Thinking about College? Seven Hills Can Help You Get There.
Educational Opportunity Center
The Seven Hills Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) in New Bedford, MA, helps people begin or continue their post-secondary education. Since 1974, the EOC has provided educational access services to income-eligible adults who are usually first-generation college students. The EOC services include academic, career and financial aid advising at eight service centers across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All college advising services are free, and our staff is multilingual. EOC advisors provide professional assistance tailored to each individual’s needs and circumstances. The Seven Hills Educational Opportunity Center serves over 1000 people in the New Bedford area annually.
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) – New Bedford
GEAR UP is a federally funded project of MassEdCO and the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. This national initiative encourages young people to have high expectations, stay in school, study hard and take the right courses to go to college. GEAR UP Massachusetts operates in New Bedford at Normandin Middle School and New Bedford High School utilizing a cohort/priority student model. Since its inception in September 1999, GEAR UP has served students in grades 7 and 8 and grades 9 through 12 as well as their parents, teachers, and school counselors. The program’s goal is to foster school-wide support that promotes and celebrates a college going culture among all students by increasing college awareness and readiness among the entire student body. Services include early college and career awareness workshops, early college-planning parent workshops on college admissions, financial aid, and career planning information. We also provide career exploration activities such as career interest inventories, computer-based career research lessons, career speakers and fairs, and site visits along with field trips to college campuses. Additionally, academic, and recreational enrichment summer programs including the Annual GEAR UP Summer Leadership Institute, hands-on summer transition programs, and project-based STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities. Lastly, during senior year there is a strong focus on assistance with completing postsecondary admissions and financial aid applications along with assistance with interpreting financial aid awards and working with families to determine the best academic and financial fit.
Educational Talent Search
Educational Talent Search Educational Talent Search (ETS) is one of the federally funded TRIO programs designed to serve youth who can succeed in college but are educationally and economically disadvantaged. MassEdCO, Inc. operates ETS in New Bedford. Each year, we are funded to serve 240 students in grades 6 through 12. Students at Keith Middle School and New Bedford High School can enroll in Talent Search. The goal of ETS is to ensure that each enrolled NBHS ETS senior graduate from high school successfully enrolls in a postsecondary program appropriate to their interests and abilities. In most cases, these students are the first in their families to go to college. In many cases they are the first to graduate from high school. The ETS college placement rate is typically over 90 percent. ETS middle school services can begin as early as 6th grade, with the goal of making students and their parents aware that college is within their reach. Via a variety of well-planned and executed activities including college visits, career awareness activities, tutoring, mentoring and personal guidance, students become aware of the importance of higher education to their future success. Parents become involved in the process early on and are encouraged to support their children in pursuit of higher education. Middle school services focus career awareness, coming to understand their own interests and abilities, and the wide variety of career options available to them. ETS helps them make the link between postsecondary education and their future career goals. We provide family and student college planning seminars on early college planning and college tours. ETS advisors at NBHS ensure students are taking the right sequence of courses to enable them to enroll in a postsecondary program upon graduation from high school. Field trips to colleges, college planning seminars, college essay-writing workshops, and the all-important financial aid information and application assistance are examples of the many services provided to ETS students to ensure successful enrollment. Lastly, parent college planning seminars focusing on college admissions and financial aid are also provided along with additional opportunities to participate in tutoring, mentoring, scholarship searches and other support services to help each participant achieve academic success. ETS provides the opportunity for individual one-on-one attention and support to enrolled students.
MassEdCo is the sponsoring partner of the Seven Hills Educational Opportunity Center Program, the Seven Hills GEAR UP Program, and Educational Talent Search.