High School Students get a Jump on Their Future with Early College Program

WORCESTER, MA— January 14, 2020—The students in Quinsigamond Community College’s “Introduction to Information Technologies,” are not your typical college students. They are juniors and seniors from Worcester Public high schools who recently took part in the Early College Worcester Program. This early college program enables high school students to participate in college and career readiness activities and free college credit course offerings. It gives students the chance to experience college ahead of time, with the goal of having them enroll in college after they graduate from high school.

“These activities and courses are offered at high school, at QCC or Worcester State University.  Students earn college and high school credits at the same time and can graduate from high school with a high school diploma and at least 12 college credits.

“Early College Worcester enables students to save time and money,” said Christina Hebert, director of Educational Partnership and Early College Initiatives at QCC. “The number of Worcester Public School students who successfully participate in the program continues to increase each semester.”

In last semester’s QCC’s introductory technology class, taught by instructor Robert “Bob” Knox, the students learned the programming language, Python; how to use databases with Access, as well as spreadsheets in Excel, and web design. The course was more hands-on than some, according to Mr. Knox, a fact that seemed to resonate with the students who often stayed well-after the scheduled class time.

“This was my first experience with the early college students, but I can assure you it is unusual to have 90 percent of a class engrossed to a level where they were not on their phones and not watching the clock, but were actually more concerned with the project and working together to complete it,” Mr. Knox said.

The students in the course mentioned the benefits of being ahead of their contemporaries by taking college classes while they were still in high school.

Doherty High School Junior Joel Nanakobi said this was the first early college course he has taken at QCC.

“I really liked this class. I was nervous at first because I didn’t know what to expect. It opened my eyes to technology and I think I want to go into the business world now, either in finance or computer science,” he said.

Junior Jerimiah Brown, from Claremont Academy, said this was also his first time being in an early college course. He said he enjoyed the class and found it fun, as well as challenging.

“It was hands-on and we were able to help others learn, and we learned from each other,” he said. “It was very different from high school.”

Worcester Technical High School junior Philipo Ntibazokiza is someone who has taken full advantage of the early college program. He has already taken a few early college classes and said it makes such a difference taking classes that you are interested in.

“When you like something you pay better attention and you learn more,” he said.

To learn more about QCC’s Early College Pathways, email Director of Educational Partnership and Early College Initiatives, Christina Hebert at chebert [at] qcc.mass.edu

For more information about QCC, contact Josh Martin, Director of Institutional Communications at 508.854.7513 or jmartin [at] qcc.mass.edu