Northern Essex Community College is making a commitment to students across the Commonwealth that their education will be affordable.
As part of a new Massachusetts cost-saving transfer option, NECC students are eligible to begin their higher education at the community college before transferring to a four-year school with tuition discounts.
Andover’s Shannon Williams is among the first at Northern Essex to take advantage of the Commonwealth Commitment program. Open to full-time students across the state who complete an associate’s degree within two-and-a-half years and a bachelor’s degree within two years while maintaining a 3.0 GPA, the program affords a 10 percent rebate at the close of each semester.
Williams will earn a psychology associate’s degree from Northern Essex in 2018 and a bachelor’s from UMass Lowell in 2020. “I was going to go to UMass Lowell, but it was too expensive,” Williams said. “My older sister came to Northern Essex and then transferred to Merrimack College and my cousin graduated from here; so I decided to start here, too.”
Her Commonwealth Commitment enrollment also allows Williams to utilize a transfer credit and freeze on tuition and mandatory fees.
Students enrolled in 16 majors, including biology, business and computer sciences, are eligible to enroll in the new program. Community college graduates can transfer to any state university or UMass campus.