Programs that have made a community college connection
If there was any question whether the Mass-Reconnect program would connect with the adult population for which it was designed, that’s been answered by the overwhelming response it has generated with that target group.
Just ask Middlesex Community College President Phil Sisson.
After having been caught in the COVID- caused decline in college enrollment that most institutes of higher learning faced, Sisson has indicated that MCC’S Lowell-bedford campuses have experienced a substantial rebound thanks to the new MassReconnect program.
Launched last summer, MassReconnect provides the opportunity for free community college to Massachusetts residents age 25 or older who have yet to obtain a degree. The program pays for all tuition and fees, and provides an allowance for books and supplies.
Initiated in the fall semester, MassReconnect was expected to accommodate about 8,000 students during the first year and 10,000 the second year, though there’s no participation limit. Officials believe as many as 700,000 residents could be eligible to take advantage of the program.
Along with $20million in funding this fiscal year, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration also awarded each of the state’s 15 community colleges $100,000 to help with the “quick implementation of the program this fall.”
In order to participate, a student must be 25 or older on the first day of their classes and have been a permanent Massachusetts resident for at least one year. Participants are required to enroll in at least six credits per semester in an “approved program of study” that leads to an associate degree or certificate at a community college in Massachusetts, and also complete the federal Free Application for Student Aid.
The level of interest in such a program was immediately evident. Last spring, MCC had 5,212 students enrolled in courses at the school. Now, Sisson said that figure has risen to 6,204, an increase of 19%. “That has not happened in at least the last 10 years.”
He said about 1,100 people had expressed interest in enrolling in MCC through MassReconnect, and about 800 students have enrolled through it.
“This was designed by recognizing that, despite the reputation Massachusetts has for its higher education, there are 750,000 people in Massachusetts with no credits, degrees or applicable credentials,” Sisson told the newspaper. “They often have nothing they can apply technically to the workforce.”
After the pandemic forced schools at all levels into remote learning and hybrid campuses, this programhas resulted in the first year
“post- COVID in which Sisson said the MCC has returned to a more complete sense of normalcy and a more vibrant campus.”
“We are now seeing many adults over 25 returning to school, which is what the program was designed for,” said Sisson.
MCC has actually benefited from two programs that cater to demographics not usually associated with the typical college undergraduate.
Middlesex also participates in the state’s Early College Initiative, which allows local high schools to partner with area community colleges in offering high school students the opportunity to take college courses that can earn them college credits before they even receive their highschool diploma.
“These are smaller classes that surround career decision-making and acclimating the students to college expectations,” said Sisson.
While the Massreconnect program is free for those 25 and older, the Early College Initiative offers credits at half their normal cost.
“This has been an amazing partnership with Lowell High School. We’ve even had a number of students in the dual enrollment program that graduate with an associate’s degree before they even finish high school,” said Sisson.
This two-pronged approach has not only swelled MCC’S student ranks, but all the state’s community colleges. It allows individuals who’ve acquired workplace experience and those seeking to find the right path to employment a financially feasible way to reach their goals.
That’s certainly the case at Mount Wachusett Community College, whose president, James Vander Hooven, joined Gov. Healey at Massreconnect’s official launch last August.
“For adults coming to one of the fifteen community colleges in the Commonwealth, Massreconnect removes one of the biggest barriers to attendance: cost,” said Vander Hooven on that occasion.
“By making community college completely free for any adult over 25 in Massachusetts without a degree, the Healey-driscoll administration is making a historic investment in our state’s workforce and providing hundreds of thousands of adults with a clear pathway to a career.”
Let’s hope the state’s investment in these two forward-thinking programs produces the type of worker our employee-starved business community seeks.