EARNING TWO-YEAR community college degrees in health care or STEM fields can put young people on a solid course to better earnings in well-paid fields with high demand for workers in Massachusetts, but there are big gaps in those seeking these degrees between students from low-income and better-off households.
That’s among the more significant findings from a new study of Massachusetts community colleges that highlights the promise of economic mobility offered by the state’s 15 two-year campuses – and the challenges they face in translating that opportunity to tangible gains for students with the most need.
The study, led by Richard Murnane, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, looked at the record of Massachusetts high school graduates who enrolled in a state community college from 2005 to 2016…