As the coronavirus pandemic threatens to widen college completion gaps, advocates say the present moment calls for greater state investments in early college programs.
Those programs, which give students a chance to take courses for college credit before receiving their high school diploma, provide a key strategy for addressing preexisting and pandemic-exacerbated struggles related to college affordability and access, observers say.
The pandemicâs economic impact further has fueled fears over increasing affordability struggles, and concerns over possible learning loss in the past year have some observers worried that students might fall behind in their âcollege readiness.â
Under that backdrop, early college has the potential to play the role of âa great equalizerâ for students, said Manny Cruz, advocacy director for Latinos for Education. Programs seek to build studentsâ confidence and arm them with credits that will allow them to pay less in tuition
The list of communities that the state considers high risk for COVID-19 transmission has shortened for the second straight week.
Massachusetts now counts 48 of its 351 communities on , compared to 59 the previous week. Lee and Williamstown dropped off the list after they were included last week, although Adams remains on the list for the fourth straight week.
In Adams, however, the 26 new cases in the past two weeks barely meet the stateâs threshold. The state counts communities with a population of under 10,000 as high risk if they have had more than 25 cases in the past two weeks.
The state considers Dalton, North Adams and Pittsfield to be moderate risk, and it classifies Great Barrington, Lee and Williamstown as lower risk. All other Berkshire communities fall in the lowest risk category.
Along with 14 other community colleges around Massachusetts, Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield will not require students to be vaccinated against
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