UMass Acquires Newton College, Mount Ida To Close

NEWTON, MA — Mount Ida College announced Friday that it will close and that University of Massachusetts will acquire the campus and help current students complete their degree.

The announcement comes after news leaked this week that the two institutions were in talks. It wasn't that long ago that a potential merger between Lasell College and Mount Ida fell through.

“The challenges for small colleges in the current economic and demographic landscape are significant. Working with UMass, we have devised a way forward that ensures the well-being of our students, enhances the academic capacity of the region, and preserve’s Mount Ida’s legacy and history,” Mount Ida President Barry Brown said in a statement.

Here's how it will work: Mount Ida students in good standing will be offered automatic admission to UMass Dartmouth where they can finish their studies and graduate. UMass Dartmouth will also facilitate expedited transfer admission opportunities at the Boston, Lowell and Amherst campuses for Mount Ida students.

“I want to assure Mount Ida students and their families that our students, faculty and staff stand ready with open arms to welcome them to our 710-acre, coastal academic community and provide a pathway to a Tier 1 national research university degree at the same or lower cost than they had planned,” said UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert E. Johnson.

Separately, UMass Amherst will acquire the 74-acre Mount Ida campus in Newton, where it plans to start a Greater Boston-based career preparation program for UMass Amherst students in high-demand fields that serve the Massachusetts innovation economy, Mount Ida announced Friday.

Mount Ida will continue classes through the spring 2018 semester, concluding with the commencement of its graduating seniors. But the college will no longer be accepting students.

The closure and acquisition comes as a number of smaller colleges in the greater Boston area and across the region have explored selling off land, mergers, partnerships and ways to stay afloat. Small private colleges are struggling to survive as tuition raises and families are unwilling or unable to take on student loans.

Mount Ida abuts Newton's "N-Squared Innovation District," an area that has become home to a growing number of life sciences, technology, cyber security and other innovation economy business.

The news of UMass's plans to continue to use the Mount Ida campus for educational purposes with an eye toward STEM, has met the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce with smiles.

"Our employers here are thrilled that UMass plans to incorporate all that happening in Newton and Needham into its plans for this campus," the Chamber's Greg Reibman said in a release on its website today.

Previously:

• Newton's Mount Ida In Talks With UMass
• Two Newton Colleges Consider Merger
• No Merger For Two Newton Colleges After Pushback

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