Education

Fithian, a 1987 Clark graduate, was chosen for the job at the Worcester school in January, when he spoke of the importance of listening to the community’s needs and facing bold ideas.

As the nation reels in the wake of a violent and deadly mob breaking into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in response to President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, leadership in and around the Central Mass. business community condemned the violence and called for healing.

Framingham State University will freeze undergraduate tuition and fees, as well as standard housing rates, for the 2021-2022 academic year, in an attempt to provide relief to students and families experiencing hard times, the school announced on Monday.

After finding their way through the dark in the fall semester, colleges look to navigate spring and fall 2021 semesters with fewer unknowns.

After the events of 2020, businesses will be pressured to show results of their efforts.

In December 2019, no one could have predicted what was to come in 2020. Still, the major trends and news items for the year largely stayed on track. Of the 10 predictions made by the WBJ Editorial Staff for the year, seven came true.

Every December, the WBJ Editorial Staff makes 10 predictions of news events and trends coming in the next year for the Central Massachusetts economy. Here's what they expect to happen in 2021.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has won a $3-million grant from the National Science Foundation to start a graduate program aimed at helping to create more environmentally sustainable communities.

Quinsigamond Community College will offer free nurse assistant and home health aide training and administrative medical professional programs next year, thanks to grant funding.

UMass President Marty Meehan said there is still "significant uncertainty related to spring enrollment." The likelihood of any additional federal aid also remains uncertain, Meehan said.