MWCC Foundation receives $24K to assist pandemic-affected students

Photo/Grant Welker Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner

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By Timothy Doyle

The Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts in Fitchburg has granted $24,000 to the Mount Wachusett Community College Foundation to aid north-central Massachusetts students attending Mount Wachusett Community College in the 2022-23 academic year.

The foundation, a private nonprofit that benefits MWCC in Gardner, will distribute the funds through the MWCC Student Stabilization Scholarship Fund. It aims to award at least 24 full- and/or part-time students scholarships of approximately $1,000.

“The first priority for funding will be focused on students who have dropped out or stopped their college education at MWCC since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, but who are closest to completing their program,” notes MWCC Foundation Executive Director Carla Zottoli. “The second priority will be to aid those whose educational plans were impacted due to the pandemic and who have unmet financial needs.”

Enrollment at community colleges has been disproportionately affected by COVID. According to a National Student Clearinghouse Research Center study, enrollment at public two-year institutions dropped by 9.5 percent from the year before in spring 2021, and another 7.8 percent in spring 2022. This compares to all institutional sectors down 3.5 percent in 2021 and 4.1 percent in 2022.