NORTHAMPTON — Massachusetts is expanding a program that drops the cost of getting a bachelor’s degree.
The “Commonwealth Commitment” is for students who start at a state community college and finish at one of the state’s public universities.
Only around 100 students have signed up for the program since it was announced in the spring of 2016, but education officials say the expansion of the program, from six majors to more than 40, will encourage more students to apply.
For eligible students, the program grants a 10 percent rebate on fees and tuition after each completed semester, and freezes those fees and tuition when students enter the program. The administration of Gov. Charlie Baker estimates that the program could save students up to 40 percent off the “typical sticker price” of a traditional bachelor’s degree.
Katy Abel, a spokeswoman for the Department of Higher Education, said the Commonwealth Commitment is meant to make college more affordable, while also encouraging students to attend college full time, which she said increases their likelihood of graduating.
“It’s trying to give students and families a break on college cost, because we know they need it,” Abel said. “We’re hoping the numbers of students in the program are going to grow and expand greatly.”
To be eligible, students must attend college full time, maintain a 3.0 grade point average, begin at a state community college, complete their associate’s degree in two and a half years, transfer to a state university and finish their bachelor’s in two more years.
Abel said the low early numbers for the program were because the Commonwealth Commitment was a pilot program until now, though that fact seemed to have been left out of the initial fanfare around the program’s rollout.
Among the majors now included are early education, computer science, business, communications, criminal justice, and architectural, industrial and graphic design, liberal arts and sciences, and six Mass. Maritime Academy programs.
Greenfield Community College President Bob Pura said he’s particularly pleased, given his college’s strong arts program, to see that all majors offered by the Massachusetts College of Art and Design are now eligible.
“I applaud all of the commonwealth’s efforts to increase accessibility, transferability and affordability,” he said. “Those are all barriers to our students’ success, and so the collective effort to do all that we can to help students succeed is a good effort.”
“What the Commonwealth Commitment stands for is lowering the costs of attending post-secondary education, and increasing completion,” said Christina Royal, Holyoke Community College’s president. When it comes to finishing a degree, she said, “Time is the enemy of completion.”
Of course, not everyone can afford to go to school full time, she said. Community colleges fill a role by providing students with flexibility as they pursue education while also dealing with jobs, families and other obstacles.
When asked how the Commonwealth Commitment might be improved, GCC president Bob Pura said: “I think a next good step would be to make this even more powerful in terms of its commitment to those who can’t afford to go full time yet.”
Abel, the Department of Higher Education spokeswoman, said it’s too early to say whether the program will ever be expanded to part-time students. But the state, she said, is going to use this year as a way to gauge students’ interest in the financial incentives on offer.
“We know that there are going to be a number of students who can’t avail themselves of the program,” Abel said. “It could be that in Commonwealth Commitment 2.0, after we’ve reviewed the success or failure of this year, we’ll say, ‘How can we expand the program to serve more students?’”
“I think it’ll be interesting to see the response from the students in our 15 community colleges now that they have expanded it,” Royal added.
In an era of widespread student debt, Royal said she applauds any programs aimed at increasing affordability. At a community college like hers — an ethnically diverse institution where some students are low-income, food insecure or housing insecure — affordability is the most essential point of consideration, she said.
“The student loan and debt crisis is very relevant,” she said.