(L to R) NECC graduates Christopher Guard and Jennifer Nunez, who are seeking bachelor’s in nursing at Regis at NECC, NECC President Lane Glenn, Regis President Antoinette Hays, and Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera.

Geography is often destiny when it comes to colleges and universities.

Nationwide, most college students attend campuses 20 miles or less from their homes.  And between the challenges of distance, transportation, living expenses, and the rising cost of many four-year universities, more students in the Merrimack Valley, and especially those in Lawrence, are finding it harder to get the education they need.

That’s why NECC launched Communiversity partnerships this past year on the Lawrence Campus, bringing new educational and professional initiatives to the city and area residents.

Through programs offered by Regis College, a leading Catholic University outside of Boston, and Lyndon State College, a public college located in Vermont, students who have earned an associate degree at NECC can now complete a bachelor’s degree from a four year college and stay at Northern Essex while they do it.

The two colleges formally celebrated the new partnerships with NECC at launching ceremonies held at Northern Essex’s El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center in Lawrence.  Last November, Regis announced students will be able to earn 100 percent of their credits toward a Regis bachelor’s degree at the downtown Lawrence site.

“Regis has a long track record of educating multicultural, first-generation students and sees great potential in the residents of Lawrence,” said Regis President Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN.  “We believe we can significantly contribute to the area’s economy by improving the quality and skill of our healthcare workforce.”

At the recent ceremony in September, for the collaboration with Lyndon State College, the first dual-state partnership to deliver bachelor’s degree programming in Massachusetts, NECC graduate Jean Carlos Diaz of Lawrence explained that although an associate degree was an important checkpoint in his journey, he did not want to attend a four-year college and live far from home.  As a student enrolled in Lyndon’s Bachelor of Science degree program in Computer Information Science, Diaz said, “ I am experiencing an out of state college right in the town that I live in.”

To learn more about enrolling at Northern Essex for the fall, visit the website or contact Enrollment Services at, admissions@necc.mass.edu or 978-556-3700.