Noe 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 state legislature and Healey-Driscoll Administration in affordability and access for all learners in the Commonwealth. He has overseen the launch of programs that led to Massachusetts more than doubling state financial aid, including free community college (MassReconnect and MassEducate) and affordable public university opportunities (MASSGrant Plus). Prior to serving as commissioner in Massachusetts, Dr. Ortega was secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and before that, deputy secretary and commissioner for Pennsylvania’s Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education (OPHE). Dr. Ortega spent eight years at the University of Michigan, where he held several academic and administrative roles, and he served the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for nearly a decade in the areas of financial aid and enrollment management. Dr. Ortega began his education career by spending seven years as director of Kogakusha, a language institute in Osaka, Japan. He 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 a Ph.D. in Higher Education Policy from the University of Michigan.