By Benjamin Heffner | Observer Contributor
In June 2024, Bryce Caron graduated from Gardner High School with not only a high school diploma, but college credits as well under his belt. Caron earned his college credits through the North Central Massachusetts Early College Academy, a division of MWCC’s Early College & Dual Enrollment Department. He is now continuing his studies at Springfield College majoring in Psychology with two minors in Athletic Coaching and Sports Analytics. “Dual Enrollment really helped me get an understanding of what to expect at a college level and made the transition from high school to college so easy. I was able to make so many meaningful connections and spend the time I would have spent stressing on the small things with friends,” Caron said.
Of the approximately 3,831 students enrolled in the Fall 2024 semester at MWCC, approximately 598 are high school students earning college credits, and some even their associates degree, all while simultaneously earning their high school diploma, as well as saving an average of $30,000 in college tuition and fees. The program was founded 20 years ago in 2004 and is currently led by K-12 Partnerships and Civic Engagement Dean Fagan Forhan and Assistant Director Sara Vettese.
The first division of the program was Gateway to College, designed specifically to assist high school dropouts. It received support and assistance from the Gates Foundation, founded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his then wife Melissa. “We wanted to help students enter a more relaxed environment,” Vettese said. However, there soon became a problem. “We were having students fail high school intentionally to be accepted,” Forhan said.
So, in 2010, the second division, named Pathways, was introduced. This division provided twenty academically motivated high school students, per year, with the opportunity to earn their high school diploma and an associate’s degree while completing their junior and senior years of high school taking courses at MWCC.
While both the Gateway and Pathways divisions were thriving, there remained a gap for students who were not struggling academically, but did not meet the rigorous standards to be accepted into Pathways. However, as the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education noticed the success of other dual enrollment programs across the state, more programs were being added and financially supported.
The term dual enrollment is often described as “a course in which enrolled high school students receive credit as high school and as college students.” While programs vary from state to state, they all share the same goal of motivating students to help them build their academic career and help them transition from high school to college. Dual enrollment students have their own office separate from the Advising Center, located on the Gardner campus in room H348, where they work with their college advisor and high school guidance counselor to meet graduation and transfer requirements. Most dual enrollment students take their courses at the Gardner campus, though some take courses online or on their high school campus. The most common courses on campus, like College Writing I and Statistics, have sections just for early college students. However, students can also take traditional college courses based on their interests.
One professor involved with Dual Enrollment since its early conception is philosophy professor Dan Soucy. Soucy has taught early college students in all his courses and will teach three early college sections for the Spring 2025 semester: Medical Ethics, Interdisciplinary Capstone, and Intro to Philosophical Issues. Soucy said he was excited when he learned about the dual enrollment programs. “I always thought that if I learned philosophy in high school, I would’ve learned it in college.” He also talked about the impact that dual enrollment has on high school students. “A lot of students are unafraid to ask questions which makes me a better teacher. The majority of students really want and are eager to be at the college level.”
Today, there are 7 Dual Enrollment divisions at MWCC, ranging from traditional programs like Gateway, Pathways, and ECA, to niche programs like Automotive and Fire Science. All dual enrollment students have access to the same resources as traditional MWCC students. Forhan & Vettese have
said the amount of confidence that students possess is beyond noticeable. “Students are extremely confident in their own abilities. They are more prepared than their high school peers.”
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