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Fast Facts About Massachusetts Community Colleges

The Massachusetts Community Colleges are the largest and fastest growing segment of public higher education in Massachusetts, serving over 200,000 students annually.
With 115,000 students in credit courses and 90,000 students in non-credit courses, Massachusetts Community College students represent over 43 percent of the students in the public higher education system.
4 out of 10 Massachusetts students who go to college in the state choose a Massachusetts Community College.
The 15 Massachusetts Community Colleges are a pathway to higher education for students who might not otherwise be able to receive a college education.
Massachusetts Community Colleges make higher education more accessible to a diverse student population by offering open enrollment*, convenient locations, affordable tuition, financial aid and student services.
Massachusetts Community Colleges offer students a solid set of academic, career and technology skills that present opportunities for both immediate and long-term career growth and lifelong learning.
Massachusetts Community Colleges are an essential part of the workforce development environment in Massachusetts, providing over 5,000 workforce development courses each year for Massachusetts business and industry.
Increasingly, students and employers turn to the Massachusetts Community Colleges for education, workforce development, career training and lifelong learning.
More than half of all Massachusetts Community College students are 25 years of age.
Many students are working adults who are seeking to acquire skills needed to advance in their career; over one-quarter are ethnic minorities; 1 in 10 are English language learners and are the first in their family to pursue higher education.
Massachusetts Community College students have diverse educational goals. Some attend to take one or two courses to enter the workforce or upgrade their skills. Others enroll to earn associate degrees or to transfer to four-year institutions.
Massachusetts Community Colleges offer a wide variety of courses in math, health sciences and technology and the liberal arts, along with honors programs, internship programs and community service learning opportunities that provide challenge and enrichment to students.

Data is from the Current Population Survey, and reflects earnings in the period 1998-2000. A special tabulation was done by the Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research for the Board of Higher Education. Cited in Massachusetts Higher Public Education: A Shrewd Investment with Significant Returns, Stephen P. Coelen et. Al., University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Elaine Smith, Board of Higher Education, January 2002.

* Nursing education and some allied health programs excepted.