Massachusetts now has free community college. Will you enroll?
A new state scholarship program, MassReconnect, covers community college costs for residents over 25 who have not previously earned a degree or certificate.
Massachusetts is the latest state to offer free community college to its residents. MassReconnect, a new state program signed into the fiscal 2024 budget last month, makes it free for students aged 25 and older, to earn an associate’s degree or certificate.
The program will help address the “severe workforce shortages” across the Bay State, Governor Maura Healey said in an interview with the Boston Globe.
The scholarship program has $20 million earmarked in the budget, with an additional $18 million set aside to provide financial assistance to nursing students.
With the fall semester having already started or expected to start soon for Massachusetts community colleges, we want to know your thoughts about this new program.
The only steps necessary to sign up are enrolling in at least six credits per semester in an approved program of study at one of the Commonwealth’s 15 community colleges and completing the 2023-2024 FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid). There is no deadline to sign up.
The program is part of a growing trend of free community college programs across the country. Forbes reports that at least half of U.S. states offer free community college for students in some form.
In fact, Healey modeled the MassReconnect program after a Michigan Reconnect program. State officials there said the program has helped more than 100,000 Michigan residents pursue tuition-free degrees or certificates since it launched in early 2021.
The MassReconnect program would be a last-dollar program, meaning it would pay for college costs after all other sources of federal and state grant aid have been exhausted. Covered costs include any remaining tuition and fees due, the cost of books and supplies, student support services, as well as programs or activities during the summer months.
Among the students who would be eligible are those who have “stopped out” of college, meaning they have withdrawn from enrollment at a college or university for a period of time. As of July 2021, more than 719,900 Massachusetts residents have some college credit but no degree, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The program could not come at a better time for Massachusetts community colleges, which were severely impacted by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising cost of living caused by inflation. Between the fall of 2019 and the end of the fall 2022 semester, Massachusetts community colleges collectively lost nearly 13,000 students, according to the Boston Globe.
With this new initiative, we want to hear from you. Do you think the program will help address the state’s labor shortages, as Healey intends? If you’re a Massachusetts resident eligible for the program, will you enroll? How will free community college impact you?
Fill out the survey below or e-mail [email protected] and your response may appear in a future Boston.com article.
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