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Quiearna DeGrace did not think higher education was possible for her. With her daughter about to enroll at the University of New Haven, she did not want to add another financial burden to the family budget.
But then she learned about the MassReconnect program, which provides tuition-free and fee-free community college to people aged 25 or older. So, when her daughter said she was nervous to begin college, 39-year-old DeGrace said, “There’s no better time than [now]. Mom’s gonna join with you.”
DeGrace is one of thousands of people who’ve continued their education with MassReconnect and with MassEducate, a similar program for students of all ages.
She enrolled in Bristol’s business program in 2023 and now expects to graduate with an associate’s degree in spring 2027. She has also taken classes in artificial intelligence technology. She works a part-time job in the college’s transfers and career services department. And she helped found a career readiness clothing closet that provides free professional attire to Bristol students going for an internship or job interview.
“I’ve always expressed to my children how important school is,
but I didn’t want them to look at me one day and ask why I never went.”
— BCC student Quiearna DeGrace
“I’ve always expressed to my children how important school is, but I didn’t want them to look at me one day and ask why I never went,” DeGrace said. “For years I earned certificates like CNA [certified nursing assistant] and medical assistant… But deep down inside, I knew I owed myself more.”
MassReconnect was signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey in 2023, and MassEducate, a similar program that provides tuition and fee free community college to students regardless of age, followed for the fall 2024 semester. Both programs also provide allowances for textbooks and supplies.
DeGrace is among thousands of students who’ve gone to school thanks to the new programs. Across Massachusetts, community colleges have seen a jump in enrollment of almost 10,000 more students enrolled in the past two years.
Between 2024 and 2025, enrollment at Bristol Community College increased to just over 8,000 students, the highest it has been since 2016. Between fall 2023 and fall 2025, enrollment grew by more than a third.
Kate O’Hara, vice president of student services and enrollment management at Bristol, said that offering free community college has brought in students who had not previously considered higher education.
“A lot of the students would have already been able to come for free based on programs like the Pell Grant that are offered through the federal government, but students just didn’t even think about it,” O’Hara said. “They didn’t think that they qualified or they thought that the financial aid process was too complicated.”
The simple message of free community college “made it easier for people just to come to the door and have those conversations with us,” O’Hara said.
Sarah Yunits, deputy executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges, said that when students know they don’t have to take out loans or navigate financial aid paperwork, they find education less intimidating.
“We’ve had a lot of students say, ‘I put off my education, and now that it’s free, I can finally devote some time to my education. … I’ve always wanted to, but now I can,’” Yunits said.
Yunits said community colleges give students access to skilled work, by pursuing a degree or earning a certificate.
Many states offer similar programs of free and reduced tuition community college. But Yunits said comparing Massachusetts community college enrollment against other states is “challenging” because of differences in programs and funding.
Students seeking new opportunities
Since MassReconnect and MassEducate were signed into law, Bristol has seen a 69% increase in students who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and a 92% increase in students who identify as Hispanic, O’Hara said.
Additionally, adult learners (25 years and older) represented 45% of Bristol’s student population in fall 2025, a 9% increase from before MassReconnect was introduced, wrote Kevin Spirlet, associate director of media relations in an email.
With increased enrollment rates, Bristol has also seen a majority of these students completing their education. In 2026, Bristol had the largest graduating class in recent history, with over 1,000 graduates crossing the stage, 79% of them receiving a free education.
“That’s a testament to the fact that these students aren’t just coming back… they’re finishing what they’ve started, they’re walking across that stage,” O’Hara said. “It was such a beautiful moment this year to sit on stage and watch these students, so many of them with their children.”
DeGrace reflected on what Bristol Community College means to her.
“It means transformation,” DeGrace said. “It’s where I rebuilt my life. It’s where I found my confidence again.”
Samantha McCarthy is a summer intern with the New Bedford Light, as part of the South Coast Internship designed for local students. Email Samantha at smccarthy@newbedfordlight.org.
These are much better and more productive programs than most of Governor Maura Healey’s recent priorities.
Quiearna DeGrace is an example of an individual who wants more for herself and her family and is willing to work for it and provide an example for her family and others.
Quiearna DeGrace has my respect for her personal sacrifice and work at self-improvement.
I am a former instructor at BCC who retired after 23 years of teaching at the college. When I retired 60% of the college courses offered were still online, mostly asynchronous, without any in person instruction or testing. Teaching on-campus classes never recovered after the pandemic. As an instructor who continued to teach in person, I witnessed the quality of student engagement including writing skills, deteriorate. In my opinion this was driven by less rigorous standards offered by online classes. Students admitted to me that cheating was common. With the advent of AI, this possibility only increases. Many four year colleges have brought back the classic method of evaluation of student learning with blue book exams. While the increase in student numbers is encouraging, I hope BCC has reinstituted the rigorous standards that we were recognized for, during most of my tenure at the school.
Sure there are people that need help, but it should be on a case by case basis, but free for all is just more of a welfare state mentality. Massachusetts is a mess and healey has to be removed from the governor’s office.
Yeah we need to start charging parents for K-12 too! End welfare in public education!
What’s this a hand out from TRUMP? We didn’t agree when Biden did it! Why is it ok now with Trump in office?
That is a very short sighted view. Programs like this remove the cost of education as a barrier. It ensures that in the future we will have enough nurses, dentists, doctors, law enforcement, teachers, etc.
Agree!
I was a fulltime faculty member at Bristol Community College for over two decades and am proud of having been so. Bravo for opening up higher education to more and more people.
I second that—also former full-time faculty at Bristol and so pleased to see higher education is being offered to more Massachusetts residents. I would have loved to see programs like these during my career at the college.
We all had to pay for our education. Biden gave handouts, now Trump?
Get it right, now Healey.
Sure all faculty love state bankrolled education, it’s job security, but to the taxpayer’s it’s just more of the welfare state that Maura Healey has created.
Amazing how people can turn a positive and uplifting story into a negative nasty response. And since they are so worried about the “ welfare state “ did it cross their minds that this actually grows the tax base with people earning more in higher paying jobs.
As for “ taxpayer dollars “ can I get money back for the ballroom and the 250 ft arch ?