Page 14 - BusinessWest August 19, 2024

MICHELLE SCHUTT
“Now higher education can be attainable for more people, and that will change families for decades. I’m very passionate about the effects of education, particu- larly generationally. This will have such a huge impact on families, on the work-
force, on social mobility.”
West on Aug. 7. “Applications are up 22% from last year on this date, acceptance is up 33%, and head count is up 11%. And last year, we got 300 students from August 10 to the first day of class, so those numbers should get even better. We couldn’t be more excited and appreciative of our elected officials who had the vision for this.”
MassEducate, a $117.5 million annual investment by the state, covers tuition and fees for all students, plus books and supplies for some. The program aims to support both econom- ic opportunity for students and workforce development across a Massachusetts economy that has struggled, sector by sector, to recruit and retain talent in recent years.
change our fortunes,” Cook noted. “We’ve seen about a 10-year decline in enrollments. With this major policy change, we were able to halt that and go in a different way.”
MassEducate, then, has the potential of building on MassReconnect significantly — and putting a college education within reach for every- one, regardless of economic status, Holyoke Community College (HCC) President George Timmons said.
“We’ve eliminated barriers and dealt with equity and access issues,” he told BusinessWest. “Regardless of your socioeconomic status, back- ground, ethnicity, whoever you are, you can go from kindergarten to get- ting an associate degree as a right in the state of Massachusetts. That’s phenomenal. And it’s huge for the lowest socioeconomic members of society. While there still may be other barriers, finances will no longer be a barrier.”
Michelle Schutt, president of Greenfield Community College, said GCC enrolled 256 MassReconnect students last year, which contributed to turning around an 11-year enrollment decline — a common story among community colleges over the past decade — with a 13% increase last fall. And MassEducate is expected to drive those numbers higher.
“It is so incredibly exciting,” she said when she spoke with Business-
Importantly, the program is a ‘last dollar’ investment, mean- ing students will still access federal funds, like Pell Grants, as well as state aid and scholarships, and MassEducate will pay the costs
that remain, so it’s not funding anywhere near the full cost of a student’s education.
“It’s important to note that we didn’t leave any money on the table,” Timmons noted. “Basically, the state comes in and closes the deal for whatever gaps you may have.”
Schutt believes the program will have far-reaching impacts on stu- dents, families, and the economy.
“It is surreal that K-12 education became free in the Commonwealth in the early 1800s, and here we are, almost 200 years later, finally giv- ing higher education the support it needs,” she said. “Now higher educa- tion can be attainable for more people, and that will change families for decades. I’m very passionate about the effects of education, particularly generationally. This will have such a huge impact on families, on the workforce, on social mobility.”
Back to School
Schutt served on a MassEducate planning committee that met every other week throughout most of the 2023-24 academic year; the group,
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