Hildreth Institute Report Warns Massachusetts Risks Missing Opportunity to Convert College Access Gains into Degrees
The Hildreth Institute has published its latest report, Big Gains, Growing Strains: Public Higher Education Funding After the Fair Share Amendment, which provides a detailed overview and analysis of Massachusetts public higher education funding over the last decade-plus. In a major win for the state, recent investments have significantly expanded access to public higher education. However, the Commonwealth risks falling behind on the follow-through investments needed to convert those gains into higher levels of degree attainment, workforce development, and economic mobility.
This decade, Massachusetts has made one of the most significant investments in public higher education in a generation. Following the passage of the Fair Share Amendment in 2022, which added billions to state coffers, the Commonwealth directed a portion of these new revenues toward expanding student financial aid. This included launching a universal tuition-free community college program and expanding existing tuition-free programs at public four-year institutions, with the goal of increasing student access.
The results are visible:
State financial aid more than doubled within a few years of Fair Share implementation,
In-state community college enrollment increased by 41 percent between fall 2022 and fall 2025, returning to pre-pandemic levels, and
Enrollment declines at state universities and UMass have stabilized after a decade of contraction.
However, this report finds that while recent investments have meaningfully expanded access, signs of strain are emerging. The funding needed to sustain those gains and support student completion is already beginning to fall behind. Most immediately, state student financial aid is already moving in the wrong direction, declining as enrollment grows, so students will receive less support than last year.
This shift reflects a broader decline in the state’s commitment to higher education funding. After initially receiving23 percent of available Fair Share revenues, the public higher education system now receives barely 10percent of Fair Share funding. This decline has occurred even as Fair Share revenues themselves have grown.
The results of this proportional decline in Fair Share funding have been that:
State financial aid is already declining while enrollment continues to grow, resulting in an estimated $762 drop in support per student, an amount large enough to threaten many students’ ability to stay enrolled,
The stability of the tuition-free access and stipend promise is increasingly at risk as funding fails to keep pace with demand,
Our public colleges are being asked to serve more students with fewer resources per student, straining instruction and limiting the support students need to succeed,
Community colleges, serving the highest share of low-income and first-generation students, remain funded at far lower levels than public four-year institutions, and
Student support programs like academic advising, coaching, and basic needs assistance are not keeping pace with enrollment growth nor expanding to the scale of completion challenges.
Massachusetts has made a clear promise to students: community college tuition and fees are free. Enrollment growth suggests that students took that promise seriously. As participation rises, however, the credibility of that commitment depends on sustained and predictable funding that supports students not only into college, but through completion.
Without sustained follow-through investment in financial aid stability, instructional capacity, and student success initiatives, the Commonwealth risks missing a historic opportunity to convert expanded college access into higher levels of degree attainment and long-term economic mobility for its residents.
You can find the full report here: www.hildrethinstitute.org/biggainsgrowingstrains
