HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - Holyoke Community College’s (HCC) Gateway to College program has once again been recognized nationally for its success in helping students complete high school and pursue higher education.

For the third year in a row — and the sixth time in the past nine years — the program received an excellence award from Achieving the Dream, the national network that oversees Gateway programs across the country.

Achieving the Dream grants excellence awards to affiliates that meet or exceed four benchmarks: grade point average, one-year persistence, two-year persistence, and graduation rates. HCC’s program has won at least one benchmark award for the past decade, and the overall excellence award in 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2025.

Through Gateway to College, students who

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