{"id":31290,"date":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/1970\/01\/01\/hhs-necc-early-college-program-receives-designation-award-from-governor-program-now-free-to-families\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:39:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:39:43","slug":"hhs-necc-early-college-program-receives-designation-award-from-governor-program-now-free-to-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/1970\/01\/01\/hhs-necc-early-college-program-receives-designation-award-from-governor-program-now-free-to-families\/","title":{"rendered":"HHS\/NECC Early College Program Receives Designation Award from Governor; Program Now Free to Families"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Haverhill High School Early College Program with Northern Essex Community College received the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/news\/baker-polito-administration-designates-new-early-college-programs\">seal of approval<\/a> from Governor Charlie Baker and his administration, during a ceremony held Thursday, June 13 in Boston.<\/p>\n<p>The HHS\/NECC Partnership was one of 13 across the state awarded designation by the Governor after a rigorous selection process.<\/p>\n<p>With the new awards, there are now 35 high schools in Massachusetts with designated Early College programs, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/lhsearlycollege\/\">Northern Essex\u2019s partnership with Lawrence High School<\/a>, which received designation last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExposing students to early college is a way to create opportunities for students to earn college credits in high school and encourage them to continue pursuing a degree,\u201d Governor Charlie Baker said. \u201cWe believe early college has such an impact on student success that our administration proposed making it part of a school district\u2019s state aid calculations so that more districts can provide students with these opportunities.\u201d Early College programs combine traditional high school classes with college courses through a local public college or university to give high school students knowledge and exposure to an area of study.<\/p>\n<p>The HHS\/NECC Early College Program began five years ago, and the first graduates\u2014a group of 18\u2014 were recognized in January of 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Up until now, families have been asked to help cover the costs, but with this new designation, all courses within the program will be free to HHS families, beginning this fall.<\/p>\n<p>This fall, 88 Haverhill High School juniors and seniors are enrolled in the Early College program.\u00a0 They will take two courses each semester and a January intercession course, and by the time they graduate from high school, they will each have 28 to 30 college credits, close to a full year of college studies.\u00a0 All courses are taught on Northern Essex\u2019s Haverhill Campus and students will travel by bus to campus from the high school in the afternoon.\u00a0 Students can choose from different pathways: liberal arts, business, healthcare, education, social services, criminal justice and STEM.<\/p>\n<p>The college hopes to grow the program to 100 students by 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Keighley Credit, a 2019 HHS grad, will be transferring to UMass Boston in the fall with 30 college credits.\u00a0 As the featured speaker at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/05\/23\/hhs\/\">Early College Recognition Ceremony<\/a> in May, she called Early College one of \u201cthe most underrated opportunities that we as high schools students have the opportunity of taking advantage of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She credited Early College will allowing her to save a year\u2019s worth of time and money as she pursues her bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology.<\/p>\n<p>Northern Essex currently has\u00a0Early College Programs\u00a0with Lawrence, Haverhill, Whittier and Amesbury high schools.\u00a0Last fall, there were 300 high school students receiving college credit from Northern Essex by enrolling in Early College Programs or other high school partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex Community College, is pleased that the Governor and his administration has made Early College a priority.\u00a0 \u201cThese students learn how to be successful in college and they also save a considerable amount on the cost of their college education.\u00a0 Early College programs address student success and college affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are still spaces available for the fall.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more, visit the website or contact NECC at 978 659-1235 or <a href=\"mailto:pk12@necc.mass.edu\">pk12@necc.mass.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>With campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence, Northern Essex Community College offers over 60 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.\u00a0 Each year, close to 8,000 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 2,600 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.\u00a0 For more information, visit the website at www.necc.mass.edu.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; The Haverhill High School Early College Program with Northern Essex Community College received the seal of approval from Governor Charlie Baker and his administration, during a ceremony held Thursday, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>HHS\/NECC Early College Program Receives Designation Award from Governor; Program Now Free to Families - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/1970\/01\/01\/hhs-necc-early-college-program-receives-designation-award-from-governor-program-now-free-to-families\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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