• Online courses are available for the busy adult student.laptop 9 image by Harvey Hudson from Fotolia.com
  
  The Massachusetts Community College system is a consortium of 15 2-year colleges offering a variety of degree, certificate and continuing education programs. Two of these colleges, Roxbury Community College and Bunker Hill Community College, are in the metropolitan Boston area. In addition, the college system's Joint Admissions Program guarantees that graduates of any of the 15 Massachusetts community colleges will be admitted to any of the state colleges or universities, including the University of Massachusetts system at Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell, provided they meet minimum requirements.
  
  

Bunker Hill Community College

• Bunker Hill Community College, which, according to Community College Week, ranked among the "top 50" fastest growing 2-year colleges, offers a variety of Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.) and certificate programs. There is a weekend program where students can earn an associate's degree in General Concentration, Business Concentration or Computer Information Systems in 2 years and a series of hybrid courses that combine online and classroom learning for the busy adult who's decided to return to school.
  
  Bunker Hill Community Colllege
  250 Rutherford Avenue
  Charlestown, MA 02129
  617-228-2000
  bhcc.mass.edu/
  
  

Bristol Community College

• Bristol Community College in southern Massachusetts has four locations: Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton and Attleboro. In addition to the Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and certificate programs, Bristol boasts an honors program for its particularly distinguished students and two preparatory programs for aspiring high school students. The tech prep places emphasis on preparing students for business, technical and science programs, while the Upward Bound program, operating in Fall River, Attleboro and Taunton, is a precollege educational program "designed to assist high school students with the improvement of their academic skills."
  
  Bristol Community College
  Fall River Campus
  777 Elsbree Street
  Fall River, MA 02720
  508-678-2811
  bristolcc.edu/
  
  

Roxbury Community College

• Roxbury Community College, in the heart of Boston, offers a wide selection of educational opportunities with courses ranging from accounting and biotechnology to nursing, international business and network administration. Additionally, RCC's Dual Admissions program allows high school students in their junior or senior year to take college-level courses. RCC invites senior citizens 60 and older to enroll in and pursue a degree on a space-available basis free of charge. Finally, credit and noncredit courses are available online for those who wish to pursue a degree from anywhere in the world.
  
  Roxbury Community College
  1234 Columbus Avenue
  Boston, MA 02120
  617-427-0060
  rcc.mass.edu/
  
  

Middlesex Community College

• Middlesex Community College has campuses in New Bedford and Lowell. It offers more than 75 degree and certificate programs and features an International study program with fellowship funding for students to travel to places like China, Russia, Costa Rica and Spain. There are more than 25 student clubs and organizations and a variety of intercollegiate activity options, including ice hockey, intramural basketball, soccer and bowling. Programs of study include aviation, accounting, computer science, dental hygiene, graphic design and nursing.
  
  Middlesex Community College
  Bedford Campus
  591 Springs Road
  Bedford, MA 01730
  781-80-3200
  middlesex.mass.edu/Default.htm