Agenda Summary
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In support of public higher education in Massachusetts.
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Official Text
WHEREAS: Community colleges, state universities, and the University of Massachusetts system play an integral role in fostering the public good in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and
WHEREAS: Public colleges and universities provide education and career training that create pathways for social and economic mobility, thereby reducing inequality among Massachusetts residents; and
WHEREAS: Public colleges and universities are major employers across the state, and students attending these institutions generate significant economic activity in their communities, including in Somerville; and
WHEREAS: Hundreds of Somerville residents, particularly first-generation college students, immigrants, and working families, rely on public higher education as an affordable and accessible pathway to opportunity; and
WHEREAS: Many Somerville graduates go on to attend Massachusetts community colleges, state universities, and UMass, and their success strengthens our city’s civic life, workforce, and economic vitality; and
WHEREAS: Public higher education produces a highly trained and educated workforce that strengthens businesses, industries, and innovation in Massachusetts; and
WHEREAS: Public colleges and universities in Massachusetts conduct research and scholarship that benefit not only residents of the Commonwealth, but people throughout the world; and
WHEREAS: The cost of higher education must not be prohibitive for students, nor should pursuing a degree require taking on debilitating debt; and
WHEREAS: Public colleges and universities are experiencing disruptions in funding, as federal research grants are paused or canceled, and the federal budget under consideration proposes severe reductions in Pell Grant funding, which students rely on to pay for college; and
WHEREAS: Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved the Fair Share surtax on income above $1 million to ge...
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