Student Shannon Williams, a 2016 graduate of Andover High School knows just how the program works. After earning her associate degree in psychology from NECC, she plans to transfer to UMass Lowell under the Commonwealth Commitment program, which freezes tuition and mandatory fees for all four years and provides a 10 % rebate at the successful completion of each semester.
Affordability was important to Williams when she was choosing a college. Her father died a month before her high school graduation and her mother had limited funds to help support her daughter’s college education.
Williams arrived at Northern Essex in the fall of 2016 with clear academic and career goals. She plans to earn an associate degree in psychology from Northern Essex in 2018, a bachelor’s in psychology from UMass Lowell in 2020, and eventually a master’s in counseling, possibly from Merrimack College. Her goal is to be a therapist, helping people to overcome mental illnesses like depression. “I love helping people,” she says.
When meeting with her academic advisor she learned that her psychology major qualified for the Commonwealth Commitment, which is open to full-time students who complete an associate’s degree within two-and-a-half years and a bachelor’s degree within two years and maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout the program.
“I loved the idea of being locked into one price,” she says. “I won’t have to pay more, more, more.”
The Commonwealth Commitment covers sixteen programs from biology to business to computer science and community college graduates can transfer to any of Massachusetts’ state universities or UMass campuses including Mass Maritime Academy and Mass College of Art.
