Haverhill, MA (May 15, 2025) ­– More than 460 graduating seniors from 21 local high schools earned college credits in addition to their high school diplomas this year as participants in Northern Essex Community College’s Early College Program.

The students and their families celebrated at an Early College Recognition Ceremony on May 15, held on Northern Essex’s Haverhill Campus.

Joshua Gonzalez of Lawrence High School

The students earned a total of 8,174 credits while in high school, an average of 17 credits each, which translates to a full college semester. The students will transfer their credits to various public and private colleges. At least 75 have plans to attend Northern Essex.

Lawrence High School student Joshua Gonzalez is heading to Northeastern University in the fall. He shared how Early College helped him realize what he wanted to do in the future. “Before Early College, I was kind of going with the flow, taking my normal classes. Everything was fine,” he said. “However, once I was in the program, I felt more confident in myself, academically and personally. It gave me a sense of direction.”

NECC is one of 22 colleges and universities participating in the statewide Massachusetts Early College Initiative. This initiative partners high schools with colleges and universities for designated programs. NECC has designated programs with Haverhill High School, Lawrence High School, and Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School.

Students from these designated programs earn college credits for free while they’re still in high school. Plus, the classes count toward both students’ high school graduation requirements and their future college degrees. Students spend part of their day at the high school and travel to the college campus by bus for morning or afternoon college-level courses.

In addition to its state-designated partnerships with Haverhill, Lawrence, and Whittier, Northern Essex offers its Early College Program to students from 25 other local high schools. These students can earn credits at a 50% discount.

Northern Essex also offers the NECC Promise Scholarship Program to students from Haverhill, Lawrence, Whittier, and Seacoast area high schools. That allows students who earn at least 15 credits and a 3.0 GPA in Early College to continue at Northern Essex for free.

The Early College Program at NECC continues to see tremendous growth. In 2018, about 250 students were enrolled. This past semester, more than 1,000 high school students took Early College classes.

If you are interested in learning more about Early College opportunities at NECC, visit the webpage or contact pk12@necc.mass.edu.