PITTSFIELD, Mass. — State Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega will be the keynote speaker for Berkshire Community College's 65th commencement at Tanglewood in Lenox on Friday, May 30, at 4:30 p.m.

 

Ortega was sworn in as commissioner in 2022. He has led the Department of Higher Education through a time of historic investment by the state Legislature and Healey-Driscoll administration in affordability and access for all learners in the commonwealth.

 

"We are truly excited to have Commissioner Ortega speak to our graduates this year," said BCC President Ellen Kennedy. "We know he has spent a lot of his career focused on access, especially for underserved populations, and I think he'll have a compelling story and sage advice to share with our students this year."

 

He received his bachelor of arts in political science from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, his master of science in school counseling from Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, and his Ph.D. in higher education policy from the University of Michigan. His research has focused on postsecondary success for historically underserved students and higher education finance at American public colleges and universities.

 

Before coming to Massachusetts, he was the secretary of education for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and, as deputy secretary and commissioner for Pennsylvania's Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education, he led efforts to close postsecondary attainment gaps and to diversify Pennsylvania's educator workforce. Prior to that, he held several academic and administrative roles at the University of Michigan.

 

Ortega began his education career by spending seven years as director of Kogakusha, a language institute in Osaka, Japan, where he trained teachers in early childhood language acquisition. He then spent nearly a decade working in the areas of financial aid and enrollment management at public and private universities in Texas and also served as a P-16 specialist for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

 

During Ortega's tenure, Massachusetts has more than doubled its investment in the state's financial aid programs. These investments have made the commonwealth's public community colleges free and made its public four-year colleges and universities tuition and fee free for Pell Grant-eligible students, while reducing costs for middle-income students.

 

He is dedicated to closing equity gaps through the Board of Higher Education's four strategic priorities: student success and affordability, economic mobility, public good, and innovation.

 

More information about BCC's commencement can be found here.