PHENOM
Public Higher Education Network of
Massachusetts
Who is PHENOM?
• A non-profit organization made up of
students, faculty, and members from
the community. We are working
towards not only making public
higher education more affordable, but
ultimately free.
PHENOM’S 5 Basic Principles
• 1. Fund public higher education so it can serve the
commonwealth: The commonwealth must provide an
increase in year-to-year operating budgets, among other
things and a means to ensure stable state funding for public
higher ed.
• 2. Make higher education affordable: Every resident of the
commonwealth should be able to afford public higher
education, from tuitions and fees to textbooks--- it should be
affordable to ALL.
• 3. Make higher education accessible to all: The
commonwealth should actively be trying to provide clear
pathways, appropriate supports, and greater resources to
ensure that under-represented youth and adult learners
have access to, succeed in, and graduate from our public
higher education institutions.
5 Basic Principles Ctd…
• 4. Hire more teachers, researchers and staff: Our public
colleges and universities must hire sufficient numbers of fulltime research and teaching faculty, for whom salaries and
benefits should be competitive nationally, and must improve
the conditions under which part time and non-tenure-track
faculty work, resulting in better service for our students, our
community and our economy.
• 5. Honor and expand democratic institutions of governance
for public higher education: Colleges and universities should
respect the autonomy of campus governance bodies,
especially student governments and student organizations,
and increase democracy on campus and throughout public
higher ed.
“The Real Cost of Higher
Education”
(Based on average tuition and fees for 2010-2011 as reported by the College Board
and assumed to increase 6 percent annually. It does not include any additional
fees.)
College Costs Are Very High In
MA
• Only 3 states have higher in-state tuition at public 2-year
colleges than MA. ($4,273 compared to the national average
of $2,982).
• Only 7 states have higher average in-state tuition at public 4year colleges than MA ($9,148 compared to the national
average of $6,874).
• Think private colleges in MA might be cheaper? Nope. MA has
THE highest average tuition rates at private colleges in the
country.
• Only 7 states cut state suppor more than MA last year (7.1
percent from FY 2009 to FY 2010 compared to the national
average of 2.1 percent).
But the U.S. is Better Off Than
Other Countries Right?!?!
• NO.
• The “uncoordinated cutting of funding for higher education
that we generally see in the U.S. State systems” has not been
seen in other countries. Support for higher education is a
national priority in many countries which embrace the
Keynesian idea of using government investment to push an
economic recovery. The United States higher education is
funded by states which must run balanced budgets.
• Report by the Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC
Berkeley
The Rich Pay Far Less Than
They Once Did
Top Marginal Tax Rates– What the Richest People
Pay in Income Taxes
32.4%
1945
94%
2010
Is Higher Education A Top
Priority for the United States?
More Info?
• Here are the sources for all the information I found, so you can
check it out for yourself!
http://www.phenomonline.org
http://www.savingforcollege.com/tutorial101/
the_real_cost_of_higher_education.php
http://www.defendpubliceducation.org/sites/d
efault/files/Leaflet%20(1).pdf