Gateway City students flocked to Beacon Hill this week for Early College Day. Wide-eyed, the aspiring college graduates shared their many positive experiences in programs across the state. They also urged legislators to give more students access to this unique opportunity. Their message resonated warmly against the chilling backdrop of looming federal cuts to education funding. With education leaders fashioning the state’s first Early College expansion plan, it was also a timely call to action.
The MassINC Policy Center (MPC) recently released two reports to help draw attention to the strategic importance of the state’s Early College expansion plan. Above all, the new MPC research suggests that along with increasing access the state should prioritize building Early College programs that connect students to good jobs and provide them with opportunities to learn in diverse settings.
With the head start that Early College offers, MPC research shows these programs are ideally situated to help more students prepare for jobs in fields that require long sequences of difficult STEM coursework. From health to biotech, growing industries need more workers with advanced skills. Preparing these workers is crucial to economic development in Gateway City region’s that have historically had lower rates of college completion. UMass Dartmouth economist Michael Goodman emphasized the strong link between Early College and economic development in his remarks to the State House audience.
The ability to give high school students access to advanced coursework and training at local colleges and universities also offers Gateway City school districts a major competitive advantage. An Early College strategy should help urban high schools utilize this advantage to foster integration by attracting and retaining more middle-income residents. Building on Connecticut’s success in Hartford and New Haven, the state could also encourage the development of wall-to-wall Early College magnet high schools that enroll students from neighboring communities. Leveraging Early College in this manner will reduce harmful concentrations of poverty in urban schools, while giving more Massachusetts students opportunities to learn in diverse settings that reflect the workplace today.
Gateway City leaders first voiced support for Early College expansion a dozen years ago precisely because they believed it had exceptional power to prepare underrepresented students for good jobs, and because they knew high-quality Early College programs would help them grow more economically integrated neighborhoods and schools. When the state’s Early College plan is complete, Massachusetts will have goals and key performance metrics to provide accountability for the significant investment that the legislature is making in this initiative. It is essential that these benchmarks track the performance of programs with respect to giving students robust preparation for jobs in advanced fields and healthy opportunities to learn in racially, ethnically, and economically diverse classrooms.
Like a field thick with daffodils, Early College Day becomes a more beautiful harbinger of spring each year with programs expanding and larger numbers of students attending. The more diverse this field grows in the coming years, the more we will know for certain that Early College pathways are providing all students with sought-after learning experiences that are truly cutting-edge.
Read our recent Early College Reports
The MassINC Policy Center is proud to release two new companion reports that explore Early College’s untapped potential to prepare students for careers in Massachusetts’ knowledge economy:
- Early College Life Sciences Pathways outlines how state agencies, high schools, colleges, and industry leaders can collaborate to create pathways into one of the state’s fastest-growing sectors — the life sciences.
- Opening the Doors to the Jobs of the Future proposes a strategy to expand Early College, ensuring more underserved students can access high-growth career opportunities while learning in diverse, integrated settings.
With Massachusetts facing workforce shortages — especially in high-demand fields like healthcare and life sciences — these reports provide a timely, data-driven roadmap for scaling Early College to meet the moment.
Join us at the Reclaiming Vacant Property Conference on April 8
Join us on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA, for the Reclaiming Vacant Property Conference, hosted by the MassINC Policy Center in partnership with the MassMutual Foundation. This event will bring together community leaders, policymakers, and housing practitioners to explore solutions for transforming vacant and distressed properties into thriving spaces.
Learn about recent legal updates, including changes to receivership laws and tax title foreclosure, and discover practical tools to address blight and expand affordable housing opportunities.
This year’s conference is presented in partnership with the MassMutual Foundation and co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC), Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), MassHousing, and Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP).
HOUSING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- Brockton OKs new zoning for 1,750 homes at old fairgrounds.
- BusinessWest covers the launch of the Healey-Driscoll administration’s new Tech Hub program.
- Fitchburg enacts a new code to combat blighted property.
- The DyeWorks project breaks ground in Lawrence.
- New Bedford proposes commuter-friendly zoning around South Coast Rail.
- The entrepreneurial ecosystem is attracting more investors in Worcester.
- MassHousing releases list of top partner mortgage loan originators in each region.
- Next City says HUD is not releasing funds to Continuum of Care Organizations and residents living in supportive housing are losing shelter.
- At Springfield Chamber event, worry about Washington mixes with optimism.
CLIMATE
- The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center releases its climatech economic development strategy in Worcester.
- A new MIT study shows switching 80 percent of homes to heating by electricity could cut carbon emissions and at the same time significantly reduce costs over the combined natural gas and electric power sectors.
- With a $500 million cut to MassSave, Gov. Healey provides $50 off electric bills.
EDUCATION
- The Worcester Education Collaborative holds its 12th annual principal for a day gathering.
TRANSPORTATION
- South Coast Rail opens March 24th. Can you take your dog onboard?
- The MBTA Communities Law faces new legal challenges.
COMMUNITIES & PEOPLE
- The Congress for New Urbanism partners with the Love the Ave TDI District in New Bedford.
- Dan Rivera moves from interim to permanent CEO at a Coalition for a Better Acre, a CDC based in Lowell.
- Governing explains how Richmond, VA reduced poverty by half.