COLLEGE SALE SEES MORE SCRUTINY
Higher ed board, Senate look to weigh in on Mount Ida
The state Department of Higher Education and the state Senate are joining the attorney general in scrubbing the sale of Mount Ida College to the University of Massachusetts.
The higher ed board is demanding the school provide it with information for how it plans to help students transfer to UMass Dartmouth or offer alternatives for those who do not wish to transfer to the South Coast campus.
In the deal, announced Friday, Mount Ida’s 74-acre campus will become part of UMass, which in exchange will take on the school’s estimated $55 million to $70 million debt. Students face the prospect of moving more than 50 miles away to UMass Dartmouth.
The exchange has sent shockwaves throughout the Mount Ida community, where faculty and staff will be laid off in May and many students are left scrambling to transfer to other schools — some of which may not carry their speciality programs like funeral services.
“We are disappointed by the lack of appropriate and timely communications with our office regarding the closure of Mt. Ida and with the accelerated timeline that is now in place,” Patricia Marshall, deputy commissioner for academic affairs and student success, said in a letter sent this week to Mount Ida College President Barry Brown.
The state also says it has “serious concerns” regarding incoming freshman students who may not be eligible at UMass — at a time when the majority of admission periods have already closed.
“The department is seeking to ensure that currently enrolled students will be able to continue their degree programs despite Mt. Ida’s unanticipated closure,” Marshall wrote.
The state Senate also announced it will hold an oversight hearing on the pending acquisition and how it will impact students.
“We in the Massachusetts Senate feel as though we do not have enough information on this hasty acquisition,” Senate President Harriette L. Chandler (D-Worcester) said in a statement.
Philip Varlese, a parent of an incoming freshman, said his stepdaughter turned down six other offers to attend the veterinary program at Mount Ida and now the family is scrambling to find her a school to attend in the fall.
“Her life was shattered when the school announced that their ‘welcome new student’ day was canceled, and the news was leaked about the school’s closing,” Varlese said. “The kids aren’t looking for a free ride.”
The handover requires state approval. The Board of Higher Education will meet on April 24.