students up for success instead by passing the #CherishAct.
- Our public colleges and universities are key engines of economic opportunity. We need to make sure that staff and faculty are paid well and students can graduate without debt. That’s why the #CherishAct is so important.
- When we fully fund our public colleges and universities, we can do right by students, faculty, and staff, and the surrounding communities thrive. The #CherishAct would be a win-win all around.
- Massachusetts cut funding for public higher ed in the first two decades of this century. Let’s turn that around and fully fund our public colleges and universities by passing the #CherishAct.
- All faculty and staff at public colleges and universities deserve good pay and benefits. When we treat faculty and staff well, we create a better experience for our students. Let’s pass the #CherishAct this session.
Write a Letter to the Editor
Adapt the template below! Or email us at issues@progressivemass.com for help!
Our public colleges and universities are essential vehicles for economic mobility and economic stability. However, our state has been disinvesting from public higher education for the last two decades, with funding for public higher education still below its (inflation-adjusted) value in 2001. When the state reduces funding to public colleges and universities, the result is higher tuition and fees, and a growing debt burden faced by students and families. Indeed, just between 2009 and 2021, the average student debt rose 52% for four-year graduates and 62% for community college graduates.
I was happy to hear Governor Healey express interest in increasing our Commonwealth’s commitment to our public colleges and institutions, and the Cherish Act (H.1260/S.816), filed by Sen. Jo Comerford and Reps. Sean Garballey and Pat Duffy, offers the right model to do so.
The bill offers a blueprint for a world-class system of public higher education by committing to robust funding for public colleges and universities, creating a program to enable students to graduate debt-free, increasing student supports, ensuring that we are paying faculty and staff well, and improving the health and sustainability of campus buildings.
Our public colleges and universities are bedrock institutions for economic opportunity, for reducing racial and economic inequality, and for driving the prosperity of our commonwealth. Let’s make sure they can live up to their full potential.
Read More
- Akman Imboden, Bahar. Massachusetts Public Higher Education: Underfunded, Unaffordable, and Unfair. Boston: Hildreth Institute, 2022. https://hildrethinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/MA-Underfunded-Unaffordable-Unfair-Hildreth-Institute-4.8.22.pdf.
- Akman Imboden, Bahar. Rising Barriers, Shrinking Aid: The State of Financial Aid in Massachusetts. Boston: Hildreth Institute, 2023. https://www.hildrethinstitute.org/rising-barriers-shrinking-aid.
- Martinez, Anastasia. “Bruised Budgets: A Higher Education Funding History Lesson For An Antiracist Future.” MassBudget. August 10, 2020. https://massbudget.org/2020/08/10/bruised-budgets-a-higher-education-funding-history-lesson-for-an-antiracist-future-2/.
- Martinez, Anastasia. Choosing Equity: Options for Affordable Public Higher Education in Massachusetts. Boston: MassBudget, 2021. https://massbudget.org/2021/03/24/choosing-equity/.
- Thompson, Jeremy. “Educated and Encumbered: Student Debt Rising with Higher Education Funding Falling in Massachusetts.” Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. March 1, 2018. https://massbudget.org/reports/pdf/Educated%20and%20Encumbered%20FINAL.pdf.
- Zhao, Bo. “Disinvesting in the Future? A Comprehensive Examination of the Effects of State Appropriations for Public Higher Education.” Working Paper 18-1. Boston: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 2018. https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/research-department-working-paper/2018/a-comprehensive-examination-of-the-effects-of-state-appropriations-for-public-higher-education.aspx.
- See also data from the IPEDS Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/.
Talking Points & Sample Tweets