LYNN — U.S. Sen. Ed Markey took a stroll through North Shore Community College’s STEM labs with college faculty, discussing plans to update the labs.
Markey and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren secured $1 million in fiscal year 2024 funding to modernize and expand the science labs on the college’s Lynn campus. U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton secured an additional $1 million in funding for the college as well.
“Congressman Moulton was able to secure $1 million a year ago, and Sen. Warren and I were able to secure another $1 million in order to augment this incredible program that you have, and we’re glad to do it,” Markey said.
Before the tour, Markey and members of the college’s faculty discussed the potential that has been unlocked by the statewide offer of free community college through MassEducate and MassReconnect. These programs allow all Massachusetts residents admission to community college for free if they have not yet earned a bachelor’s degree.
“All of a sudden, we’ve removed one of the most significant barriers to entry into college,” NSCC President Dr. William Heineman said. “Why is the lab important? Here on the Lynn campus, we’re not able to offer all of our academic programming, and so we’re trying to upgrade our facilities here so we can offer many more of our academic programming.”
Markey then viewed NSCC’s recently updated anatomy and physiology lab.
“It’s very imperative for the state to make sure that very talented and very bright kids have access to all the tools they need to compete against kids from the suburbs,” Markey said.
Rebecca Oliver, the college’s senior executive director of strategic communications, talked about the importance of Markey’s visit to the campus, saying it helps turn the “theoretical” into the “practical.”
“This building’s been here for a while and we get those funds, we can make an older building incredibly modern and progressive and prepare the space for what the market demands,” Oliver said. “So we made the lab what will best address the needs of our community now and preparing for the future.”
