Early College

MassINC research estimates that the state’s working-age college-educated population will fall by approximately 192,000 residents by 2030, and shows that Black and Hispanic students are currently earning degrees at less than half the rate of white students. Early College programs are turning this tide.

Early College is one the most promising K–12 strategies that is addressing Massachusetts workforce needs and narrowing persistent academic and economic opportunity gaps. In Early College, students take real college classes with strong career orientations during their regular high school day that count simultaneously toward high school and college. Students graduate from high school with significant college credits, at no cost to them or their families, reducing the cost and time to degree completion, and they graduate with the confidence, habits, and skills needed to be successful in college and career.