Our Voices
Why Massachusetts Needs its Own Student Loan Bill
Why Massachusetts Needs its Own Student Loan Bill of Rights Click to download this issue paper An alarming trend has emerged in which the federal government is systematically failing at overseeing student loan servicing agencies. Reports show that since President...
Massachusetts’ Lending Failure A closer look at the No Interest Loan (NIL) Program
Click to download this issue paper Executive Summary: Unknown to many, Massachusetts has its own student loan program, the No Interest Loan (NIL) Program. This program offers generous terms where students can borrow a maximum of $20,000 in interest-free loans over a...
Massachusetts’ Disinvestment in Higher Education A Closer Look at State Aid, Tuition Rates, and Student Debt
Click to download this issue paper Executive Summary: Massachusetts has experienced deep cuts in higher education funding in the last two decades. This has resulted in significant tuition increases and one of the fastest-growing student debt burdens in the nation....
First-Gen and their Families
I am a first-generation college student. Which now seems to operate as click-bait rather than a truly foundational identity trait. For anyone who is first-gen, a parent of a first-gen, or a younger sibling they understand the weight of that phrase and its...
Legislature should look to private donations to fund UMass
Avoid tuition hikes, which burden families for decades to come 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...
Testimony: An Act Establishing a Student Loan Bill of Rights
By: Bahar Akman Imboden Chairs Feeney and Chan, Vice Chairs Welch and Livingstone, and members of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure: My name is Dr. Bahar Akman Imboden, and I am the managing director of the Hildreth Institute, a...
The Importance of Asking
By Sam Findlen-Golden I grew up in a family that expected me to go to college as long as I can remember. I was lucky enough to have a good public education, parents who had gone to college themselves, and an older sibling to go through the process before me and...
State and National Higher Ed Policy Updates — June 2019
Massachusetts Updates: Student Loan Bill of Rights Hearing It has been exciting to see that several states have been working hard and moving their Student Loan Bill of Rights forward; this month, Maine signed SLBR into law, and California has made steps toward...
Testimony: Ban on Revoking Professional Licenses Briefing
By Bob Hildreth Thank you to Representative Higgins for bringing this event together and leading the fight to end this unjust law. And thanks to the other organizations here today who are working to help students get out from under the burden of debt. Bob...
Let’s #PassFairShare
Massachusetts prides itself on its outstanding higher education, yet it saddles its students with massive amounts of debt. Rather than normalizing this as a right of passage, Hildreth Institute advocates for making higher education as affordable as it is high...