EXPERIENTIAL ASSOCIATE TO MASTER’S

ABOUT

History

By scaling a proven model across the Northeastern global network, the eA2M Impact Engine empowers the career trajectories of prospective students from historically underrepresented populations.

In order for eA2M to become a reality, people, ideas, and passion needed to come together. Its roots lie in strong community partnerships, an ethos of applying growth-minded solutions to today’s most pressing problems, and Northeastern’s global focus on experiential, lifelong learning. The first A2M program has already served more than 150 students, and new programs are opening at Northeastern University campuses in Miami and Oakland.

And it’s not stopping there.

What we do

In 2017, the Northeastern University began an exciting new program that allowed students who had obtained their associate degree from any community college to earn their bachelor’s degree through the College of Professional Studies (CPS). After earning their bachelor’s, they would then have the opportunity to pursue an accelerated master’s in biotechnology from Northeastern’s College of Science. This became known as the Biotechnology Associate to Master’s (A2M) program.

The Biotechnology A2M program made an immediate impact. To date, it has served more than 150 students, with more than an 82% retention rate. The learners are diverse: 61% are first-generation college students, 66% are under-represented minorities in the field, and 66% are female.

The program’s growth depended upon strong partnership with community, especially community colleges. Together with Middlesex Community College, Northeastern, led by Dr. Elizabeth Zulick, secured the ability to offer $10,000 National Science Foundation scholarships for qualifying students. Partnerships with the Akamai Foundation, Bunker Hill Community College, and Roxbury Community College followed.

Additionally, the Biotechnology A2M model proved replicable in fields such as cybersecurity and information technology. Northeastern University began looking at how the successes of the A2M program could be scaled even farther and wider.

In his 2018 book Robot-Proof, Northeastern University president Dr. Joseph Aoun writes, “By helping everyone develop and maintain valuable skills, lifelong learning is necessary to alleviate social inequality.” Guided by this principle, Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies, which features programs and curricula designed for working professionals, has grown dramatically in recent years. Today, it boasts over a hundred degree and certificate programs and 257,000 alumni across 180 countries. Under Aoun’s leadership, Northeastern has grown into a 14-campus global university. At each campus, curricula are built around an experiential education.

Today, just 10% of individuals from low-income families have a bachelor’s degree by age 25—compared with 50% from high-income families. Disproportionately Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, low-income students are concentrated in for-profit institutions and two-year colleges, where they are more likely to leave in debt, but without a degree. Increasingly, the highest paying jobs with the most room for advancement require postsecondary and advanced degrees.

Domains

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Health:
Through Roxbury A2M Workforce Accelerator Partnership in partnership with Roxbury Community College
Information Technology
Through Roxbury A2M Workforce Accelerator Partnership in partnership with Roxbury Community College
Biotechnology:
Through A2M Biotechnology Program and Roxbury A2M Workforce Accelerator Partnership in partnership with Roxbury Community College
Technology:
Through A2M4Tech in partnership with the Akamai Foundation, Northeastern, Bunker Hill Community College, and Middlesex Community College