Education

A pause on federal student debt payments is slated to lapse on Oct. 1, and a new team within Attorney General Maura Healey's office is preparing for any confusion and questions borrowers might face after the relief program ends.

The Town of Leicester has entered into an agreement with former Becker College and has the option for full acquisition of its Leicester campus for $17.8 million, said Assistant Town Administrator Kristen Forsberg.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute announced on Tuesday it has established a way for full-time teaching faculty to pursue tenure and extended contracts.

Janet Foisie, ex-wife of the late Worcester Polytechnic Institute donor and alum Robert Foisie, has reached an agreement to voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit related to a $4.5-million donation her husband made to the school after the couple’s 2011 divorce, federal court documents show.

Now that college athletes are allowed by the NCAA to make money from endorsements and other business arrangements, lawmakers on the Higher Education Committee plan to study up on how other states have addressed the issue as the panel considers whether Massachusetts should legislate guidelines of its own.

Christopher Dustin, a former philosophy professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, filed a 246-page lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, seeking to reverse his firing and provide unspecified damages for allegedly unfair termination.

On Wednesday, Katherine Hamilton joined the Worcester Business Journal newsroom, as a reporter primarily covering the real estate and healthcare industries.

Worcester human services nonprofit Open Sky Community Services received a $116,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to train police on de-escalation tactics to divert distressed individuals away from the criminal justice system and emergency rooms.

With businesses warning of worker shortages and thousands of prospective students stuck on waitlists, lawmakers and advocates urged the Legislature on Tuesday to inject billions of dollars into Massachusetts vocational and technical schools and to reform their admissions policies.

A UMass Medical School research team, led by Dr. David Cochran, has received a $400,000 grant from the Eagles Autism Foundation, affiliated with the Philadelphia Eagles.