Monday, September 18, 2023
Chair Comerford, Chair Rogers, and Members of the Joint Committee on Higher Education:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the Policy Director at Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group fighting for a more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic commonwealth.
We urge you to give a favorable report to H.1260/S.816: An Act committing to higher education the resources to insure a strong and healthy public higher education system (the “Cherish Act”) and H.1265 / S.823: An Act relative to debt-free public higher education (“Debt-Free Future”).
Our public colleges and universities are essential vehicles for economic mobility of our commonwealth’s residents and economic vitality of the commonwealth itself. 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. [1] 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.
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. [2] Just between 2009 and 2021, the average student debt rose 52% for four-year graduates and 62% for community college graduates. [3] When we close off opportunities for our students, we are all worse off.
No student should be saddled with years of debt because of attending one of our state’s public colleges and universities. As our state has so often been a leader in higher education, we should take this opportunity and be a leader in debt-free public higher education with both the Debt-Free Future bill and the Cherish Act.
The Cherish Act takes a comprehensive approach to strengthening our public higher education system. In addition to addressing the barrier that high tuition and fees—as well as living costs—can pose for students, the bill would increase investments in student support services to ensure positive learning environment and improve student retention, and it would institute fair and adequate minimum funding levels for public higher education.
The burden of disinvestment in public higher education has not just been borne by students; it has also been borne by faculty and staff, who have seen weakened job security and workplace benefits as institutions embrace strategies of privatization and “adjunctification.” The Cherish Act would ensure that ensure that adjunct faculty and part-time staff are eligible for state health care and retirement benefits, and it would establish a Commission on Wage Equity and Working Conditions to recommend changes aimed at eliminating pay inequities based on gender, race, and job category.
Finally, the COVID crisis and the climate crisis both show clearly how much the built environment matters to human and environmental health. That’s why the bill 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. Our colleges and universities have such a key role to play in addressing climate change, and this bill shows how.
Last year, voters showed that they believed it was time for the rich to pay their fair share so that we can invest in our public education systems and public infrastructure. The support is there among the public to recommitting to the ideal of higher education for all. Let’s make it happen.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
[2] https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/
[3] https://www.hildrethinstitute.org/rising-barriers-shrinking-aid
