This policy change would replicate how the government resolved the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s — by negotiating steep discounts from the bank lenders, which allowed countries to repay much lower amounts, restoring their credit ratings. We should borrow from that experience.
Bob Hildreth
Posted inOpinion
Don’t fixate on the state’s elite private schools
LOCAL COVERAGE of the latest US News and World Report ranking of US colleges has focused on the fact that 7 Massachusetts schools made the top 50. People have questioned these rankings for years. From a local perspective, they highlight an important question: why do these elite private colleges dominate discussions of higher education here […]
Posted inOpinion
College dorms are becoming financial albatrosses
IVY-COVERED DORMITORIES nestled around grassy quads have long been the classic image of college life, especially in Massachusetts. Perhaps not for much longer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, dormitories are costing colleges a lot of money – money they don’t have as they struggle to adapt to expensive new technologies and declining student fees. As colleges […]
Posted inEducation
Despite COVID, families prioritizing college savings
THE ECONOMIC DISRUPTION induced by the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the extreme financial vulnerability that exists in America. The sudden economic crisis revealed what experts have been saying for years: an overwhelming majority of US households do not have the financial cushion to weather an economic shock like the present one. As a higher education […]
Posted inEducation
Making college more affordable sounds good…
AMERICA’S HIGHER EDUCATION system is mired in crisis. Colleges are increasingly unaffordable for lower- and middle-class students, and student debt is now at record levels. As Massachusetts prepares to vote in next month’s Democratic presidential primary, potential solutions to this crisis are at the center of the debate. Democratic presidential candidates, including the current frontrunner, […]
Posted inEducation
Real problem isn’t sudden college closures, but student debt
IN RESPONSE TO the sudden closure of Mount Ida College last year, legislation requiring public and private non-profit colleges to report on their long-term financial stability is now moving forward on Beacon Hill. While the bill is a positive first step, much more could certainly be done for students who are directly and substantially harmed […]
Posted inEducation
Legislature should look to private donations to fund UMass
HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING and the cost of attending the University of Massachusetts generated significant controversy in the budget just passed by the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker. While UMass received funding increases in the 2020 fiscal year budget, overall per-student state funding for public higher education has decreased by more than 30 percent since 2001. The result is […]
Posted inOpinion
The college bubble is starting to burst
This op-ed has been updated with a revision to the initial reference to Hampshire College. THE FOURTH SHOE has dropped. Hampshire College just joined Wheelock, Mt. Ida, and Newbury College in throwing in the towel, with the school’s announcement that it is seeking a long-term partners to keep it afloat financially and may choose to […]
Posted inEducation
Why I’m giving $50 to every new child born in Massachusetts
OVER THE LAST DECADE, I’ve created three non-profit organizations with the shared mission of getting low-income students to college without taking on crushing debt. I’ve seen the life-changing impact a college education can have for students who grow up in poverty. So when Treasurer Deb Goldberg announced a new statewide college savings account program for […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
The dawn of a new era in savings
Not since the 1970s, when IRAs and 401(k)s were created to encourage retirement planning, has the issue of savings raised so much interest. Several bills have been filed on Beacon Hill to provide incentives for college savings, and it’s not just in Massachusetts. Across the country, academics, practitioners, and politicians are riding the same college […]