{"id":31255,"date":"2011-03-09T23:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T04:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2011\/03\/10\/necc-receives-funding-for-high-school-dual-enrollment\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:38:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:38:42","slug":"necc-receives-funding-for-high-school-dual-enrollment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/03\/09\/necc-receives-funding-for-high-school-dual-enrollment\/","title":{"rendered":"NECC Receives Funding for High School Dual Enrollment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifty-three local high school students are taking courses at Northern Essex this semester, thanks to funding from the Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Program<\/p>\n

Local high school students are benefitting from $24,000 in Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Program (CDEP) funds which Northern Essex recently received from the state. As a result, 53 high school students from across the Merrimack Valley are taking courses at Northern Essex during the spring semester and receiving both high school and college credits.<\/p>\n

According to Charles Diggs, Northern Essex\u2019s assistant dean for enrollment services, students from 11 local high schools, including Amesbury, Bradford Christian Academy, Georgetown, Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical, Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen, North Andover, Pentucket, Triton, and Whittier Vocational Technical High School, are taking courses which began January 24. Their tuition is paid for with the CDEP funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cDual enrollment has many benefits for high school students,\u201d according to Diggs. \u201cWhile some want to take courses that aren\u2019t available at their high school, others just want to experience college and get some college credits. It\u2019s proven that dual enrollment students are better prepared for college level work when they graduate from high school and tend to be more successful in college.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Program (CDEP) is the only state-funded dual enrollment program in Massachusetts. It provides funding for eligible high school students to take college-level courses free of charge at Massachusetts’ public higher education institutions and earn credit simultaneously toward a high school diploma and future college degree. Students may take college courses taught by college faculty on campus, on line and at their high schools.<\/p>\n

In addition to offering individual high school students the opportunity to take college courses, Northern Essex also has several innovative dual enrollment partnerships with area high schools. Examples of these partnerships include:<\/p>\n