Meet Our Students
Serving 150,000+ students, the Massachusetts Community Colleges account for 49% of undergraduate credit enrollments and represent 42% of the students in the Massachusetts public higher education system. The Community Colleges educate the largest share of students of color, and serve the highest percentage of low-income students in our state’s public higher education. The Community Colleges also support K-12 education through collaborative partnerships, including: school-to-career programs, college planning, early college, dual enrollment, and articulation agreements with VocTech high schools.
The Massachusetts Community Colleges are committed to an open admission policy. Residents who have earned a high school diploma, GED, associate degree or higher have the opportunity to enroll in a degree or certificate program.
Why Community College?
The fifteen Massachusetts Community Colleges offer accessible, high quality, and affordable academic programs to residents in every corner of the Commonwealth. With so much uncertainty in this moment, the Community Colleges provide the safest option to begin or continue your higher education journey, offer the greatest flexibility to students whose plans are still changing, are close to home at a time when it truly matters, and remain the most affordable option for students.
Our credit and noncredit offerings help students receive high quality instruction toward an associate degree, transfer to a 4-year institution, or earn short-term credentials to jump directly into the workforce.
In addition, we are in a moment where many workers will have to be retrained, re-skilled, and further educated to find their way back into this new economy. The Community Colleges offer training in the most needed healthcare professions, IT and cyber security jobs, and first responder roles like EMTs, firefighters, and police officers, among many others.
The Community Colleges are ready to provide you with every tool you need to work towards your higher education goals and career aspirations. Let us help you find the one that’s right for you.