Press Release: 2025-01-22

Healey-Driscoll Administration Files Historic Bill to Modernize Public Higher Education Campuses in Massachusetts

 



Transformative, $2.5 billion bill represents the largest proposed investments in capital improvements for UMass system, state universities, community colleges in decades



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:



1/21/2025



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Karissa Hand, Press Secretary



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Call Karissa Hand, Press Secretary at 617-725-4025



BRIDGEWATER — Representing the largest proposed infrastructure investments in Massachusetts’ public higher education system in decades, Governor Maura Healey today filed historic investments to transform and modernize the UMass system, state universities, and community colleges. 



The investments were announced as part of a bond bill filed today –An Act to Build Resilient Infrastructure to Generate Higher Education Transformation (the BRIGHT Act) – that will leverage Fair Share surtax to unlock significant new funding for capital improvements. The investments will help modernize campuses, including new labs, classrooms and improved mental health facilities – to ensure Massachusetts’ public higher education system can best serve students and keep the state economically competitive. The bill will also create approximately 15,000 construction-related jobs.



Governor Healey made the announcement at Bridgewater State University after touring their Cyber Range, where students learn in-demand cybersecurity skills. The Governor pointed to the Cyber Range as an example of the state-of-the-technology and facilities that this bill will support at colleges and universities across the state.



“Our public university and college campuses have suffered from historic underinvestment since they were built in the 1970s. We refuse to kick the can down the road any longer when it comes to educating our kids and training our workers of tomorrow,” said Governor Maura Healey. "With these transformative infrastructure investments, we will give students a cutting-edge education in our affordable public universities and colleges, create thousands of good-paying jobs for our workers and keep our state economically competitive for years to come.”



“By providing critical resources to modernize and upgrade campuses, the plan we are unveiling today will better position our public higher education institutions to offer Massachusetts students cutting-edge educational opportunities,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll.“We look forward to putting these investments into action and seeing the benefits for generations to come.”   



Among the improvements the investments will make include:




  • Infusing new resources into proven programs that address deferred maintenance, modernize and decarbonize facilities, and construct major capital projects. 

  • Creating labs, classrooms and training facilities that meet the needs of today’s research and applied learning methods, such as web development, robotics and automation, advanced manufacturing, construction management and building trades, and more.

  • Improving facilities for student health, mental health, wellness, and safety. 

  • Encouraging regional secondary and higher education partnerships that strengthen our workforce.

  • Incentivizing technology capital projects, such as improvements in online or hybrid workspaces. 

  • Continuing the successful Workforce Skills Capital Grants program.

  • Supporting housing development by providing for higher education institutions’ costs associated with the disposition of land and buildings.



Much of the infrastructure on public higher education campuses in Massachusetts was built in the 1970s and is increasingly unable to meet the evolving needs of students. Yet addressing this aging infrastructure is increasingly expensive given rising construction costs, decarbonization mandates, regulatory requirements, labor shortages and material price increases. As a result, campus infrastructure needs are growing well above what traditional capital funding sources can accommodate.  



Governor Healey’s forthcoming House 1 budget proposes to leverage $125 million in Fair Share revenues from Fiscal Year 2026 to support an estimated $2.5 billion in new borrowing for higher education infrastructure over the next 10 years. The BRIGHT Act works in tandem with this proposal, authorizing up to $3 billion in investments for campuses, ensuring the administration has the authorization and flexibility it needs to address public higher education capital needs.



“Our proposed strategy to borrow against Fair Share revenues is modeled on an approach we have successfully deployed in the transportation sector through the Commonwealth Transportation Fund,” said Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz. “The bill we are filing today puts these new resources to work to ensure our campuses can address their significant deferred maintenance backlogs and decarbonize their infrastructure while also modernizing to meet the needs of today’s students and workforce. I am grateful to the Higher Education Working Group for their guidance as we developed this strategy.”  



“The Healey-Driscoll Administration has made significant investments in higher education affordability in partnership with the Legislature, which has boosted enrollment at community colleges and increased enrollment at 4-year institutions for the first time in over a decade,” said Education Secretary Dr. Patrick Tutwiler. “These capital investments will ensure that students can learn in more modern, green and innovative spaces, setting them up for success in today’s workforce.”



"With the support of the Legislature, this unprecedented investment in higher education facilities will enable DCAMM to support the Commonwealth’s campuses as they modernize to meet the educational needs of today’s students, decarbonize to limit impacts to a changing climate , and address significant deferred maintenance backlogs due to aging infrastructure.” said Capital Asset Management and Maintenance Commissioner Adam Baacke.



“This bond bill meets the moment. Enrollment at our two and four-year institutions is surging after years of declines,” said Higher Education Commissioner Noe Ortega. “This historic investment will transform our public campuses and ensure students and faculty have the absolute best environments to learn, grow and thrive.”  



The BRIGHT Act is informed by a report from the Higher Education Capital Working Group that was established in Massachusetts’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget. The report, which is being released in tandem with the filing of the BRIGHT Act, summarizes the capital needs of the public higher education institutions and confirms the viability of leveraging Fair Share revenue to unlock new capital dollars. The report, and additional information on the BRIGHT Act can be found here.



Under this administration, Massachusetts has doubled state spending on financial aid, adding over $200 million in two years to make community college free and public four-year colleges and universities more affordable for working families. Massachusetts now has one of the most accessible, equitable and comprehensive free community college programs in the country for full-time and part-time students, regardless of income. This has led to a projected 14% increase in community college enrollment this fall. Further, the administration made four-year colleges and universities tuition- and fee-free for Pell-eligible students, while halving out-of-pocket costs for middle-income students. Enrollment at public four-year colleges in Massachusetts increased for the first time in over a decade this year.



Statements of Support



Frederick W. Clark, President, Bridgewater State University:



“We are deeply grateful to Governor Healey and her administration for putting forward a capital bond bill for deferred maintenance on our public campuses. Although we work hard to address the need as best we can by utilizing student fees and modest state funds, BSU alone still has more than $200 million in deferred maintenance. State support to modernize campus facilities is absolutely critical to enhance affordability, accessibility, and academic excellence for the students we are privileged to serve.”



John Keenan, President, Salem State University, State University Council of Presidents:



“Coupled with the previous investments in financial aid, and fueled by Fair Share returns, the Healey-Driscoll Administration is making truly historic and transformative investments into our public higher education system by both increasing access and addressing decades worth of deferred maintenance offering state-of-the-art facilities our students deserve and our workforce needs.”



Marty Meehan, President, UMass: 



“We are deeply grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration and to the members of the Higher Education Capital Working Group for this transformative legislation on behalf of our campuses and our students. This legislation, and the report and recommendations that underpins it, demonstrates the methodical and evidence-based approach that Governor Healey, Speaker Mariano, Senate President Spilka, and the Legislature bring to issues that significantly impact the Commonwealth as a whole. We look forward to working with the Administration and legislative leadership to secure this critical funding which will help us continue to provide world-class facilities for our students and faculty, pursue our sustainability and energy efficiency goals, and address our deferred maintenance backlog for the long-term fiscal health of the university.”



Nate Mackinnon, Executive Director, Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges:



"While Free Community College has resulted in large increases in enrollment, our students are too often learning in aging buildings that are in dire need of repair and modernization. The BRIGHT Act filed by the Healey-Driscoll Administration will provide the level of investment in campus infrastructure public higher education so desperately needs.”