Mount Ida College Closing

Mount Ida College announced Friday that it will shut down and its campus will become part of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Students in good standing will be eligible for automatic admission to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, where they have been assured they can finish their degrees.

Mount Ida, with about 1,500 students, has been struggling financially and looking for new options. In February it announced discussions with Lasell College about a possible merger. But those discussions ended last month. While the college's statement at the time suggested it would continue on its own, only weeks later Mount Ida announced it would close.


https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/09/mount-ida-after-trying-merger-will-shut-down

 

Mt. Ida is located in a nice suburban community west of Boston. It started out as a "girl's finishing school" and became, in turn, a junior college then a 4 year school and then added a few grad programs. I think it attracted mostly local kids and I think for a long time it was mostly a commuter school. With so many other schools in the Boston area it's easy to see how they would have difficulty staying in business.

 

Reminds me of this classic exchange from the movie "This is Spinal Tap":

Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled...
David St. Hubbins: What?
Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town.

 

More on the subject....

UMass Boston students and professors are livid after learning that UMass Amherst will buy a new campus in Newton for its students, while Boston is forced to keep cutting people and programs to make ends meet.
To them, the university system trustees’ approval of Amherst’s plan reinforces a longstanding belief on the Dorchester campus that the University of Massachusetts Boston is considered second-best.



https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/04/09/ida-deal-frustrates-students-professors-umass-boston/sZg8nN1OFLfR53zLpGuegI/story.html?camp=bg%3Abrief%3Arss%3Afeedly&rss_id=feedly_rss_brief&s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

 

I wonder what is going on with Massachusetts colleges.

Just recently National Graduate School of Quality Management merged with New England College of Business. http://ngs.edu/

 

Actually, the longstanding belief is that the Boston campus may not even be the second best but may have actually slipped down to #4. UMass-Dartmouth and
UMass-Lowell might be considered as tied for second place with the flagship campus in Amherst still occupying the #1 position.

 

Probably too many colleges given the size of the local market. Schools with national or international reputations can draw from a larger pool, but the smaller and more obscure ones face lots of competition for potential students.

 

We'll probably be seeing much more of this.

There have been too many of them?

Massachusetts is a densely populated state with a population of less than seven million people. So, it's geographically small.

And, the mystique of the Northeast has worn thin. You needn't tread through snow for a quality education.

 

Even more....

IN A SUDDEN ANNOUNCEMENT that caught many by surprise, the University of Massachusetts Amherst agreed to buy Mount Ida College, the small, private, and struggling liberal arts college in Newton. The UMass trustees approved the purchase behind closed doors, and so far neither the Amherst campus nor the system has offered any convincing justification for the controversial transaction. Under the agreement’s terms, UMass Amherst is assuming all of Mount Ida’s debt, which is estimated to be between $55 million and $70 million. All 280 Mount Ida employees will be laid off and most of its roughly 1,500 students will be allowed to finish their degrees at UMass Dartmouth at in-state tuition rates. The Amherst campus will acquire Mount Ida’s property, which is nestled in a leafy area near the Charles River.





https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2018/04/09/umass-ida-deal-smacks-empire-building/m83ad9EgsTXqQC1WMuD7EJ/story.html?camp=bg%3Abrief%3Arss%3Afeedly&rss_id=feedly_rss_brief&s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

 

And of course, with DL in full bloom one needn’t thread through the snow either so many people can benefit from some of those New England brands and stay warm while living elsewhere

 

What does a huge Non-Profit State school need Mount Ida College for (campus and debt) ? Why not just let it die and take their students?

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. It’s a very nice suburban setting with easy access to public transportation into Boston.

 

So that will be the faculty lounge?

 

And even more.......

Governor Charlie Baker on Tuesday afternoon sharply criticized the leaders of Mount Ida College for their abrupt decision to close the school and sell the campus to UMass Amherst, saying Mount Ida’s officials had not looked out for the students and staff.
Baker, speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon at the State House, said what bothered him most was that Mount Ida seemed to have been in decline for a while, so he wondered why the closing needed to be so sudden. “This deficit that they are dealing with now has gotten worse and worse, and I feel terrible for the kids because as far as I’m concerned the grown-ups let them down, and I feel terrible for the staff at the school for the same reason,” Baker said.


https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/04/10/baker-criticizes-mount-ida-leadership/Gak7qGQae5mZ2Nes62KuGM/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

 

Maybe if UMass-Boston didn't keep shooting themselves in the foot with ill-advised schemes like buying the former Bayside Expo Center (which they're now trying to sell) and building dorms when their stated mission was to be a commuter school, they wouldn't be in such financial straits.

That's actually laughable; I realize I'm biased, but UMass-Lowell is the head & shoulders second best UMass campus after Amherst.

 

Follow up

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/04/26/after-mount-ida-what-should-sustainable-future-for-higher-look-like/TY9YP3MCAWsSChIDmRovQP/story.html