(This is the first in a series profiling Mass State Legislators who have attended public colleges.)
Representative Michael Costello at the door of the House Chamber
Representative Michael Costello
DISTRICT:
1st Essex-Amesbury,
Newburyport, Salisbury
Attorney
PUBLIC COLLEGES ATTENDED:
Northern Essex Community College Salem State College Representative Michael Costello may only be in his first year as a legislator, but he is already making a big impression.Although the Newburyport Democrat was voted President of the freshman class by his peers, he's not exactly a fresh face on Beacon Hill. Previously Costello was an aide to Senator Joan Menard, former chair of the state Democratic Party.
Costello said that after graduating high school one of the few options available to him was Northern Essex Community College. He rates the education he got at Northern Essex as "excellent" and "top shelf." "It provided me with fundamentals on how to study.
Rather than graduate, he did what many students do, and took the skills he developed at Northern Essex in a year and a half and transferred to a four year college. As Costello puts it, "I got what I needed, and I moved on." In his case it was Salem State College where he graduated with a bachelor's degree. He then went on to Suffolk University Law School and later began his career as an attorney. Costello says that affordable tuition and accessibility are two of the most important characteristics of community colleges. As for the future of our institutions, he says the state will "need to depend on community colleges more than ever... to give good basic education as well as to retrain workers."
Costello remains a strong believer in public higher education. While he has high regard for the education he received at Suffolk, he says, "If Massachusetts had a public law school, I would have gone there."
Interesting Fact: Rep. Costello's father is Nick Costello, a former senator from the 1sst Essex District and more recently the first mayor of Amesbury.