18 Public MA Campuses To Share $2.5 Million in “Performance Incentive Fund” Grants

When it comes to higher education, Massachusetts is perhaps best-known for its many prestigious private institutions, such as Harvard, Tufts, MIT and Williams. However, with approximately two-thirds of Massachusetts’ high school graduates who remain in-state for their higher education opting for public campuses, it is the public system that will be preparing the bulk of the state’s future workforce.

To help ensure that this future workforce receives “a world-class education,” as Governor Deval Patrick recently commented, the State has awarded $2.5 million in Performance Incentive Fund (PIF) grants to 18 public campuses. These campuses include ten community colleges, five state universities and three UMass campuses.

I recently spoke with Associate Commissioner for External Affairs at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, Katy Abel. Abel informed me that the PIF grant program is part of an “overarching master plan for public higher education in Massachusetts,” which is known as the Vision Project.

“The Vision Project is based on the premise that Massachusetts needs the best-educated citizenry and workforce in the nation,” Abel stated. While other states may be able to lure industry and business using other means, such as tax breaks and lax regulation, Abel contends that through investing in public higher education, Massachusetts will be able to lure industry and business “with our brain power…our brain power in Massachusetts is our calling card.” Abel considers the PIF program to be a “down payment” on that investment in public education.

In order to qualify for the PIF grants, public campuses had to demonstrate a commitment to five key educational outcome areas of the Vision Project and also had to request funding for activities that supported one or more of these areas. The five areas are college-going rates; student learning and assessment; workforce development; closing achievement gaps; and college graduation and success rates. As you can see from the graphic below, most of the 18 campuses that received the PIF grants put an emphasis on improving college graduation and success rates.

The State decided on which public campuses would receive the grants using an external, independent review panel. As Abel commented, “the feeling was that we wanted to get some outside expertise on these grants to make sure the process was fair and impartial.” You can see below for a full list of PIF winners. Check back with New England Post for more news pertaining to higher education in the Bay State, as I am now on the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s official press list.

Community Colleges

• Berkshire Community College - $131,088
• Bunker Hill Community College - $200,802
• Greenfield Community College - $122,004
• Holyoke Community College - $70,000
• Massasoit Community College - $174,843
• Middlesex Community College - $123,936
• North Shore Community College - $145,212
• Northern Essex Community College - $135,053
• Quinsigamond Community College - $180,471
• Springfield Technical Community College - $144,125

State Universities

• Framingham State University - $59,100
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design - $53,800
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts - $150,000
• Salem State University - $218,149
• Worcester State University - $233,417

UMass Campuses

• UMass Boston - $155,000
• UMass Dartmouth - $125,000
• UMass Lowell - $108,000

Related posts:

1. RI Economic Board to Vote on Grants to Woo Company
2. Boston Launches First Bike Share Program in Mass.
3. Ford Partners With Zipcar To Bring Focus/Escapade Models To College Campuses; Zipcar Celebrates With “Name That Zipcar” Competition
4. 15 “Innovation Schools” Across Massachusetts Receive A Shared $660,000 In Grant Money
5. UMass Amherst Welcomes Largest, Most Academically Successful Freshmen Class In The University’s History

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Posted by erik devaney on Sep 6 2011. Filed under Featured - For home page featured article, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry