“We want to make sure that all students have access to a great college experience, if they so choose, and we also know that for too long, money’s been a barrier,” Healey told the Globe in an interview this week. “We know from studies that students who’ve done early college have a greater persistence rate, that is staying in college once they start.”

The state says the program is working so far, with about 66 percent of early college graduates immediately enrolling in higher education after high school, and about 82 percent of students returning for a second year. Students from middle-income as well as wealthy families can also participate in the program at no cost.

Proponents of the state’s early college program say exposing teenagers, especially first-generation and low-income students, to college campuses and coursework in high school helps build confidence and increases the likelihood they will go on to pursue higher education.

“It has proven to be a really productive way of creating a bridge for students, many of whom are from communities in which they may not have envisioned themselves as college material,” said David Silva, Salem State University’s provost. “It raises the level of conscious awareness that college is an option.”

In January, Healey announced an additional $8.2 million for early college grants to support dozens of new partnerships between high schools and colleges. The state’s fiscal 2026 budget included over $14 million for early college, which supports programs with more than 75 high schools, as of last fall. The governor hopes to double the number of participating students to 20,000 by 2028.

High school students from all grades and income levels participate in the program, which includes transportation to and from the participating college campuses, as well as support services such as tutoring and advising. Some high school teachers are also trained to support professors teaching the classes.

“I want all students in the state to have access,” Healey said.

Early college dovetails with other efforts in the state to let students graduate in three years, resulting in quicker, less expensive degrees. The state’s board of higher education recently voted to allow colleges and universities to begin experimenting with innovative degree offerings, which has prompted a heated debate over whether bachelor’s degrees should be condensed.

To Healey, it’s an enticing opportunity for pragmatic students who are interested in pursuing college but wary of the price tag, and said she is prepared to push colleges to experiment. A three-year path might not work for every discipline, but Healey sees ample opportunity for colleges to rethink the length of many degree offerings.

“We attract students from all over the world and all over the country,” Healey said. “Imagine if we can innovate and be the first to really make a three-year degree something that you can do — imagine the numbers we’re going to recruit and draw to Massachusetts to take advantage of that in our schools.”

Combining early college with a three-year degree could theoretically cut the cost of a bachelor’s degree by up to 75 percent if a student graduated high school with two years’ worth of credit.

Several students told the Globe it was a seamless transition from early college to four-year programs at public universities in Massachusetts.

Sebastian Rivera, a first-generation college student from Lowell, is working on his bachelor’s degree at the University of Massachusetts Lowell after his high school guidance counselor informed him he was on track to graduate with 23 college credits.

A typical bachelor’s degree requires 120 credits. Realizing he could save a whole year’s worth of tuition was “really a game-changer,” Rivera said.

“That was super powerful to know that I belong in higher education and I have the confidence to tackle this because I was able to do college in high school,” Rivera said.

Gianna McColley wasn’t sure she was going to pursue higher education after high school because of the rising costs. She enrolled at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School in Haverhill, so she would have workforce skills “no matter what.” But experiencing college courses as a teenager made her realize that a bachelor’s degree was within reach if she could walk away with debt-free.

She graduated high school in 2023 with an associate’s degree in psychology before enrolling at Salem State University. McColley is now on a Fubright grant in Spain after graduating with her bachelor’s degree in two years, having studied abroad in Spain and Mexico. McColley said it was at times exhausting and stressful to commit to such a heavy academic load in high school, but said her efforts paid off when she saw how easy it was to transfer her credits to Salem State.

“It’s just a really amazing opportunity,” McColley said. “If there is something offered through your high school I don’t think there is a reason not to take advantage.”

Not all educators are sure the early college program is the best use of state resources.

Nancy Niemi, president of Framingham State University, is skeptical about plans to grow the program and is concerned about the lack of a “strategic plan or framework for helping us figure out, as a Commonwealth,” the best path forward.

“Early College is the Wild West still, across the country and across the Commonwealth,” Niemi said.

She isn’t convinced that high schoolers are developmentally ready for college coursework, and she worries about the cost for Framingham State as the program grows. The state reimburses colleges $180 per credit for early college programs, and institutions must cover any remaining balance for support services, including advising on academic work and possible career trajectories.

“I cannot afford the Early College Program I have,” Niemi said. “Our director’s time is constantly split, thinking about how am I going to get this next dollar? All of that makes me very worried about putting a lot of hope into early college programs.”

Other educators and many students seem optimistic about the state’s efforts to reduce college costs.

Early college has broadened Salem High School students’ “horizons of what they feel like they’re even capable of doing,” said Meghan Grosskopf Sousa, director of Salem High School’s College and Career Center.

The program allows students “to really jump start their college career and for their families to save potentially a year of college tuition and fees without ever even touching their financial aid availability,” said David Crane, dean of the College of Continuing Studies at Bridgewater State University.

Bridgewater has about 360 students in its early college program, and an additional 90 dual enrollment students, Crane said. Dual enrollment students also earn college credit in high school, but they may have to pay for the credits and must work out the logistics on their own.

Edward Coelho, a senior at Framingham High School, expects to graduate with six college credits and is waiting to hear back from his three top schools: Amherst College, Emmanuel College, and Boston University.

Coelho, the son of Brazilian immigrants, said he has already learned from “fantastic professors” through the early college program. His parents have ingrained in him that “education is our gateway to a greater path,” and he is eager to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biology.

Coelho volunteers with younger students, weighing whether they could benefit from college. He believes three-year degree offerings would lead to “a great rise in people trying to get their bachelor’s degree.”

“A lot of kids don’t know if they can succeed in college and they don’t know what they want to do,” Coelho said. “I know a lot of kids who are struggling now, and they’re very scared if they go to college, it’ll be a waste of money, a waste of time.”

Hilary Burns can be reached at hilary.burns@globe.com. Follow her @Hilarysburns.