UMass Amherst Launches Early College Program Giving High School Students Opportunities to Earn College Credit for Free

Source: UMass News and Media

University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan and UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes announced on September 18 that UMass Amherst has launched an early college pilot program that gives students at five high schools in western Massachusetts opportunities to earn UMass college credits at no cost. The program exposes students to college-level work and provides academic supports designed to encourage more economically disadvantaged, underrepresented, and first-generation students to enroll in higher education.

UMass Amherst is the latest campus to join the UMass system’s efforts to make college more accessible and affordable through early college programs. Early college allows high school students to earn transferable college credits for free, with some students in the Commonwealth earning up to two years’ worth of college credits before they graduate high school. A 2023 study from MassInc shows that early college doubles the likelihood that students enroll in college and persist in higher education.

 “Early college is one of the most promising initiatives we have to eliminate barriers to college for thousands of students,” said UMass President Marty Meehan. “Through our early college programs, we are giving students the experience and confidence they need to thrive in college and provide them with a financial head-start with the credits they earn at no cost to them. Across our campuses, we are working hard to expand opportunity and create innovative pathways so more Massachusetts students can access a world-class UMass education.”  

“Increasing access opportunities is fundamental to our mission as a land-grant university,” said UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes. “Early college provides a unique pathway for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students from our surrounding communities to see themselves at UMass and begin to realize the transformative power of higher education in building a brighter future.”

During his 2024 State of the University speech in March, President Meehan pledged to triple early college enrollment at UMass to serve more than 2,000 students over the next five years and broaden its reach to more rural communities where schools tend to be smaller and offer fewer college-level courses, in addition to continuing to expand in Gateway Cities.

The addition of early college at UMass Amherst helps achieve the goal and reaches both rural communities and Gateway Cities. UMass Amherst is partnering with Easthampton High School, Granby High School, Hopkins Academy in Hadley, as well as The Renaissance School and Libertas Academy – both in Springfield.

Rural communities experience challenges in offering early college courses due to small class sizes, staffing limitations and other resource gaps, while students in these schools face the same barriers to enrolling in college as their peers in urban areas. In rural communities across the United States, only 29 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 are enrolled in higher education, compared to nearly 48 percent of their peers in urban areas and 42 percent in suburban communities, according to the U.S. Department of Education. In Massachusetts, out of more than 190 schools designated as rural, only four currently offer early college.

The university launched its early college initiative, known as the Commonwealth Collegiate Academy, in the Fall of 2022 with approximately 170 students at seven high schools. This Fall with UMass Amherst’s launch, more than 1,125 students from 22 high schools will be enrolled in the university’s early college program across all four campuses. In the spring 2024 semester, high school students enrolled in UMass early college courses earned 2,307 credits, which represents approximately $1 million in tuition savings for students and their families.

UMass early college complements the statewide early college initiative designed to boost college-going rates of underrepresented minority, first-generation and economically disadvantaged students. Governor Maura Healey and the Legislature designated more than $30 million for early college programs in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget.

“Early college is a game-changer for students across MA who face barriers to college completion because it prepares students to be successful, makes college less expensive, and reduces the time it takes to earn a degree. In Massachusetts where the vast majority of well-paying jobs require a college degree, we need lots more students taking part in early college, and we applaud the UMass system for helping to make that a possibility,” said Erika Giampietro, executive director of the MA Alliance for Early College, a coalition of college success organizations, businesses organizations, schools, and others.