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Article: New England's Higher Education Leadership Ebbs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- Change
- Article date:
- November 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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As New England's proportion of the national population has fallen--from 5.9 percent in 1960 to 4.9 percent in 2000--so has its proportion of higher education enrollment (5.5 percent in fall 1999). Enrollment rose 3 percent nationally from 1991 to 1999, while falling 1.6 percent in the region.
Boston Magazine editor Jon Marcus offers two explanations for the enrollment decline. In the last decade, the number of 18- to 21-year-olds increased 4.3 percent nationally but decreased almost 12 percent in New England. The region's colleges are costly: in fall 2000, average tuition was $4,748 and $17,482 at four-year public and private institutions, respectively, compared ...