Commissioner Ortega

Noe Ortega, Ph.D., was sworn in as Massachusetts Commissioner of Higher Education on November 1, 2022. He has led the Department of Higher Education (DHE) through a time of historic investment by the Healey-Driscoll Administration and state legislature in affordability and access for all learners in the Commonwealth. Dr. Ortega is dedicated to closing equity gaps through the Board of Higher Education’s four strategic priorities: Student Success and Affordability, Economic Mobility, Innovation, and Public Good. 

Massachusetts has more than doubled its investment in state financial aid during Dr. Ortega’s tenure, and he oversaw implementation of new and greatly expanded state financial aid programs, including: Governor Healey’s MassReconnect program, which made community college free for students ages 25 and older (2023); MASSGrant Plus, which expanded to provide Pell Grant-eligible students with free tuition and fees at the state’s public two- and four-year institutions along with a $1,200 book and supply allowance (2023); and universal free community college regardless of age and income level (2024). Fueled by community college enrollment growth, Massachusetts public higher education enrollment returned to pre-pandemic levels in fall 2025.

Dr. Ortega’s leadership also saw the expansion of state funding for student support programming such as peer mentors and academic skills workshops. The state’s SUCCESS program that had long supported community college students was extended to serve the nine state universities and, starting in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, the University of Massachusetts.

Dr. Ortega prioritizes innovation as a means for growing college access and student success. Under his leadership, the Department has launched a grant-funded, first-of-its-kind in the nation Innovation Hub to work with the state’s public institutions on piloting and scaling promising approaches to serving students. In doing so, the agency welcomed its inaugural Chief Innovation Officer in March 2026 and launched an initiative with UMass Lowell to grow paid co-operative education (co-ops) throughout the public higher education system in Massachusetts.

Prior to serving Massachusetts, Dr. Ortega was secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, deputy secretary and commissioner for Pennsylvania’s Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education (OPHE). He spent eight years in administrative leadership roles at the University of Michigan, including for the National Center for Institutional Diversity and the National Forum for Higher Education and the Public Good. He has worked in financial aid, enrollment management, and as a P-16 specialist for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. He 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.

Dr. Ortega received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from St. Edwards University, a Master of Science in School Counseling from Texas A&M University-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.