On Wednesday, August 12 at 1 p.m., Northern Essex Community College, with campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence, MA, will sign a historic agreement with the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, the public university system of the Dominican Republic. 

In addition to creating faculty, staff, and student exchanges, the agreement will include transfer agreements between the two colleges, allowing local residents with credits from the university to seamlessly transfer those credits to Northern Essex and graduates of Northern Essex to transfer to the university.

Established in 1538, the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo is the oldest university in America.  With 17 campuses and 170,000 students, it offers 119 undergraduate programs, 73 master degree programs, and PhD programs. 

This will be the first agreement between the university and a Massachusetts college, and the first collaboration in the United States to include articulation and transfer.

Many local community leaders are graduates of the university, including Representative Marcos Devers, who received a degree in Civil Engineering.  

The agreement will be signed at 1 p.m. in Room 301 of the El-Hefni Health & Technology Center, 414 Common St., Lawrence by Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex Community College, and Clara Benedicto, director of cooperation and international relations, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.  Mayor Dan Rivera and Representative Marcos Devers will also be sharing remarks.