To submit school announcements, click on image.
Northern Essex Community College will use $453,065 in new federal aid to assist first-generation, low-income or disabled students graduate and transfer to four-year colleges.
Congresswoman Lori Trahan, who made the announcement Thursday, noted Mount Wachusett Community College was also awarded $1.2 million and Middlesex Community College, $411,936 from three U.S. Department of Education programs intended to help first-generation, low-income and nontraditional students get to college, stay enrolled and graduate.
“For so many students, community college is where a bigger future begins. It’s the first person in a family to earn a degree, the parent going back to school, the worker learning a new trade. This funding helps more of them finish what they started,” said Trahan.
Northern Essex Community College received its award through the TRiO Student Support Services Program, which the school plans to use to support its Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence Program, or PACE, program, which helps students develop three skills necessary to complete their degrees, succeed in the workforce or transfer to a four-year institution to complete their bachelor’s degree. Founded in 1980, the college’s PACE program serves more than 250 students annually.
“NECC’s PACE program has supported thousands of Merrimack Valley students over the past 40 years,” said Northern Essex Community College President Lane A. Glenn. “We know funding like this can’t always be guaranteed, and so are grateful for Congresswoman Trahan’s advocacy for our region’s students.”
Trahan is the only Massachusetts member of Congress serving on the House Education and Labor Committee during the 116th Congress. She helped craft the College Affordability Act to crack down on predatory for-profit colleges and ensure students can spend less while earning a meaningful degree. In December 2025, the House Education and the Workforce Committee passed Trahan’s bipartisan Student Financial Clarity Act to help students and parents seeking higher education understand the true cost of their degree program.