Julie Shields Rutyna: [00:00:00] Okay. Well, good evening everyone. My name is Julie Shields Rutina, and I am the Director of College Planning, Education and Training at MEFA. And I’m so happy to welcome you tonight to our webinar, Applying to Two Year Colleges in Massachusetts. So I’ll go through a, a few logistics, and then I will turn it over to our speaker, Andrea Keenan, who…

And Andrea is the, um, Associate Director of K through 12 Services here at MEFA, and, um, a wonderful presenter, and it’s gonna be a fun webinar tonight, so I’m, I’m glad y- you’re with us. So a, a couple of, a couple of pieces. You have control of your own audio. Uh, we have disabled the chat, but we want your questions, and we love having more of a discussion, so if you have any questions, put them in the Q&A section, and Andrea will check in every once in a while for your questions, and I’ll be monitoring that [00:01:00] in the background.

So please share your questions. And if you would like closed captioning, hit the Live Transcript button and you’ll get to see the words that we speak on your screen. And if you need to leave the webinar for any reason, um, just know that tomorrow, uh, we will be sending a link to the recording and the slides, so you’ll have those.

Uh, so you won’t miss anything. And if you know others who would like to know about this webinar and know about the content, you can forward that to them, and, uh, we’ll go from there. I think there might be one more slide, just that I can tell you… Oh, I guess what, I’ll just tell you one little bit about MEFA.

Yeah. That we’ve been around since 1982, and we’ve had the same mission all those years, to help families plan, save, and pay for college. We were started way back, back in the ’80s, um, with a loan program, and we still have that [00:02:00] loan program today, private loans for people who need that additional financing for college.

Uh, we also have the state’s, uh, savings plans for college, the 529 plan and a prepaid tuition plan. And everything else we do, um, is free resources for, for students, for families, for school counselors. Um, we work with colleges as well. So, uh, please stay in touch with us. Often visit our website and visit all of the, the resources that we have and other webinars like this.

And with that, Andrea, I’m gonna turn it over to you.

Andrea Keenan: Great. Thank you so much, Julie. Can you hear me okay?

Julie Shields Rutyna: Perfect.

Andrea Keenan: Okay, perfect. Um, well, welcome everyone. Like Julie said, we’re so excited that you are here spending your evening with us. In the next about 55 minutes we’ll go through, um, just lots of great details about two-year admissions and applying and financial aid here in [00:03:00] Massachusetts.

Um, so h- we’re gonna talk about a general overview of two-year colleges, um, including the community colleges here in Massachusetts. We’re gonna talk about the admissions process, how you apply to open admission programs, as well as selective admission programs. Then we’re gonna kind of segue into cost, including free community college here in Massachusetts, which is an amazing, very popular for good reason topic.

So we’ll definitely cover that in detail and hope that many of you listening, either you or your children, will take advantage of free community college here in Massachusetts. Um, we’ll also to- touch a little bit on financial aid basics to make sure that you are setting yourself up to be eligible for all of the great res- financial resources that are available to you.

And then we’ll conclude with resources around transferring to a four-year college, and then next steps in terms of if you need help filling out your FAFSA or applying, we’ll give you some [00:04:00] resources there. Um, I am so personally excited, um, to share all this information with you. Um, I come from a background of college and career counseling at the high school level.

I worked in East Boston for many years, and now am at MEFA, and it’s always a joy to speak to students and families about this great option that we have. We’re very lucky in Massachusetts. Our two-year college system, public and private, is just super high quality. And so with that, I wanna, um, just kind of start off by saying my goal in the next 54 minutes is going to be to debunk these three very common misconceptions about two-year college, uh, specifically here in Massachusetts.

Um, I have heard in my 10 years of counseling students one-on-one, first, um, I worked at a trio program, then like I said, in a college and career counseling office at a high school. I heard this [00:05:00] all the time, not just from students, but from families and fr- you know, the community that two-year college is only for certain students, or that it’s lower quality, or that students don’t really wanna explore options there because they’ve heard that their credits, the s- the time that they spend there won’t transfer over to a four-year college.

And I’m here to say that maybe for some folks, um- And for certain little specific situations, maybe some of these are true to an extent, but for the vast majority of colleges and the vast majority of students, th-th-these three misconceptions could not be further from the truth. So let’s start debunking them.

Um, and like Julie said, please drop your questions in the Q&A. Um, we have about three, four sections. Um, our slides are chunked, so at the end of every section, I’m gonna pause and make sure that I’ve addressed questions that need to be addressed whole group. Um, and then Julie will [00:06:00] also help me, um, monitor the Q&A in case there are any quick questions that she can field, um, just in general.

So, um, without further ado, let’s hit it. So why would someone consider a two-year college? So many reasons. Uh, the first, um, thing that I… Well, what I like to lead with is that the tuition and fees for a two-year college are significantly reduced compared to a four-year college. That is baseline. But then we have the additional layer that if you’re attending a Massachusetts public two-year college, those are called community colleges, there are additional benefits there for students that are s- residents of the state.

And recently, you may have heard, there’s, there was a huge push to m- and it went through, it’s currently active, to make public Massachusetts community colleges [00:07:00] completely free for students that qualify. And we’ll go through what goes into qualifying. But for many students, uh, community college is now free in Massachusetts, which is amazing.

Um, and so like to lead with that because obviously money is a very important factor when students are considering their next steps after high school. There’s also a program that we’re gonna talk about later today, um, in this hour called MassTransfer, which helps students, uh, expedite and really make that t-two to four-year college transfer jump very smooth.

Um, and it includes significant cost savings. So even after free community college or if a student’s attending a non-community college, uh, for two year, it’s still, um, if you’re using… Or sorry, if you’re transferring to a four year, it’s still a cost savings because you are starting your first two years at a two-year college, [00:08:00] significantly reduced tuition or even free if you’re taking advantage of our free community college, uh, program here in Massachusetts.

And then when you’re transferring your credits, you’re really only worrying about that four-year college tuition those last two years. And so through the MassTransfer program, that’s for our public college system, that process is even easier, and you get additional cost savings. So that’s really great.

Two-year colleges are also really well known, especially Massachusetts community colleges, in really trying to foster a high quality academic career and technology skill set within their students. Um, you know, across the country, all of, you know, the public community college systems are great.

Massachusetts tend to be ranked, you know, up there, um, when compared to other states. So we’re just incredibly lucky, um, that the curriculum and the different, uh, programs of study are, um, planned out so [00:09:00] intentionally to include so many of these skills, uh, for students that graduate from these, uh, two-year colleges.

Many colleges also, because they’re so hyper-local, and we’ll– our next slide will show you a little bit more about that. Many times the community college or the two-year college is very much nestled and embedded in the local community. So whether it’s a community college, one of the fifteen Massachusetts community colleges, or a non-public two-year college like Quincy College or Urban College in Quincy or Boston, you know, you have a college that is nestled in the community.

Many of its students live and work in those communities, and therefore, it is really easy for those colleges to establish really high quality partnerships with local companies and employers. Uh, you know, from a, a small company to a larger nonprofit, it’s– there’s just so many internship [00:10:00] opportunities that are also available at two-year colleges, including hands-on learning opportunities, again, specific to that community.

Some of the, um, benefits also why a lot of my former students decided to go to a two-year college is because there tends to be more flexibility in terms of a schedule. Some students choose to go part-time, some students choose to do evening classes or even online classes. Um, so that flexibility really works if you have a plan for your life that might include doing other pieces in addition to higher education.

And many of these colleges are also collaborating deeply with high schools in their communities to make sure that there, there are really direct links between local high schools and local community college, like early college programs, dual enrollment. Um, and so again, just want you to consider all of this as we, you know, continue on and, and keep talking about two-year colleges.

Um, I’m gonna [00:11:00] use the words two-year college and community college, um, a lot during this presentation. I just wanna make the point that some two-year colleges are out indeed outside of the public community college system. So some colleges might not be called a community college, but only offer those first two years of that, of that, um, higher po- sort of post-secondary, um Higher ed four-year degree, they might only offer the first two years at associate’s or that certificate.

So we’ll get into all of that, um, but I do wanna shout out those non-public, uh, colleges, um, because there are some great ones in the state as well. In terms of the public community colleges, there are 15 in, in our state. Uh, all of them have a great open access mission, again, very much nestled in their communities.

And what’s really nice is that many of them, even though they might be anchored in one [00:12:00] city, might have some satellite campuses in other cities. So for example, um, let’s see, uh, North Shore Community College has its kind of larger campus in Lynn, but also has a smaller satellite in Danvers, or Bunker Hill Community College has its main central campus in Charlestown and Boston, but has a small satellite, small but mighty, in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

And so that’s also a nice way to increase access. We did get a question prior to the webinar that I think, um, could fit in here really nicely regarding dorms. And so because of communi– because the community colleges are so hyperlocal, many students end up commuting to the two-year college. They either live at home or independently with roommates, whatever the situation might be.

Maybe they’re still dependent on their families and choose to stay with their parents, or maybe they’re a little older or, you know, whenever and, and live with other, um, [00:13:00] roommates or alone. But there are some opportunities for some, uh, two-year colleges or for some students attending two-year colleges to live in dorms.

But generally speaking, many two-year colleges don’t have dorms. Um, and so just want, like, wanna make that note. If the school that you’re planning or looking into does have dorms, it… you’re gonna find that information in the school’s housing or student life website. So look for, um, go on their website and look for anything that’s telling you about residence halls or on-campus housing or student housing sec, um, sections.

If it’s unclear, always contact the admissions or housing office to ask about dorm availability for two-year students. But I do wanna give you two examples which are, um, just awesome, and I’ve had students benefit from these. So one example is MassBay Community Colleges, [00:14:00] our college students do have the unique opportunity to, uh, use the dorms at Framingham State University.

So that’s a great example of a really neat partnership between a two-year college and a four-year college. So MassBay Community College partnering with Framingham State so that some MassBay students can live at the FSU dorms. Um, and that’s really nice because the two-year… Oh, um, that’s really nice because the two-year college students at North Shore Community College can experience the benefits of on-campus resident life at Salem State with a lot of the same benefits, um, for their facilities and services.

So that’s really nice. Um, another, um, example of that is, um, we have… I’m trying to see if I, um… Yeah, I, I think it’s, um, Fram- Framingham State, [00:15:00] MassBay, and then North Shore with Salem State. Sorry, I got those confused. So, um, just to reiterate, MassBay with Framingham State and North Shore with Salem State. I got my geography kind of mixed up.

But it makes sense, right? Because those are the, the closest four-year college campuses. So anyway, two very interesting opportunities. Um, there might be more. We don’t have time to go into every single detail. But again, if, if you have a student that might wanna take advantage of that dorm life, there are some opportunities there, though generally speaking, um, most community college students or two-year college students commute.

All right. So in terms of, um, the academic piece, most community colleges or two-year colleges will offer these… some sort of, um, variation of these three buckets. The first bucket, um, in what [00:16:00] we call academic pathway, is the non-credit and community education options. So non- non-credit education might be short, flexible courses.

Some of them might not count toward a degree. They focus on job skills. There’d be a quick training, personal enrichment, or some community education classes. Might be some English as a second language classes that are not credit-bearing. So many campuses will offer these short, um, not for credit courses on their campus.

So that might… that’s always nice for continuing education or to enrich the community engagement within that city. But really, most students that are wanting to continue their education after completing their high school diploma or their HiSet will enroll in either a certificate program or an associate degree.

And you can see in front of you, um- You know, there are some very, um, im-important [00:17:00] differences between the certificate program and the associate degree. First and foremost, the certificate programs are shorter. They’re still very structured. They give students credits, um, and a student would graduate with a certificate in whatever, um, discipline or, um, concentration they’re studying.

These certificate programs, even though they’re, they’re short, so they might be, you know, two semesters long, about a year, they’re offered at these two-year colleges because these degrees that are certificates can often transfer into an associate. So I’ve had students that start a certificate at a two-year college.

They end up really loving what they’re studying, and they find that whatever they’re starting at the… um, studying at the certificate level, there’s actually the same thing at the associate level. So they might just continue on and take additional credits to fulfill the associate degree requirements.

That’s something [00:18:00] that we call a stackable degree. So you might earn a smaller, smaller degree, maybe take a break, maybe not, come back, continue on, grab the credits that you’ve already earned and trans-transfer them toward the associate degree. Some students just take the… do the certificate program, are very content with that, and then continue on doing whatever they want in terms of finding, um, a career that matches, um, what they studied.

A lot of their certificate programs are very much career-focused, so they’re designed to build really, like, job-ready skills for the students. So these are around twelve to sixteen credits. Um, oftentimes very, very technical, um, in a, in a great way. So a student that might not want to do a full four-year degree but is still very excited about, um, the medical field, there are these shorter programs, um, that could satisfy that student’s need to work in a certain field without having to [00:19:00] spend too much time or money.

Similarly, with the associate degree, that’s still a shorter degree than a bachelor’s, but this is significantly more credits. So in addition to, um, the, you know, initial two… twelve to sixteen credits of a certificate program, the associate degree goes further and asks around sixty-four credits for the s-for the student to complete.

So full-time, that’s a full two years of study. Um, sometimes even two and a half years, depending on the amount of credits a student might have to, um, finish out the remaining credits in the summer or maybe even an additional semester. That’s if a student goes full-time. I know a lot of students that end up completing their associate degrees part-time, so that does extend the amount of time that they’re studying from, say, minimum two years to up to four or five years.

There are three different types of associate degrees, the [00:20:00] AA, the AS, and the AAS. When you are looking through websites and programs of study and brochures, in Massachusetts, you’ll see mostly the AA and the AS, so the Associate of Arts and Associates of Science. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if you’re studying something in the science field, you’re going to get an Associates of Science.

They’re more broad terms, meaning that the AA will focus on more liberal arts, humanities, but it’s often a curriculum that is designed to transfer to a four-year college. So it’ll ensure that within the curriculum of the AA degree, you’re taking a lot of general concentration classes and a lot of classes that, um, the state knows you’ll need, uh, because they’re part of a four-year degree as well if you were to transfer those t- um, those credits into a four-year college.

So that AA is really preparing students to do that transfer to a [00:21:00] four-year college. Um, versus the AS, which is also can certainly also be intended for transfer to a bachelor’s program, but many times they are a little bit more on the technical side, um, and not always designed to transfer to a four-year college.

So you just have to read the fine print, read about each program. Um, the Associates of Science degrees, like I said, tend to be a little bit more technical, but there’s not one that’s better than the other. So an Associate of Arts is not less than or more than an Associates of Science. So next, we get to the really fun part.

So hopefully by now, you’re– you have the lay of the land, and you’re thinking, “Okay, I kinda know what colleges can offer me.” But this is the really fun part. This is where I’ve always told my students, “You have to find your program.” Because most of the time, students [00:22:00] attend a community college or two-year college that it might be close to home, that might be convenient.

Maybe they’re attending a college that’s close to their house or maybe one or two communities away. It’s always really nice to think about, um, finding a two-year college or community college that is really easily accessible, especially, you know, New England winters in the wintertime with the storms. And if you– whether you have a car, you take the T, there’s always some sort of weather-related, uh, delay in the wintertime, and so I always tell my students, “You wanna make sure that you’re able to get to class as often as, as you want to get to class and, and not be so far away that you’re detained.”

So as much as Uh, proximity to a two-year college matters, and I always weigh that variable very heavily. I also really love when students find a program that they’re so passionate about at a two-year college. So the first step is always, as a [00:23:00] student, to talk to a counselor, a mentor, or take some, an interest assessment with using your high school’s college curric- uh, platform, whether you’re using Naviance, Scoir, MEFA Pathway, whatever platform, or just googling an interest survey.

Make sure that you’re attuned to what you like, but also what you might be good at. Um, and this is often a surprise to my students when they’re just learning… or my former students when they’re just learning about two-year colleges, is that the programs at two-year colleges are really awesome. The two-year colleges don’t just offer programs in English, math, science.

They’re offering very cool, interesting, specific programs that can really capture students’ attention. For example, in front of you, um, we put in a few, um, just examples of how you might go about [00:24:00] seeing what a college offers. So the best resource is that college’s website, and a lot of times they’ll have a dedicated page that f- functions as a directory for all of the programs of study that they offer, whether they’re certificates or associate degrees.

So you can see on the first example, I believe that’s North Shore Community College. They call it the Credit Programs of Study page under their academics website, and they have so many categories, um, health professions, personal service, animal science, agricultural food services, business, transportation, IT.

You get the idea. They have a little bit of everything Um, some two-year colleges, um, are really well known for their nursing programs. Um, Bunker– I’ve had students have amazing experiences at Bunker Hill, Quincy College. Um, y- Bunker Hill, um, especially is one of the largest in Boston, and [00:25:00] they have just h- like dozens of programs.

A very popular one that my students have, um, al- that are always, you know, interested in is entrepreneurship, accounting, um, business, health sciences, sports management. Um, if you wanna work with sports teams, that business side. There’s a little bit of something for everyone, and I feel like sometimes that point gets lost, and students just think, “I have to go to college, so let me just pick a college and go.”

But I challenge all of you to kinda flip it and say, “What are my interests? What do I wanna study?” And then chances are a two-year college has it for potentially for free or for very low reduced rate. If you’re undecided, so some students might end up still really wanting to continue their studies but are…

just can’t decide or are between two things, many colleges offer what, um, we know as a general studies or [00:26:00] general concentration pathway. Um, that will allow a student to gather their basic credits in case they wanna c- um, transfer at a certain point, will also allow them to explore certain, um, different, um, pathways until they potentially finish or maybe move on and decide to change into a concentration once they know exactly what they want.

Always pay attention to program length when you’re searching for these programs. So many times the program will be labeled either associate in science, associate in arts, or certificate, and you can see an example of that right in front of you there. Um, every college nestles it somewhere different, but oftentimes it’s very clear it’s the academics page of that college’s website.

Just wanna make a point f- um, to say that m- one of the misconceptions is that it’s lesser [00:27:00] quality, it’s not worth it, and I just wanna highlight a really great report from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Ed that actually tracked earnings of graduates of two-year and four-year Massachusetts public colleges.

What we see here is that the highest earnings are often associated with degrees in, in the health field, STEM, and trades, right? And you can see that The, um, the many of the four-year bachelor degree completers are earning, you know, a fair amount, but the associate degree completers are not far behind, and in many cases, some associate degrees might even lead to higher mean- median earnings than bachelor’s degrees.

So I just want to let that sink in for a moment. Um, just because it’s a shorter degree does not mean automatically that it’s less than or a student’s gonna earn way less by default. It [00:28:00] really comes down to the subject and the program. There are some trades, for example, um, that you can get training at, at a community college that can earn way more to start than, um, a four-year car- uh, degree that leads to a career.

Not always, um, and it’s not just the trades though. So it really is a lot of the health science careers, STEM also. So really neat study. It is linked here, so you all will get a copy of these slides in the recording. So feel free to peruse the report, um, after the webinar. All right, so let’s talk a little bit about the admissions process.

So, um, we have two sections for this. The first, um, is the admissions process for all open enrollment programs. So this means that these are programs that are not selective, that accept all students that meet certain requirements. So it is not a, um, competitive admissions process. [00:29:00] It’s open, and which is another be- great benefit of a two-year college.

Some two-year colleges do have some more selective programs, so we are gonna go into that process, but that’s a separate process for certain programs that are selective. So let’s start with the open enrollment. Um, what do you need for open enrollment? So if you wanna enroll at a two-year college, you have to, um, submit the admissions application.

These applications are on- mostly online now. Um, they’re accessible on each college’s website. So if you know what program you want at which college, all you have to do is go to that college’s website and go to their admissions page, read all about it, and then when you’re ready, start the application.

Most of the time, you’ll need to create a username and password, and the systems are pretty sophisticated these days, so you can save your progress and return to the application before you f- um, submit. So that’s great. So you don’t have to do it all in one sitting. [00:30:00] The great thing, also another benefit of a two-year college, is you don’t need standardized testing as such as SAT or ACT.

So even though a lot of high school students do take it, you don’t need to submit it for admissions at a two-year college. So I would… do wanna note there is- A little testing involved. So following your acceptance to the two-year college, you will need to do what’s called placement testing, and we’re gonna talk about that.

It is not, um… It shouldn’t be nerve-wracking. It’s just a way for the c-college, the two-year college, to y- uh, place you in the appropriate level courses. We’re gonna talk about that type of testing later, but for admissions, there is absolutely no standardized testing requirement. And then many two-year colleges, or all of them, rather I should say, um, practice what we call rolling admissions, meaning there is no set admissions deadline, but all you have to do is complete all the steps in [00:31:00] order and in a timely manner.

Though I will say it’s never too late to apply. Um, so if you think you’re behind, or if you have heard, “Oh, you can’t apply, you missed the deadline, you missed the boat on that,” it is not true. Um, and that is an amazing thing about a two-year college, um, that you can always apply. You know, depending on the timing, you might be too late to enter a particular class, like in that semester, but you can always start, you know, one or two months after.

Um, so it does depend a little bit on timing as to when you can start classes, but you can always apply. Contact the college’s admissions office if you have any questions. Um, we here at MEFA and, you know, in my, in my previous role, I got to interact with so many profe- um, admissions representatives and advisors at these two-year colleges, and they’re all amazing.

I’ve never met, uh, someone that worked at a two-year college I didn’t love. Um, so really these people that work at these [00:32:00] amazing places wanna help. They wanna make this a reality for you, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with them. This is a general timeline of the steps. Again, there’s no deadline, so you can start this timeline pretty much any time.

If I… This is an, uh, an example timeline for a fall semester start. So in an ideal world, if a student wanted to start for the fall semester and I had all the time in the world, I could start prepping, or a student could start prepping maybe in the spring, right? To get everything, all their ducks in a row to be able to start classes, um, in the s- at the start of the f- the fall semester, which is like late August, early September.

Even though you could complete all of these steps, you know, in one week in August, if you really were like, “Okay, I’ve decided to do this. I don’t have much time,” you can still get it done. So this, again, is a drawn-out, in an ideal world, you would have a [00:33:00] bunch of time to do all of this. But realistically, the process to apply to a two-year college is quite simplified, and so you can do this, uh, really whenever you have the motivation to, the time, and of course, um- You know, when, when you feel ready to.

I do wanna say though, um, timeliness does, you know, matter so that you can start classes and register for the classes that you want. Um, because the classes and programs still run on a semester timeline, so fall, spring, fall, spring, you know, you wanna make sure that you’re registered for classes before the first day of classes.

So there are a few things that need to happen before that, so that’s why it does help to start things, you know, with some time. Um, but again, it’s not impossible to do things quickly to try to make it work. You have to, um, submit your application, make sure your finan- the financial aid is in order, whether you’re taking advantage of free community college, you have [00:34:00] to fill out a FAFSA or a MASFA.

We’ll talk more about that soon. Um, many schools accept students for a fall start until August, late August. So really, again, if you remember nothing, remember that you can apply any time to a two-year college. It’s never too late. The college is gonna, uh, review your a- um, application and then your proof of graduation or proof of HiSet, um, to make sure…

That’s one of the, the requirements that they’re very strict on is a student must have completed either their high school or their HiSet. Um, once you get fully accepted, you can log into your school, your new college email portal, and activate your student ID. Then you would take your placement tests, and w- again, we’ll talk about placement test, um, in English and math, um, to make sure that your college can place you in the appropriate level for those courses.

And then the fun part is you get to look through the course catalog and actually register for your classes, and many [00:35:00] times you work with an advisor that works at the college to register for these classes. Again, this is why, again, it helps to do things in a timely manner because some of the more popular classes do fill up quickly.

Um, sometimes the really early morning classes are not so popular. The… Maybe the ideal time classes in the afternoon go more quickly. And so if you’re, um, you know, procrastinating, putting things off, most of the time you’ll still get into classes you want maybe, but maybe not in the schedule that you want.

So again, it pays to do things a little bit on the earlier side. And then right before you start classes, um, you do need to submit some health forms, purchase your materials, your books, and then you just start classes. It’s pretty great. After your… So after your acceptance, there are three things that, you know, I touched upon briefly, but really wanna underscore the importance of, which is making sure that you [00:36:00] are, um, getting placed in the right courses.

So course placement Is used to assess a ma- math and English readiness to determine that starting course level. Many times a s- a college, a two-year college, a community college will use what, um, they call an Accuplacer, which is a name of a test. Um, or they do now have self-guided placements where you can answer some questions and depending on the answer to those questions, they’ll place you in the appropriate level.

Sometimes a college admissions office at a two-year college will also use your high school transcript and high school GPA to help inform what level English and what level math you should be in. So, um, it’s not a one-size-fits-all. Different colleges, um, provide different options for placement. So that’s why sometimes I don’t like to call it placement testing, and sometimes I just like to call it the course placement process, because it doesn’t necessarily always include a test you [00:37:00] have to take.

You can always retest or retake the survey or, you know, really talk to the, um, the course placement folks if you think your results aren’t really showing what, what, where you should really be. Student… I’m sorry. Student orientation is also really important. So after you’ve been accepted and you’ve activated your email, you have your student ID, and you know, it’s really important that you attend a student orientation, and they usually schedule these all the time right leading up to the beginning of the semester.

Many times they are required to attend either online or in person, but it covers the basics. All of the campus resources you need to know about, academic expectations, the many student systems that make the, the college, um, you know, run smoothly, a student’s, student’s experience run smoothly, the different platforms that students use to access different classes.

So it’s really important for a student to [00:38:00] attend orientations to get all of that information. You’ll also potentially meet your academic advisors, so folks that you can go to if you have questions about what classes to take, can help you review your schedule, and of course, learn about support services.

If you want additional, uh, tech support, tutoring, disability services, all of that happens right in that student orientation process. And then the course registration, of course, you wanna be able to have your pick of classes, make sure that you’re taking the right classes for your associates of science or associates of arts or your certificate.

And so it’s really important that you meet with an academic advisor and use all of the resources that the college provides to make those good decisions about what classes to take. Again, it’s time and potentially money, so you wanna make sure that you’re making those decisions well. And many times the course registration happens online.

So again, you have to know about all the systems. [00:39:00] Now, the process is a little bit different when it’s selective admissions. So what are these selective programs? These are exceptions to the rules that I just, um, reviewed with open admissions. So there are certain programs within each community college or two-year college that are selective.

Mean, they’re a little harder to get into. They might only accept, um, a smaller cohort of students, and therefore it makes them a little bit harder to get into because they don’t accept everyone ’cause they might just not have the room. So an example of that that’s really– uh, that I’ve had many students, um, do is EMT, surgical technology, vet tech, so to be a vet- a veterinary technologist, r-uh, uh, radiology student, dental hygiene, dental assisting.

These are all programs that are super popular in that they require some pretty technical s- lab space or simulation space, and so they can’t just accept [00:40:00] every single person that applies. So that’s what makes some of these… or these programs exceptions to the open enrollment, um, process that we just reviewed.

So again, like, like you see here, they’re often in the healthcare field, limited seats, and then they do then require some additional application materials and some prerequisites, including potentially a certain GPA, um, or even an entrance exam. Um, nursing is a really great example where you can’t even apply to a nursing program until you have, um, taken the TEAS exams, attended certain info sessions, and taken some prerequisite courses, and then you can finally apply to that selective program.

This is not to discourage students. In fact, I find that a lot of my students get more motivated if they find out about these programs earlier in high school because they’re, they’re thinking, “Oh, wow, okay, great. I have two years to make sure I take the science classes and the [00:41:00] labs I need. I can make sure I keep my GPA in, in a, a pretty good, um, level so that I have the best chance at, you know, getting into these really, um, sought-after programs.”

And so many of these programs have some great earning potential after they’re completed. Not all of them are associate’s programs either. So for example, a lot of time, EMT programs tend to be certificate programs, um, which make them even more popular because they’re shorter, uh, but really, uh, really meaningful too So as you may have already been, um, guessing, these additional requirements, they do take a little bit more work, right?

So a lot of times before you can even apply, you have to attend a mandatory info session. That means looking up the time, making sure you have the link to the info session, putting that in your calendar to make sure you don’t miss it. Sometimes info sessions are only offered, you know, twice in one month.

So you wanna stay organized to make sure you’re not missing, uh, any of [00:42:00] these requirements. Some programs also have prerequisite courses that, um, they require, so sometimes students can fulfill those in high school, or sometimes students enroll in a two-year college, make sure they take all the prerequisites, and then they reapply to that selective program.

That is, um, increasingly popular for the nursing programs, um, where students will apply for open enrollment, general concentration, take all of their prerequisites, study for their entrance exams, and then maybe a year later apply for that competitive program. So that’s often a very, um, common example of this, um, here in Massachusetts.

Um, sometimes the programs have a separate application. Um, some programs have a requirement where they’d wanna, um, hear from you why do you wanna be in this program. So it might require a short essay or short answer, potentially even one letter of rec- or one or two letters of [00:43:00] recommendation, but that is less common.

This is not to dis- um, discourage you from applying, just for you to be really aware that depending on the program you choose, there might be some additional pieces that you have to think about. Again, talk to the college, talk to your counselors, and make sure that you, um, you know, don’t, don’t lose steam, don’t lose motivation, just because there are a few extra requirements.

It’s totally worth it in the end. So let’s talk about the exciting part, which is cost, and this is normally counterintuitive. Normally, I don’t get so excited to talk about money, but I do in this case because of the free community college program here in Massachusetts. Before we talk about why it’s free and how it’s free, even if a student doesn’t qualify for free community college, I still wanna drive the point home that it is much more affordable to go to a two-year college than a four-year college Even the non-public ones.

Um, though we obviously do, do love the [00:44:00] public, uh, colleges as well. Most classes in college are three credits, so you… so those roughly correspond to three hours a week. Some classes might be more if they have an additional lab, like a science lab component. A full-time course load is typically 12 credits, sometimes 15 if a student takes an additional class.

So in college, you pay by the credit. So depending on how many credits you’re taking, you’re paying a certain amount, um, that is multiplied by the amount of credits that you take. So you wanna consider your tuition and fees. How much does it cost to attend for 12 credits at least if you’re going full-time?

And then, for example, um, in Massachusetts for public colleges, Massachusetts residents pay about less, a little, about half of what an out-of-state student might take… might pay for per credit. Um, so for example, at [00:45:00] Massachusetts… MassBay Community College, if you’re a resident and qualify for in-state tuition, you’ll pay about two hundred and forty-nine per credit versus four hundred and fifty-five per credit if you’re out of state, so it’s nearly half the price.

Additional costs to consider though are also some books, transportation depending, you know, if you live within walking distance, this is a non-issue, but if you have to drive there or take the T, you have to factor in those, um, costs as well. And then of course, living expenses. So but the big picture is the two-year colleges, community colleges are typically much more affordable.

And so let’s talk about, um, tuition and fees at public two-year colleges. So the average cost of tuition, if you took just the average across all public two-year colleges in Massachusetts, um, and fees for one full academic year of full-time study, so that means twelve credits each semester, two, two semesters per year, is about [00:46:00] seven thousand six hundred and ninety-three dollars.

That is a huge cost savings compared to what those first two years would cost at a four-year college. So just planting the seed, um, for, you know, how much less, uh, expensive it is. And the reason I’m so excited to talk about this is because in Massachusetts, for many students, they don’t even have to pay the seven thousand six hundred and ninety-three.

That’s obviously an average, so sometimes a little less, a little more. But they don’t even have to pay it because for many students, public community college is now free in Massachusetts. That’s awesome, right? So not only was it already, um, a cost savings, but now for many it’s free. And I cannot stop raving about that.

It’s just a wonderful thing. So if a student is really- Interested in a certain program that a two-year college offers, they should go for it, right? And they should have all the help they [00:47:00] need and they, they, um, to make, to make it work and to make it happen. These are just some examples of some costs per credit that you might see on each school’s website.

Um, every single two-year college might format their cost page a little differently. Um, and then of course, the non-public two-year colleges will also list their tuition and fees. Even though they’re not public, they’ll still be putting their tuition and fees on their website for you to look at, compare, do the calculations.

All right, so how does free community college work in Massachusetts? There are two programs that facilitate this, MassEducate and MassReconnect. They’re both… They’re pretty much the same, except MassReconnect is for students that are ages twenty-five and, and over. MassEducate is what most high school students will, uh, be taking advantage of.

So MassEducate supports students of all ages. It doesn’t take income into account, [00:48:00] and it provides financial assistance to full and part-time students who are enrolled in an approved program of study. So this is so important because a student can go part-time or full-time. There is a six-credit minimum, but if a student’s enrolled for at least six credits, they can participate in this program that provides free community college.

It also provides an allowance of up to $1,200 for books and supplies, and sometimes an additional $1,200 for other expenses for certain students who meet certain income thresholds. So at the very, very minimum, it is free tuition and fees plus a book and supply allowance, and then for some students it’s an additional $1,200 for other expenses.

So if you wanna, um, read more about the, you know, the program, how it started, all of that, you can go to mass.gov/studentaid. And so this is how you would apply. Um, to [00:49:00] be eligible for free community college, you have to enroll as a student in one of Massachusetts’ fifteen pub, uh, public community colleges, and you have to have a high school diploma or proof of, um, high school completion testing like the HiSet or GED.

So you have to be enrolled full-time or part-time in at least six credits in an approved program in either an associate’s degree, that two-year-ish degree, or certificate program. So it does provide that level of flexibility as well. Another caveat too, though, is that a student must not have earned a n- a b- bachelor’s degree before starting community college.

So you have to ha- kinda be a brand-new student You have to have lived in Massachusetts for at least one year and intend to live and stay in Massachusetts. And this is really important. You have to maintain satisfactory academic progress according to the college’s requirements. A friend of mine at Bunker Hill Community College mentioned this [00:50:00] to me.

Um, she’s an academic advisor, and she’s noticed that many, say, returning students, so maybe they’re in their second year of community college, kind of forget this. They don’t always realize that the free community college program is tied to their academic progress standards. So you don’t want your GPA to dip too low.

You want to always know what your academic status is so that you don’t lose access to that free community college. So how you apply is you complete and file your FAFSA, which is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and many community colleges and MEFA offers resources for you to, um, get help filling out this form.

Now, for certain students that can’t fill out their FAFSA because of immigration status, many of them will be able to still get free community college by filling out the Massachusetts Application for Student Aid called the MASFA. If a student [00:51:00] is not eligible for FAFSA but is eligible for MASFA because of their immigration status, they should complete the MASFA, right?

So you can only complete one, either the MASFA or the FAFSA. So you should fill out one financial aid application, and then that means that your information will automatically get sent to the community college, and then you also just need to apply for admission at the community college, and it’s that easy.

Um, it really is just that easy. So again, reach out to your, um, counselor, your local community college, and someone will be really happy to kind of walk you through these steps addition– you know, these steps to make sure you don’t miss anything. But it really is just so easy, so everyone should take advantage.

I just want to spend a few minutes because we’re, um, you know, uh, almost at time. Um, but, um- Yeah. So how does it work if a student has some college [00:52:00] credits but no degree? That’s a great question. Will community college still be free? Yes. So the only c- the only rule is you can’t have a full bachelor’s degree completed and then get free community college.

Yeah. So you can definitely still get free community college. Um, I just wanna give you a few tidbits on financial aid, and MEFA has an entire separate webinar on financial aid, so we wanna make sure that we give you s- a, a little taste here, but then if you need additional resources, um, please c- you know, watch our additional webinars on how to fill out your FAFSA and what all of that will entail.

Um, we recommend that folks fill out the FAFSA or the MASFA as soon as it opens, um, and ideally before May first, which is the priority deadline. If you miss the May first deadline, still submit your FAFSA, um, and you’ll still be able to get, you know, free community college. The priority deadline, um, is [00:53:00] mostly for students that might need additional aid or maybe they’re applying to a four-year college and, and need, you know, additional grants.

So you wanna get your FAFSA and MASFA done as soon as possible, um, but there’s no, you know, cutoff for when you need to fill it out for free community college. So that’s great. Um, the Office of Student Financial Assistance in Massachusetts does have a MassAid portal where you can see details of any, um, financial aid that the state gives you.

So that’s, um, that’s that portal there, and you can feel free to log in after you fill out your forms and be checking in on your financial aid. The FAFSA, um, is an online form. It’s federal. We have a great webinar on this. So if you scan that QR code, you’ll get taken to that webinar page, and you can watch an entire, um, recording, uh, with s- step-by-step guidance for how to fill out your FAFSA.

You’ll need to create an FSA ID, which [00:54:00] is a username and password, before you log on to your FAFSA. And then if you have a certain immigration status that doesn’t qualify you for the FAFSA, here in Massachusetts, in order to, like I said, still be eligible for free community college, you should have, um, either a FAFSA or a MASFA on file.

So certain non-FAFSA eligible students, um, might be able to fill out the MASFA Um, the application guide and FAQ sheet for the MASFA is amazing. It’s linked here. It’ll take you step by step for what you need to do to fill out the MASFA. So these are for students that might have DACA, TPS. Um, you also need to have, um, been living here in Massachusetts and meet the high school completer status requirements, which means you have to have a, a certain amount of time that you’ve been, um, in a high school here in Massachusetts in order to qualify for all of the tuition equity [00:55:00] benefits.

If you have questions about any of this, our contact info is at the end of this webinar. So if you think you’re in this boat and you’re like, “Mm, I’d love to just ask more questions, see if I qualify for the MASFA or FAFSA,” just reach out to us and one of our counselors or, you know, including me, will be able to, to help you with that.

I also just want to say that the financial aid process doesn’t end with the forms. You might still get outreach from each college asking for additional documentation, like copies of your taxes or other pieces. So I always coach students to never ignore emails from their com- community college or their two-year college, so especially from the financial aid office, to make sure that that piece is, is done and complete, um, so that they can, um, take advantage of the free community college.

I just want to quickly end on, um, you know, ways that you can then transfer to a four-year college, which is part of thinking about how to [00:56:00] save money as well. And I really want to, um, sing the praises of our MassTransfer program. So this MassTransfer program was designed to allow students to complete their two-year degree at a public community college and then be able to then transfer it over to a, a public four-year college.

Um, the MassTransfer is a statewide transfer agreement between the two-year publics and the four-year publics with guaranteed admission. There are some caveats depending on the G- the student’s GPA, um, for certain programs. Um, but the beautiful thing about this is it protects your credits that you’ve earned.

So the courses that are taken at a community college transfer as a block of credits, so you don’t have to lose your credits or have to repeat classes. Um, so that’s j- obviously just a great motivator for students to complete their two… their associate’s at a two-year, [00:57:00] uh, and then transfer it over to a four-year.

Again, this is all within the public system of Massachusetts The Mass Transfer plan, um, is right here. You start at a community college. You earn, earn an associate’s degree, and then you finish at a four-year, uh, public college or university. What’s nice about this is that a student that hasn’t even started at a community college can already map out their four years to ensure they’re taking the right classes at the two-year that will transfer seamlessly into the four-year.

The way that students do that is through the A to B mapped pathways system. So this is a resource, um, provided by the Mass Transfer office. Um, and so if you go to mass.edu/mass transfer, you’ll be able to see the A to B mapped pathways program search database. This is a search tool that allows students to view transfer pathways [00:58:00] between Massachusetts community colleges and public four-year schools.

So students can filter by their community college, by what degree they’re wanting to earn, and their target four-year public university. Um, they can then use the results to see where to start and what classes they need to take. I always, though, encourage students to also meet with a college academic advisor early to make sure they stay on track with the classes that they need.

Um, but if a student follows this, does the A to B pathway, that Mass Transfer should be honestly a piece of cake. All right, so we’re gonna wrap up. We’re at an hour, and just wanna make sure I, um, call out some resources that I just want all students listening to this webinar to know about. I think part of, um, what makes a two-year college, uh, and, you know, the public community colleges so wonderful is that they really are a community of support.

[00:59:00] Students just need to know how to ask, where to ask, but shouldn’t be afraid to ask. And these colleges provide academic advising, tutoring, career services, support services, and even basic needs support. Um, so I always just wanna say that because one of the misconceptions is that there’s not as much attention given to students at a two-year, at a public community college.

That could not be further from the truth. And then finally, I wanna end on some of our own MEFA resources. Um, we do have an upcoming FAFSA festival. So part of that free community college, uh, process is to get your financial aid forms completed in addition to your admissions application. So what better way to get that all done than attending one of our FAFSA festivals?

Our next one to prep for that fall semester is going to be on August fifth from four to six. If you scan that QR code, you’ll be able to [01:00:00] register, and you’ll be able to log on and get online help filling out either that FAFSA or that MASFA. We also have, through our college planning team here at MEFA, we do have one-on-one counseling available.

Um, it’s by request, but if you fill out that form that’s linked to the, the QR code, um, you can always take advantage of that free resource. And then of course, you can call or email our team. We’re just always happy to field questions, no matter how nitty-gritty or how specific. Um, we’ll, you know, we’ll be able to answer those.

And then of course, you can connect with us on social media. Um, and just obviously very grateful, um, for you being here, and, you know, don’t hesitate to reach out. I do wanna, um, take a moment to answer one of the open questions that we have. I’ve been kinda checking, and there is one lingering question. So this attendee is asking, “Is there a resource to see what credits will [01:01:00] transfer to an out-of-state college?”

And I… Great question. So what I will say is it depends on each college. Um, so the out-of-state college will have a transfer page on their website, um, and would encourage you to check that out first to see what specific requirements, um, they’re looking for out of a two-year transfer. Um, and so certainly check in on the receiving university’s policies first.

And then I didn’t, um, write this in the presentation, but the New England Bor- uh, Board of Higher Education, otherwise known as NEBHE, has some great, um, tuition savings, um, options, uh, for the New England area. Um, and so if a program isn’t offered in Massachusetts, uh, students can seek the program at an out-of-state New England college if it exists.

They can attend there at discounted tuition rates. Um, so that’s a great opportunity as well. So, [01:02:00] um, definitely check out NEBHE. Julie, I think we’re good with questions, right? How are we

Julie Shields Rutyna: looking? We are. Andrea, that was wonderful. Thank you so much. Okay. And thank you to everyone else, um, on, on the webinar. Uh, and I will be definitely sharing the link to the recording and the slides with you.

And a- as Andrea said, please reach out early and often.

Andrea Keenan: Yes. Good. Yeah. Good luck, everyone. Hope you take advantage of all these great resources. Have a great evening. Thank you. Bye.