LYNN — North Shore Community College is offering direct admission and $500 scholarships to all Lynn high school seniors who graduate this year.
“One of the things that we started to think about particularly looking at coming out of this pandemic was, how can we, as an institution, support our Lynn Public Schools seniors in improving the college-going rate,” NSCC Provost Jennifer Mezquita said.
Around 75 percent of Lynn seniors did not enroll in college last year, she added. NSCC wanted to make sure that students know college is an option, so the institution partnered with LPS interim Superintendent Debra Ruggerio to create this pilot program.
“We are here to support them and make this process easy to the point where they don’t need to apply to attend,” Mezquita said. “Not only will we make ourselves available and really dismantle all the barriers to access higher ed, but we will also add a scholarship on top of that.”
The scholarships will be offered to all Lynn students who enroll in at least two NSCC classes this fall, including students who do not qualify for government financial aid, such as those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status, Mezquita said.
Once the students start their higher education journey at NSCC, they will be met with plenty of support — both academically and holistically, she said.
“We’re very excited to at the very least capture their attention, let them know that they’re welcomed here, college is for them,” Mezquita said. “If they have the desire to learn we will be here to support them in their educational journey to ensure that they’re able to accomplish their academic goals.”
In August, the college is planning to host a kickoff event for Lynn Public Schools graduates who are planning to attend NSCC, along with the students’ families, she said, so they can get to know the campus better.
“Their family is welcome too, it’s not just the one student that’s going to college, it’s their whole unit,” Mezquita said. “So we want to demystify what it is to be on a college campus, what it is to interact with faculty and staff that are here to support their learners.”
NSCC is also planning on hosting Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) workshops.
“If any student needs help in completing their FAFSA who graduated from Lynn Public Schools, they are welcome. They don’t have to attend North Shore in order to be able to participate in that and get the support that they need,” Mezquita added.
NSCC and Ruggerio visited Lynn English High School Tuesday morning to announce the direct admission program to students. They will be visiting Lynn Classical High School Wednesday and Lynn Vocational Technical Institute Friday.
