{"id":23256,"date":"2023-09-29T16:13:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T20:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2023\/09\/29\/who-is-a-high-school-completer-new-guidelines-for-eligibility-under-the-massachusetts-tuition-equity-law\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:35:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:35:01","slug":"who-is-a-high-school-completer-new-guidelines-for-eligibility-under-the-massachusetts-tuition-equity-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/09\/29\/who-is-a-high-school-completer-new-guidelines-for-eligibility-under-the-massachusetts-tuition-equity-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is a High School Completer? New Guidelines for Eligibility Under the Massachusetts Tuition Equity Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Haverhill, MA (September 29, 2023) \u2013 A month after Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey celebrated the <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/08\/22\/governor-healey-celebrates-tuition-equity-at-northern-essex\/\">Tuition Equity Law<\/a> on the Northern Essex Community College Lawrence Campus, the state Department of Higher Education (DHE) has released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.edu\/tuitionequity\/\">new guidelines<\/a> to determine which students qualify for the program. <a href=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Group-shot-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-27073 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Group-shot-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"188\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The law allows anyone who meets the criteria listed below to access in-state tuition and financial aid at the Commonwealth\u2019s public colleges and universities. Collectively, this group of students are referred to as \u201cHigh School Completers.\u201d \u00a0And while all students can benefit from this expanded access to affordable higher education, the Tuition Equity Law notably carves a pathway for certain non-US citizen students, including undocumented students.<\/p>\n<p>High School Completers have:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Attended high school in the Commonwealth for at least three years<\/li>\n<li>Earned a diploma or the equivalent (a GED\/ HiSet) in the Commonwealth<\/li>\n<li>Met other documentation requirements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The law is retroactive to July 1. Northern Essex President Lane Glenn shared that this means some students who are currently enrolled or took classes over the summer could be entitled to a refund.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you are an enrolled student and previously were not eligible for in-state tuition or state financial aid, but, after applying and being assessed, you are now determined to be eligible under the new Tuition Equity Law, you may be eligible to have your account credited,\u201d Glenn noted.<\/p>\n<p>Students should contact their institution\u2019s financial aid office and complete the application process to determine eligibility. Information specific to Northern Essex students can be found on the <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/admissions\/tuition\/equity\/\">webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuition Equity at NECC<br \/>\n<\/strong>President Lane Glenn has been at the forefront of advocating for tuition equity in Massachusetts. Nearly 20 years after initial proposals, the Tuition Equity Bill was championed in the MA Senate\u2019s FY24 Budget, and Governor Maura Healey signed the provision into law on August 9, 2023.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorthern Essex Community College has a campus in the Gateway City of Lawrence, also known as the \u2018Immigrant City,\u2019 and I know firsthand that this important policy will immediately benefit students in Lawrence and across the Commonwealth, make Massachusetts more economically competitive with other states, and better prepare the workforce we need in the years ahead,\u201d said Glenn of the bill\u2019s passage.<\/p>\n<p>The Tuition Equity Law was celebrated with a <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/08\/22\/governor-healey-celebrates-tuition-equity-at-northern-essex\/\">special event and press conference<\/a> on the Lawrence Campus of Northern Essex featuring Governor Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, and Senate President Karen Spilka.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_27074\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Joan-at-Podium-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27074\" class=\" wp-image-27074\" src=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Joan-at-Podium-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-27074\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joan S. at the Tuition Equity Law Celebration<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Several students also attended, including Joan S., a <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/academics\/credit-programs\/health\/general-studies-health-specialization\/\">General Studies: Health Professions<\/a> major at Northern Essex. She moved to the United States from Tanzania when she was just ten years old. At age 16, she found out she was undocumented, which made her goal of one day becoming a nurse practitioner seem even further out of reach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order to apply for the nursing program, I had to take prerequisite classes, which would typically take a person a semester or two to complete; however, it took me years because I had to take one or two classes at a time. Because of my status, these classes cost three times the amount an in-state student pays for tuition,\u201d Joan shared with the audience in a moving speech. \u201cWith the passing of this new bill, I now feel as though I have an opportunity to pursue my education further.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A recording of the event, including Joan\u2019s remarks, can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dtCdTlj9jUM\">here<\/a>. To learn more about Tuition Equity at Northern Essex and eligibility requirements, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/admissions\/tuition\/equity\/\">webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Haverhill, MA (September 29, 2023) \u2013 A month after Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey celebrated the Tuition Equity Law on the Northern Essex Community College Lawrence Campus, the state Department of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":25799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11,18,20],"tags":[623],"class_list":["post-23256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-spotlight","category-students","tag-tuition-equity"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Who is a High School Completer? 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