About MTA Higher Education
The MTA represents approximately 18,000 higher education members. They work on the Amherst, Boston and Lowell campuses of the University of Massachusetts system, at nine state universities, and at 15 community colleges. Members include faculty, part-time and continuing education faculty, administrators, librarians and support staff.
Illuminating the need to defend public higher education
MTA higher education locals — working with The Illuminator, a group of activist artists based in New York City — lit up campuses and communities on Nov. 18 and 19 with high-powered projections and personal messages as they advocated for the funding necessary to stop damaging job and program cuts on their campuses — and support, rather than the crushing burden of debt, for students. The tour included Springfield, Amherst, Worcester, Dartmouth, Boston and Salem, and it drew union members from community colleges, state universities and UMass campuses.
Take Action
Tell Campus Leaders to Defend Public Higher Ed
In the wake of the biggest health crisis in the last century, many administrators are jeopardizing the future of Massachusetts public higher education by continuing to lay off and furlough staff and faculty at exactly the moment our students need them most.
Call on campus leaders to do their job and protect our state universities, colleges and UMass for current and future generations of students.
Students are going into deep levels of debt because the state has failed to properly fund public higher education. The MTA is collecting stories that illustrate the impact of student debt as well as the serious need for increased state funding for our public colleges and universities.