What were Framingham students so eager to tell Gov. Baker at MassBay roundtable?

FRAMINGHAM — Melanie Cerin, a junior at Framingham High School, never thought college would be for her.

A first-generation immigrant, Cerin figured a college education would be out of reach. However, through the state's Early College Initiative, she is now more than halfway to earning an associate's degree, even as she continues to attend high school.

"This program really gave me hope," Cerin told Gov. Charlie Baker and other state officials Thursday during a roundtable about expanding access to affordable higher education. "As a first-generation, low-income woman, going to college was never the plan. I poured my heart out into every class that I have been given, and now I'm here, I'm going to college and I have 37 credits to my name at this moment."

Students described their experiences during the midday roundtable, held at MassBay Community College's Framingham campus on Flagg Drive. Baker, who is wrapping up his final few weeks in office after opting not to run for a third term, was joined by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, state Senate President Karen Spilka and Framingham Superintendent of Schools Robert Tremblay, among others.

The event highlighted a collaborative program between local school districts and the state, the MetroWest Scholars Early Start program, which through a partnership with MassBay and Framingham State University allows students to enroll in college-level classes and earn credits while still attending high school.

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Students from Framingham High School were on hand to attest to the experience they have had upon enrolling in the program, which began in 2017. Raquel Cupertino, also a Framingham High junior, said the program exposed unsure students such as herself to a college environment, and instilled confidence that they can achieve in higher education once they finish high school.

"This program is about exposing people to a lifestyle that they might not be able to understand," she said. "The program got me to think about college not in a negative way. The program has college professors, and we visit the campuses of places like FSU (Framingham State University) and Harvard, and we learn that you are elite, you are a scholar, and you have the requirements to attend a school like Harvard."

Baker said the program was designed to help students who may have had little familiarity with college to get comfortable with the coursework, and to start their post-high school academic careers on the right foot by giving them confidence that they can achieve at the next level.

"The main point behind creating Early College in the first place was a way to give a lot of first-generation kids an opportunity to kick the tires on college, which would be something that they might not necessarily talk about at home, and to see if they could do the work," the governor said. "We knew they could do the work, we just needed to give them an environment where they could feel comfortable. The more kids who graduate high school with college credits, the more confident they are about their ability to (attend college)."

Bringing college to underserved students

Baker also said the program has helped bring college education to students who may have been underserved and overlooked by other state and federal initiatives that support college education.

"When we first kicked around the idea, one of the first pushbacks we got on it was that why should we give a bunch of kids in the suburbs another advantage," he said. "But the overwhelming participation in this program has been kids of color, and from cities. I'd guess 70% to 80% of kids in our program are kids of color, and from cities, and the credits they are accruing are proving to themselves and to others that they can do the work."

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The event also focused on students who have received a MASSGrant Plus scholarship, which is aimed at low-income students and covers all tuition and fees for state colleges and universities.

Kristen Morin, of Framingham, was emotional when talking about the help she received from the grant program after struggling to afford college a decade ago. Morin, 30, is set to graduate from MassBay with an associate's degree in business administration, and is looking to continue toward a bachelor's degree.

"I tried to go to college when I was 20, I couldn't afford it," she said. "The cost of the books alone were more than I made in a week from my job. To say that receiving this grant has helped me is an understatement, and thank you so much for creating it."

Baker said one area where he feels the state has underachieved is promoting financial aid options that Massachusetts students have at their disposal.

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"It's absolutely possible to say with a straight face, that anybody — if they take advantage of this stuff — can graduate with a degree in Massachusetts without debt," he said. "One of the things we don't do a good enough job of is promoting the financial aid opportunities. We have not done a good job of letting people understand and figure that out."

Toward the end of the event, Baker lamented that he would no longer be in office to ensure the program would continue to grow and expand.

"I really hope these programs grow, because they have the potential to change lives, and at the end of the day that is what education is about," he said. "I won't be here — I wish I was — but I would like this program to be available to every school district in Massachusetts."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham students tout state's Early College program to Gov. Baker