Worcester State University

Worcester State University is moving classes online starting Monday for a nine-day period and requiring residential students arriving back on campus after Thanksgiving break to either prove a negative coronavirus test or complete a test right away and quarantine until the results come back.

Enrollment at public colleges in Central Massachusetts has dropped substantially, including by more than 10% at Framingham State University and Mount Wachusett Community College, a trend echoed statewide as higher education has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

Colleges in Worcester are committed to ensuring the health and safety of students and those living off campus, two top city officials are assuring the City Council.

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the world of higher education are becoming clearer, as national enrollment is dropping among graduates and undergraduates, according to a new report from The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, looking at national fall semester data, through Sept. 24.

Central Massachusetts colleges have made it into the Princeton Review's annual rankings, including for best education and more niche categories — like where students study the least, get involved in Greek life or smoke the most cannabis.

Some freshmen at Worcester Polytechnic Institute will spend the fall living at a hotel just off campus. Clark University and Framingham State University have plans in place to isolate students in their dorms while awaiting coronavirus test results.

Government leaders in the United States no longer prioritize funding higher education at levels needed to keep colleges solvent and competitive with overseas options, Massachusetts education leaders said in a Worcester Business Journal webinar Tuesday.

As protests continue across America over the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis — including a protest in Worcester on Monday night — the presidents of six Worcester colleges expressed frustration over racial injustice and sympathy for Floyd and protestors while calling for a systematic change in how the country deals with race relations.

Worcester State University has been awarded $484,130 in grants from Strategic Grant Partners, a Boston venture philanthropy firm supporting nonprofits, the school announced in a press release on Friday.

College leaders in Central Massachusetts are grappling with an upturned admissions period and wondering what fall enrollment will look like if students decide they don’t want to travel far for school, or even whether a fall semester would be able to take place on campus anyway.