[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 18 (Thursday, February 17, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S1602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, on June 2, 1955, the Governors of six New 
England States recognized the importance of higher education to the 
region and entered into the New England Higher Education Compact to 
share the region's higher education resources and to cooperate in 
meeting the needs of the New England workforce.
  The original signers of the New England Higher Education Compact were 
Governor Abraham Ribbicoff of Connecticut, Governor Edmund Muskie of 
Maine, Governor Christian Herter of Massachusetts, Governor Lane 
Dwinell of New Hampshire, Governor Dennis J. Roberts of Rhode Island 
and Governor Joseph B. Johnson of Vermont.
  The legislatures of the six States ratified the compact and the 
compact was approved by the United States Congress on August 30, 1954, 
and the New England Board of Higher Education was created as the 
interstate agency to carry out the mission of the compact.
  In 1957, the New England Board of Higher Education established what 
has become its flagship program, the New England Regional Student 
Program, to enable New England residents to pay reduced tuition at out-
of-State public colleges and universities in the region when they 
enroll in degree programs not offered by their home State.
  The six New England States agreed in the compact to provide needed, 
acceptable, efficient educational resources and facilities to meet the 
needs of the New England workforce in the fields of medicine, public 
health, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and other fields 
of professional and graduate training. Access and affordability have 
become the hallmark of the Regional Student Program of the New England 
Board of Higher Education.
  The New England Board of Higher Education has, over the course of the 
last 50 years, saved New England students and their families millions 
of dollars in annual tuition bills. The New England Board of Higher 
Education provides professional development training to prepare the 
region's high school teachers and college faculty to teach in the 
fields of math, science and technology for thousands of New England's 
middle, high school and college students.
  The Excellence Through Diversity program of the New England Board of 
Higher Education provides an academic support network to inspire, 
inform and motivate underrepresented high school students to apply to 
college, performs research relating to underrepresented groups enrolled 
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs in New 
England, and supports efforts to increase the number of minority 
doctoral scholars at New England colleges and universities.
  Connection: The Journal of the New England Board of Higher Education 
is America's only regional magazine on higher education and economic 
development that provides a key policy forum for New England educators, 
business leaders, and policymakers to share best practices and current 
views on higher education and economic development.
  For the past 50 years, hundreds of New England's leading citizens in 
government, education, and business have served as delegates to the New 
England Board of Higher Education to encourage regional cooperation, 
increase educational opportunities for residents of the region, and 
strengthen the relationship between higher education and the region's 
economy.
  We join to congratulate the New England Board of Higher Education on 
the occasion of its 50th anniversary, and commend the New England Board 
of Higher Education for its service to New England residents and its 
commitment to excellence in higher education, and in particular, its 
distinguished Board of Delegates led by the Honorable Louis 
D'Allesandro of New Hampshire and its president and CEO, Dr. Evan S. 
Dobelle of Massachusetts.

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