Connecting Communities through Digital Equity

An Action Plan for State, Community, and Private and Institutional Partners

Ben Forman and April Anderson
The COVID-19 pandemic brought much-needed attention to the digital divide and its profound implications for social and economic opportunity in our commonwealth. Across a range of sectors, public and private, leaders committed to addressing this challenge once and for all. Massachusetts has made progress over the past two years, but considerable work remains. Fortunately, leaders read more
Topic(s): Education

Sizing Up Massachusetts’ Looming Skilled-Worker Shortage

Ben Forman and Simone Ngongi-Lukula
In an extensive 2014 report with the UMass Donahue Institute, MassINC predicted the 2020’s would be the first decade in Massachusetts history to post a reduction in the state’s working-age, college-educated population. Drawing on the limited data available, this research brief explores how the COVID-19 pandemic disruption could impact our previous estimate. The analysis surfaces read more
Topic(s): Education, Jobs and Economic Security

Investing in Success

Findings From a Cost–Benefit Analysis of Massachusetts Community Colleges

Ben Forman and Simone Ngongi-Lukula
Building on 2021 MassINC research, this new report provides a rigorous and comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of Massachusetts community colleges. The findings document large returns to students who graduate with certificates or degrees. While taxpayers also realize substantial fiscal benefits on a per-degree basis, low graduation rates mean returns on state expenditure are minimal in the read more
Topic(s): Education

Choosing Integration

A Discussion Paper and Policy Primer

economic segregation, school integration
Ben Forman and Simone Ngongi-Lukula
Choosing Integration describes how economic segregation leads to high levels of racial and ethnic inequality in Massachusetts and contrasts this serious structural issue with the significant benefits that all students realize when they attend schools that are fully integrated by race, ethnicity, and income. The analysis, funded by Policy for Progress, shows Massachusetts has seen read more
Topic(s): Education

Pathways to Economic Mobility

Identifying the Labor Market Value of Community College in Massachusetts

Ben Forman
New research shows that simply attending community college increases employment rates, while a certificate or degree sparks increases in employment and earnings – including an increase of as much as $14,000 annually in salary in some fields. read more
Topic(s): Education, Jobs and Economic Security

From Transactional to Transformative: The Case for Equity in Gateway City Transit-Oriented Development

Tracy A. Corley, PhD, Ben Forman, Elizabeth Haney and Catherine Tumber
Transformative Transit-Oriented Development recognizes that equity is the key to transforming cities and towns in Massachusetts, and the country. In Massachusetts, a decades long economic boom has not always reached Gateway Cities, yielding uneven growth and investment that have deepened inequities across places, races, classes and cultures. The coronavirus pandemic has amplified these disparities. To read more
Topic(s): Strong Communities, Economic Development, Transportation, Gateway Cities, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development

Using 40R and 43D to Stimulate Transformative Transit-Oriented Development in Gateway Cities

Elizabeth Haney
This policy brief is the third in a series exploring state and local level approaches to generating transformative transit-oriented development (TTOD) in Gateway Cities. This brief examines two additional state incentive programs—43D Expedited Permitting and 40R Smart Growth Zoning—as tools to spur Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in Gateway Cities read more
Topic(s): Economic Development, Transportation, Gateway Cities, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development

MassForward

Advancing Democratic Innovation and Electoral Reform in Massachusetts

Peter Levine, Ben Forman and Laurel Bliss
Produced in partnership with the Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, this report argues Massachusetts will need the varied experience, expertise, and service of its diverse population in order to tackle the numerous and increasingly complex challenges that the future promises to hold. The analysis reveals four major structural forces that inhibit many read more
Topic(s): Elections

Drafting an Action Plan for Early College Expansion

Ben Forman
Building on the June 2019 MassINC report exploring the promise of Early College High Schools, this discussion paper examines strategies to sustainably finance these programs. The analysis describes the additional costs associated with delivering the model with fidelity, and looks at how leading Early College states invest funds to help school districts and their college read more
Topic(s): Education

Prioritizing Equitable Growth Through Fare Policy

Elizabeth Haney, Tracy A. Corley, PhD and Ben Forman
This policy brief explores the concept of fare equity and demonstrates why the current commuter rail fare structure makes train travel uneconomical for many Gateway City residents, especially those living in the immediate station areas. The brief also provides a deeper understanding of why affordable fares are a critical precursor for transformative transit-oriented development and read more
Topic(s): Transportation, Research, Transformative Transit-Oriented Development
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