PHENOM

1. PHENOM Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 5 Basic Principles Ctd… • 4. Hire more teachers, researchers and staff: Our public colleges and universities must hire sufficient numbers of full-time 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.

5. “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.)

6. 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 4-year 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).

7. 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

8. The Rich Pay Far Less Than They Once Did

9. Is Higher Education A Top Priority for the United States?

10. 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/default/files/Leaflet%20(1).pdf