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.”

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.”

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. 

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed an emergency preamble to a gun reform bill passed this summer, a move that prevents the law from being suspended while opponents work on a ballot measure to put before voters in two years.

The law addresses, among other things, ghost guns and red flag laws.

“We needed to give time to our agencies and municipalities to take the steps and do what they need to do in order to get ready for implementation on Day One,” Healey said Wednesday.

Critics say that doesn’t tell the whole story.

“Jobs will suffer, people’s lives will suffer, because of this action she is taking today,” said spokesman Toby Leary of Civil Rights Coalition, a group calling for the gun law’s repeal.

Gun advocates collected thousands of signatures in recent weeks hoping to push pause on the bill until voters could weigh in with a 2026 ballot question.

“Now, she’s saying, ‘Nope, we’re not going to allow that process to happen,’” said Leary. “‘You can still put it to a vote in two years, but you’re going to live with the law we signed,’ and I feel that is a subversion of the Constitution.”

Healey and others balk at that framing.

Gov. Maura Healey held a ceremonial signing for Massachusetts’ new gun reform bill that bans Glock switches and more, bringing praise from advocates, though the National Rifle Association said it plans to challenge the legislation.

“The system is there, it’s a democracy, you can go to your legislature and you can advocate for policy and advocate for laws,” Healey said. “That’s the way the system works.”

“The vast majority of Massachusetts residents wants this bill and want it to take effect as soon as possible,” said Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka.

As for opponents of the bill, attention now turns to the courts.

“It’s all reaching a crescendo, and we’re tired of being the whipping post,” said Leary.