Danita Mends tried to pursue a university diploma after leaving Needham Public Schools in 2003 however monetary setbacks bought in the way in which.
She labored for the state earlier than shifting to “corporate America.” But she realized she “was hitting ceilings, a lot of opportunities were passing me by. I was constantly overlooked.”
One profession shift later into an inside design program at MassBay Community College and Mends was pregnant together with her son. That ultimately led her to take a break from college till a brand new state program got here calling that allowed her to attend school without spending a dime this 12 months.
“To have this financial burden lifted is amazing,” Mends stated at MassBay Thursday. “And I’m excited for the opportunities that are going to open up and the things that are going to change my family. I have a son watching me now.”
Mends is participating in a program that provides college students 25 and older a free neighborhood school training. The program is predicted to serve about 8,000 college students in the course of the first 12 months and 10,000 the second 12 months, although there is no such thing as a higher restrict on what number of can take part, the Healey administration stated.
The program, dubbed MassReconnect, was handed as a part of the fiscal 2024 funds that Gov. Maura Healey signed into legislation earlier this month. Lawmakers and the administration have signed off on tens of millions to fund MassReconnect, which officers have stated may apply to 700,000 residents.
The Healey administration additionally handed every of the state’s 15 neighborhood faculties $100,000 to assist with the “quick implementation of the program this fall.”
A pupil can nonetheless enroll for MassReconnect for the autumn semester. The solely necessities are enrolling in not less than six credit per semester in an “approved program of study” that results in an affiliate diploma or certificates at a neighborhood school in Massachusetts and finishing the federal Free Application for Student Aid.
“There is no deadline to sign up,” Healey administration officers stated in a press release. “The majority of community college programs begin the first week of September, but there are scattered start dates throughout the semester, so students can enroll at any time.”
A pupil should be 25 and older on the primary day of their lessons and have been a everlasting Massachusetts resident for a least one 12 months on the state of the enrollment time period. The program is restricted to those that haven’t already earned in a level.
“Fundamentally, we know that this is a long term investment, not just in the students, ultimately that redounds to the benefit of their families, but it is also an investment in our state,” Healey stated.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”