Low Enrollment Forces Closing of Marian Court College

Marian Court College has been a fixture on Littles Point Road in Swampscott for 50 years. On June 26, the college will close its doors.

Marian Court College President Denise Hammon said low enrollment numbers have forced the closure that will change the course of 145 students’ educational path and leave five full-time faculty members, 15 staff members and a dozen adjunct teachers without jobs.

“Believe me, it’s the last thing I wanted to do,” Hammon told the Boston Globe during a brief interview on campus.

Hammon said that MCC is one of just a few four-year schools in the country, and the only Catholic institution, that is 100 percent commuter. That status allowed the school to keep tuition low at $16,500 and not pass along the costs of residential services to students.

Most of MCC’s students, according to Hammon, are traditional college-age, but work an average of 27 hours per week.

“Many are responsible for the electric or heating bills in their family so they are not working for fun money,” Hammon explained. She continued to explain that two-thirds of the student population is non-white and bi-lingual, and 98 percent are first generation and poor.

The vast majority were able to attend MCC with full Pell grants as well as state aid and significant assistance from the college.

Hammon said that Marian Court’s students have the option to continue their classes at Salem State University or North Shore Community College, though it’s unknown whether all of Marian Court’s credits will transfer.

The school was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1964 as a secretarial school for women. Over the years, it evolved into a junior college and then a two-year co-educational college. In 2015, the school graduated its first class of four-year degree students. Gov. Charlie Baker, a Swampscott resident, spoke at the commencement ceremony.

Hammon said that the Sisters of Mercy own the property, and she isn’t sure what will become of the facilities when there is no longer a college operating there.

Patch has reached out to the Sisters of Mercy for comment and will provide additional information as it becomes available.