It’s indisputable. College is an expensive proposition, and economic, demographic and political forces are making it an increasingly expensive one for states and students. Colleges in NH are fighting over fewer students and adapting to changes in state support, international student populations, grant funding and student aid programs.
New Hampshire’s colleges and universities create $17.1 billion in total economic impact, supporting 114,262 jobs and contributing $636 million in local and state tax revenue, according to a 2025 report by the NH College & University Council. The state’s 22 institutions — 12 private and 10 public — enroll more than 320,000 students including online learners, with roughly 66,000 based in NH.
But beneath those figures lies one problem that has worried advocates for years. New Hampshire ranks dead last in the nation in state funding for public higher education, and that was the case long before the Legislature slashed funding to public four-year higher education in the current biennium budget by 14% last spring. This led to restructuring and layoffs across the University System of NH.
“The data is clear that New Hampshire is last in the nation when it comes to public funding of its universities,” says Mica Stark, president and CEO of the NH College & University Council, which marks its 60th anniversary this year and represents 19 public and private institutions. “We’re 50th in the country, and not by a little bit.”
That funding gap forces public colleges to lean harder on philanthropy, tuition revenue and creative partnerships to keep pace. Stark says the council’s role is to find common ground among the state’s colleges and universities, aligning them around shared priorities like strengthening NH’s talent pipeline and economic future.
“We’re an advocate for higher education,” he says. “We look for issues of common interest where we can play a convening role, support good public policy and push back against policies we think could be damaging to higher education.”
Among its recent wins, Stark says, was protecting the UNIQUE Annual Allocation Scholarship that provides $2,500 scholarships for Pell eligible students, and helping defeat legislation that would have expanded firearms access on campuses.
Stark argues the funding fight isn’t abstract policy but more about whether NH can keep producing the young talent it needs. “We need to continue attracting students to come to school here and stay here,” he says, pointing to expanding nursing and health sciences programs, employer partnerships and paid internships as part of how colleges and universities are responding.
The fight for students
For nearly two decades, higher education leaders have braced for the “demographic cliff,” the long-predicted decline in college-age students as birth rates fell after the 2008 recession.
However, UNH was able to buck the trend this year. “Across New England, colleges reported about a 2% decline in deposits on May 1,” says Kim DeRego, vice provost of enrollment management at UNH. “A lot of institutions around us saw declines, so we were really, really pleased that we saw an increase in our students.”
As of the May 1 national deposit deadline, UNH surpassed its enrollment target for fall 2026, seeing a nearly 4% jump in incoming class size from last year. The university received 2,471 first-year student deposits for fall 2026. Out-of-state enrollment grew 7%, with every New England state contributing at least 5% growth over the prior year. In-state enrollment held steady despite broader regional demographic declines, reflecting UNH’s strengthened position in the market.
UNH’s gains, DeRego says, came from leaning into a value proposition involving what she calls “strong outcomes at a justifiable cost.” The university publicizes that 96% of its graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation, versus a national average of about 86%. More than 90% of UNH students receive financial aid or scholarships, with averaging grants around $13,000.
Notably, between 72% (for the college of liberal arts) and 96% (for business majors) of 2025 graduates were employed in their field within six months and the average full-time salary for graduates according to a 2025 First Destination survey by UNH was $80,787. “We’ve really tried to drill down on our messaging around UNH as a top-value institution,” DeRego says. “Families are looking for excellent outcomes for what they’re having to pay.”
She believes the message tapped into the economic anxiety being felt by many. “I think it really resonated in this moment where families are nervous about what’s going to happen in the future,” she says, though she’s careful not to call it a final victory. “Higher education is changing so fast that we can’t count on anything.”
Saint Anselm College, a private university in Manchester, took a similar approach. Outgoing president Joseph Favazza, who retired June 30 after seven years leading the college, says boosting in-state enrollment and keeping graduates in NH’s workforce was a defining priority during his tenure. The college launched the Anselmian Community Commitment in fall 2025, guaranteeing tuition for NH students from families earning $100,000 or less who maintain at least a 3.25 GPA. The program, funded through a combination of operating budget and endowment revenue, is supplemented by federal and state financial aid.
“We wanted to grow our New Hampshire enrollment,” Favazza says, explaining the college has been able to maintain at least a quarter of its student body being from NH. He adds the college has seen undergraduate enrollment growth over the past four years, with the Class of 2029 representing the largest in its history. “People saw Saint Anselm as being affordable, and many were surprised that our financial aid packages were competitive with other instate institutions.”
In 2025, the college also opened Grappone Hall, home to the Jean School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Nursing student applications have surged from roughly 850 to more than 1,100 over the past year. This year the school stopped accepting nursing applications in mid-March because seats had already filled.
Community colleges and access
The Community College System of NH (CCSNH) is leaning into its role as the state’s affordable, flexible on-ramp to careers. It received $500,000 extra from the state for its Early College Initiative program where high school students take college classes for dual credit. Outgoing Chancellor Mark Rubinstein, who retires this month after leading the system since 2022, rejects the narrative of higher education in decline.
“We’re in a growth industry,” Rubinstein says. “People are going to need access to relevant, effective, high quality learning throughout their professional lives.”
The Community College System has expanded apprenticeships, online learning and short-term workforce credentials, and is preparing to launch programs eligible for the new federal Workforce Pell Grant. Its Early College initiative serves more than 11,000 students annually on primarily $3 million in annual state support, saving families more than $15 million in tuition and fees. Between 2017 and 2025, the system graduated nearly 2,000 registered nurses, 90% of whom remain employed in NH.
Rubinstein sees community colleges as central to closing shortages in healthcare, manufacturing and skilled trades as AI reshapes work. “The more AI takes on routine tasks, the more valuable the genuinely human skills become,” he says.
Financial pressures
Donald Birx, who serves as president of Plymouth State University and as interim president of Keene State College, is wrestling with financial pressures and painful financial decisions.
Keene State is facing a $3.3 million budget deficit and a drop from 5,000 students in 2015 to 2,800 this year. In January, Birx called for reorganizing the college into three schools—School of Liberal Arts; School of Applied Sciences and Technology; and the School of Education and Professional Programs—to sharpen its workforce focus. The school has reduced 12 faculty positions, nine staff jobs and four executive-level administrators, for total savings of about $2 million, according to Birx.
Plymouth State has expanded robotics, cybersecurity and nursing programs and deepened transfer pathways with CCSNH, but the university has also experienced cuts. In 2025, 17 tenured faculty members accepted a voluntary Separation Incentive Package. Additionally, the university laid off two staff members. Birx acknowledges state funding cuts have forced layoffs. “We had to make some really hard decisions last year to stay financially viable,” he says.
Birx continues: “I strongly believe that Plymouth State and Keene State are essential drivers in New Hampshire’s economic vitality. We equip students with the knowledge, skills and hands-on experience employers need, helping build and retain an educated, highly skilled workforce. That delivers both an immediate and long-term return on New Hampshire’s investment.”
The business case
For the business community, colleges are an important pipeline for bringing young workers in to a state with one of the nation’s oldest populations.
“Higher education is extremely important to our economic competitiveness and workforce,” says Michael Skelton, president and CEO of the Business and Industry Association of NH. “It’s the largest importer of young talent into our state.”
The BIA has long pushed for increased state funding of the University System of NH and CCSNH, helping secure the first state funding increase for USNH in a decade during the 2023 budget cycle— gains that were later reversed in the most recent budget.
“If you look at any state that is growing economically, you’ll find a vibrant public university system and community college system working in close partnership with the business community,” Skelton says. “Workforce drives
economic growth.”
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