SALEM — Salem State College President Patricia Meservey testified at the Statehouse yesterday in support of a bill that would give university status to state colleges.
"It would position us to be more competitive in the national arena of higher education," Meservey said after her appearance before the Joint Committee on Higher Education.
Meservey and Bridgewater State President Dana Mohler-Faria were the only state college presidents to testify on a bill that would also grant university status to state colleges in Framingham, Westfield, Worcester and Fitchburg.
The designation would acknowledge the reality of colleges like Salem State, which offers a "comprehensive" program and undergraduate and graduate degrees in business, education, nursing and many other fields, Meservey said.
"In almost any other state in the country, we would be called a university," she said.
The word "university" would place the college in a better position to compete for students, faculty and funds from around the country, Meservey said.
It would also keep more Massachusetts students at home, backers said. Nationally, only 24 percent of students go to college out of state, compared with 31 percent of Massachusetts students.
"We don't want to change our mission," the Salem State president said. "Right now, we see ourselves as a comprehensive teaching university, and that is what we want to be. As we go forward, being able to use the label of 'university,' we believe, would strengthen our position."
One of the few negative notes was sounded by a state senator from central Massachusetts who raised concerns that state colleges, once they become universities, will compete for limited research funds against the University of Massachusetts.
"I don't really see that as a realistic hurdle," state Rep. John Keenan of Salem said.
A vote on the bill has not yet been scheduled.
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