Dive Brief:
- Bay State College, a beleaguered for-profit institution in Massachusetts, will officially lose its accreditation this summer after regulators announced Monday they had denied its appeal to keep it.
- The New England Commission of Higher Education said it will strip Bay State of its accreditation at the end of August, a move that will prevent its students from accessing federal financial aid.
- While the decision does not ensure Bay State’s closure, the college is unlikely to continue operating without accreditation or the ability to distribute financial aid.
Dive Insight:
The New England Commission of Higher Education, or NECHE, said in January it intended to nix Bay State’s accreditation.
But the for-profit institution, which has grappled with years of enrollment declines and a ballooning budget deficit, said it intended to fight NECHE’s decision.
It lost that appeal.
NECHE President Lawrence Schall said in a statement Monday the accreditor affirmed its January decision and that Bay State lacks “sufficient human, financial, information, physical, and technological resources and capacity to support its mission.”
Bay State said in an emailed statement Tuesday it’s “deeply disappointed” by the decision to rescind accreditation. It called the accreditor’s withdrawal flawed, and said it lacked evidence to show the college was in a poor financial position.
“The Commission’s decision and the denial of the appeal has upset the lives of hundreds of students who have found success at Bay State College because of the supportive environment the College provides,” Bay State said.
The Boston Globe reported that Bay State’s interim president told students that it will help them finish their degrees, either at the for-profit college or other institutions with which it arranged transfer opportunities. Those colleges include Suffolk University, Fisher College and Bunker Hill Community College.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
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