Making the numbers add up

WORCESTER – Faced with declining enrollment in its master’s program for math teachers, Worcester Polytechnic Institute has found success by employing a novel concept in higher education: cutting prices.

Since reducing the cost of its Mathematics for Educators (MME) degree from $25,350 to $15,000 a year ago, the once flagging 30-credit graduate program has seen its student-credits increase from 186 in 2015-16 to 287 last academic year, according to the university.

While that rebound is good for WPI, it’s also important for the state’s schools, which are in need of more content-knowledgeable math teachers, WPI officials said. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s analysis, there has been a demand for math teachers in general in Massachusetts for the past decade.

John Goulet, a professor at WPI and coordinator of the MME program, also acknowledged many of those teachers will likely go on to instruct students who end up applying to WPI, which is heavily STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) focused.

WPI’s MME program has been training math teachers since 1976 – "we pretty much had the market to ourselves in Massachusetts and New England" back then, he said – but Mr. Goulet began to notice a drop-off in applicants around 10 years ago.

"I wasn’t sure why," he said, but discussions with students revealed many were struggling to afford the program. "It started to become clear the cost was too high, and that there were alternatives that were cheaper."

When Mr. Goulet came forward with an offer to scale up the program without increasing overhead, according to Kristin Tichenor, the university’s senior vice president, lowering the MME program’s tuition subsequently "seemed like the obvious path forward," she said.

"You could argue there’s a revenue shortfall" in that scenario, she said. "But we don’t look at it that way."

The university’s recent rollout of an online version of the coursework also added to the program’s new selling points, according to university officials, who said the MME program now enrolls several teachers from outside the region.

Among the teachers who have joined the program since the price drop are returning students like Jonathan Conlon, a math teacher at Groton-Dunstable High School.

"I had originally started the program seven years ago," the Lunenburg resident said, but he had to withdraw before finishing it because of the cost. The university’s recent decision to lower tuition ended up being a "huge draw" for him to resume his studies, he said.

While obtaining a master’s in math isn’t a requirement at his school, Mr. Conlon said his department fosters a culture that encourages educators to have an advanced understanding of the material.

"I believe the best teachers have a full grasp of not only the educational pedagogy, but also the content," he said, adding that his aim is to teach from his knowledge of mathematical concepts, not just "from what’s in the textbook."

Aside from the now lower price, the MME program’s focus on mastery of content, rather than general pedagogy, is WPI’s other key allure to teachers hoping to take the next step in their craft, according to officials. For some teachers, the degree they get at the end is almost secondary, Mr. Goulet said – "they were interested in coming here just to learn more content."

"There’s probably no more committed group of people I’ve ever met than high school teachers," he said.

Scott O’Connell can be reached at Scott.O’Connell@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ScottOConnellTG

Video