Page 20 - BusinessWest November 24, 2025

EDUCATION >>
Moving On Up
American International
College Provost
Michael Dodge
Partnerships Like
Early College Make
Higher Education
More Accessible
BY JOSEPH BEDNAR
[email protected]
When Michael Dodge thinks about the 227 students
from Duggan Academy in Springfield currently tak-
ing classes at American International College (AIC),
he understands who benefits the most — and it’s not necessar-
ily the academic high achievers who already have their eyes on
college.
“We’re reaching the ones saying, ‘college isn’t for me,’ or
‘I’m not smart enough,’ or ‘no one in my family has gone to col-
lege.’ And we’re saying, ‘this program is for you.’ We’re helping
students that might not have thought of college as an option —
helping it become an option for them.”
Dodge, AIC’s provost, was describing the college’s rela-
tionship with Duggan, which began three years ago with
high-schoolers taking classes for college credit, and has now
become much more robust with AIC being designated as a
Massachusetts Early College Program by the state’s joint Early
College Committee.
AIC, in partnership with the Springfield Empowerment
Zone Partnership (SEZP), is one of 18 new Early College pro-
grams announced this year by the Healey-Driscoll administra-
tion, and the only private college west of Worcester to receive
this designation.
“Those students are taking a total of 900 credits,” Dodge
said. “Given our successful pass rates with Duggan, that’s
bringing in a significant number of students who are picking
up a lot of college coursework that they now have under their
belts as they think about where they want to go after high
school.”
Notably, the program is a ‘wall-to-wall’ model in which every
Duggan student participates. Students have the opportunity to
earn up to 60 college credits — at no cost — before graduating
from high school. Courses focus on high-growth, high-wage
fields including allied health, education, and criminal justice.
“We wanted to focus on fields that are in demand and lead
to well-paying jobs,” Dodge said. “This puts them on a path to
pursue an associate degree either at AIC or a community col-
lege or another four-year institution.”
The model ramps up the college coursework as they
advance, he explained. Freshman year orients them to the
expectations of a college class, and what follows is course-
work in general education classes that are easily transferable,
regardless of institution.
“Those include things like English composition, analytical
writing — things that can help them be better writers and criti-
cal thinkers, which sets them up for success when they get to
their junior year and senior year,” Dodge noted.
In those final two years of high school, students are blend-
ing college-credit courses at Duggan with classes they actu-
ally take on the AIC campus, he explained. “We want you to
come to AIC, but regardless of where you go, you’re setting up
a strong foundation to help you be able to keep pace with the
academic rigor that exists at a college.”
While Duggan students have already been earning AIC col-
lege credits, the new designation is designed to build on that
“We’re reaching
the ones saying,
‘college isn’t for
me,’ or ‘I’m not
smart enough,’
or ‘no one in my
family has gone
to college.’ And
we’re saying, ‘this
program is for
you.’”
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