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Free community college in Massachusetts expected to draw 45,000 students within a year

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Free community college in Massachusetts expected to draw 45,000 students within a year


WELLESLEY – Tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents are expected to take advantage of a new policy expanding eligibility for free community college in the state, Gov. Maura Healey says.

Healey was part of a celebration of the MassEducate program at MassBay Community College Wednesday. 

She said 10,000 students have enrolled in community colleges for the fall semester, more than double the number of students who qualified for free tuition under “MassReconnect” a year before. 

“This is a big deal,” Healey said. “And we estimate that it’s going to be 45,000 in no time, in just a year.”

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What to know about free community college in Massachusetts

The governor’s budget dedicated $117.5 million for the free community college program. Much of it is being funded through the “Millionaire’s Tax” in Massachusetts. 

Anyone without a bachelor’s degree who has lived in Massachusetts for at least a year and enrolls in about two classes per semester is eligible for free community college. There is also an allowance of up to $1,200 a year for books, supplies and other expenses, depending on a student’s household income. 

“It’s a revolutionary change in higher education in Massachusetts,” MassBay president David Podell said.

Senate President Karen Spilka said that community college enrollment “going through the roof” will help close the workforce gap in Massachusetts.

“Our community colleges help fill the gaps in health care, early education and care, life sciences, automotive,” Spilka said. “We need skilled, talented folks going into all of these areas.”

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Helping students afford a higher education

Ziakeya Haggerty is 36 years old and was never able to earn a higher degree.

“I had went to college years ago and never finished,” she said. “I realized that I just couldn’t afford it.”

But as Massachusetts expanded free community college eligibility, Haggerty learned about the free tuition possibility and enrolled at Roxbury Community College. She has plans to go to medical school and use her degree to help her neighbors in Boston.

Now Haggerty says she is doing her best to spread the word about free community college. 

“Everybody I talk to, I inform, ‘you know you can go back,’” she said. 

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Massachusetts

Top Places to Work in Massachusetts: Explore the winners lists and more – The Boston Globe

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Top Places to Work in Massachusetts: Explore the winners lists and more – The Boston Globe


Day-to-day work can be a grind — the same slog to the office or job site, the same bad coffee, the same Zoom squares.

But the world of work itself is ever changing.

Employers must constantly make room for a new generation of workers, the current crop of whom are complex: technology whizzes who yearn to lead but are seemingly unafraid to skip out on jobs they’ve already been hired for.

At the same time, the number of older workers is on the rise, including three 80-plus-year-old salesmen at the Newton Highlands restaurant wholesaler Boston Showcase Co. who help younger co-workers understand the difference between what customers want and what they need.

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We’re also trying to figure out how to deal with the explosion of meetings that has turned office workers into Zoom zombies while grappling with our cellphone addictions, which are admittedly a welcome distraction during all those meetings.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives have taken a beating in recent years, despite the fact that many of these efforts are simply about making everyone feel more welcome at work. Leaders at Entrada Therapeutics in Boston adjusted slide presentations to accommodate people who are colorblind while Boston online auto retailer CarGurus provides nonalcoholic beverages during work happy hours to make nondrinkers feel more comfortable.

The best employers know how to consider the many ways work changes — and stays the same — and keep people happy all the while. Kymera Therapeutics in Watertown, for example, takes employees on deep-sea fishing trips. At another Watertown biotech, C4 Therapeutics, employees are entered into a drawing each quarter to win two weeks of extra paid time off.

This year, 175 companies made the Globe’s annual Top Places to Work list, including 39 newcomers. In all, the employee engagement company Energage, based in Exton, Pennsylvania, invited more than 8,000 organizations with employees in Massachusetts to participate. Nearly 68,000 workers at 323 companies rated their employers on leadership, values, training, benefits, and other metrics. The rankings are broken down into four size categories: small (50-99 employees); medium (100-249); large (250-999); and largest (1,000 or more).

The data for these rankings are based on company profiles at the time the surveys were conducted earlier this year.

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Winning employers are well aware of the balancing act required to meet employees where they’re at while keeping them engaged and motivated. And they know a few extra weeks off or a deep-sea fishing trip never hurts.


Explore the winners’ lists (by company size) and more:

TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2025 TOP PLACES TO WORK SURVEY: Visit bostonglobe.com/nominate


Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her @ktkjohnston.





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Board explores allowing 3-year bachelor’s degree for colleges in Massachusetts

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Board explores allowing 3-year bachelor’s degree for colleges in Massachusetts


Board explores allowing 3-year bachelor’s degree for colleges in Massachusetts – CBS Boston

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Leaders in Massachusetts are weighing whether to allow colleges to offer three-year bachelor’s degrees. WBZ-TV’s Penny Kmitt reports.

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Wind advisory for 3 Massachusetts counties until Thursday night

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Wind advisory for 3 Massachusetts counties until Thursday night


A wind advisory was issued by the National Weather Service on Wednesday at 3:54 a.m. valid from 7 p.m. until Thursday 10 p.m. for Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties.

The weather service comments, “Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts 40 to 50 mph possible.”

“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” says the weather service. “Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.”



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