Higher Education

The New England Institute of Technology is now offering a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering technology, the school announced Thursday. May 18

RBS Citizens Financial Group Inc. has announced the expansion of its student lending business to include private student loans to college students in the continental United States. May 16

Richard R. Spies, who, as executive vice president for planning at Brown University, has been side-by-side with President Ruth Simmons in her vision for expansion, is leaving the university this December. May 15

The Providence-New Bedford-Fall River area ranks 48th out of 100 for the percentage of college-educated young adults in the metro area, according to an On Numbers analysis of the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. May 14

PROVIDENCE – Brown University’s new continuing-education offices are now open on Dyer Street, in the downtown neighborhood lawmakers and educators have dubbed the Knowledge District as they work to align skilled workers with in-need employers. May 12

DARTMOUTH – One-quarter of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth seniors in the mechanical-engineering program recently won the department’s thesis-project competition. They garnered the prize for most effective and useful design for their work on a high-temperature annealing oven used to create semiconductors for Fall River firm MicroMagnetics, a company specializing in magnetic sensing and imaging. May 12

Several landmark developments in the University of Rhode Island’s efforts to remain at the forefront of digital-forensics education and training are pushing the South Kingstown institution toward potential new funding sources and collaborations that will enhance its academic reach in preparing students for what it sees as a burgeoning job marketplace. May 12

Adriana Dawson has been appointed the state director for the R.I. Small Business Development Center, RISBDC announced late Thursday. May 10

Research into fighting disease in shellfish and healing burns with vibrations were among eight projects awarded more than $1.4 million in state grants Wednesday. May 9

Incoming college students no longer on the whole represent their recent predecessors, who move from home to a dorm room and dedicate their time solely to learning – and so, educators say, learning structures no longer should be catering exclusively to that model. May 5