Boston Adds Six Early College Pathways, Applies for State Grant to Go District-Wide

BOSTON — July 19, 2026 — Boston announces six new early college pathways and a bid to expand free college coursework to all BPS high schools. Mayor Michelle Wu, speaking at a State Street Corporation-hosted event on July 19, unveiled new programs in computer science and engineering, health sciences, entrepreneurship, biotech, and business finance at New Mission High School, Brighton High School, Fenway High School, Jeremiah Burke High School, and Excel High School. State Street Foundation has invested $1.3 million to date across early college programs in Boston and Quincy, with another $1 million planned, and seeded the Massachusetts Alliance for Early College with $300,000. Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassius confirmed BPS has submitted a competitive grant application to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to create a consortium model with Roxbury Community College specifically designed for multilingual learners, bypassing the current school-by-school designation process that Cassius called unsuited for a district with more than two dozen high schools. Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology President Aisha Francis announced that all 83 seniors graduating from Dearborn STEM Academy this year have been proactively admitted to the institute.