Mass. Senate OKs state college name change

The state Senate voted by an overwhelming 34-2 margin Thursday evening to approve House-passed legislation allowing state colleges to call themselves universities.If Gov. Deval Patrick now signs the bill, Salem State College would henceforth be known as Salem State University.Salem State College spokesman Karen Cady said the college serves approximately 10,000 students per year, including undergraduate, graduate and continuing education programs.”Looking at peer institutions around the country, most are universities,” Cady said. “This is a change that would fall in line with what 45 other states have already done.”Cady said universities tend to attract more applicants, even those that are smaller institutions.”And in the international market, college denotes high school,” Cady said. “The name university would give our graduates a more competitive edge.”Giving the commonwealth’s nine state colleges university status would not group them in with the six University of Massachusetts schools (including UMass Online and UMass Medical School in Worcester). The UMass school are research-based schools, Cady explained, whereas the nine state colleges are teaching-based schools.”The change would be in name only,” Cady said. “And we have money set aside for new stationary and signs.”With the Senate passage of the bill, Cady said, “This is truly an exciting day for Salem State. Of course the big step will come with the governor’s signature.”Other state colleges would also receive these new names: Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University, among others.Supporters of the bill claim it will help raise the profile of the public higher education system while critics say the name change won’t improve education and masks spending reductions the system has absorbed.The state House of Representatives voted 124-21 last Thursday to pass the legislation.