Massachusetts ramps up financial oversight for 2 faith-based colleges

Dive Brief: 

• The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education is ramping up financial oversight for two of the state’s faith-based colleges, warning that it cannot confirm the institutions have the resources to stay open through the next academic year. 
• The agency said last month that it is working with the two institutions, Northpoint Bible College and Boston Baptist College, to craft contingency plans in the event they close. 
• Both higher education institutions have at least one major risk factor for financial troubles — small student populations. Northpoint Bible College enrolled 225 students in fall 2022, while Boston Baptist College had just 43 students. 

Dive Insight: 

Under a 2019 law, Massachusetts’s higher education department is required to annually review the financial health of the state’s private colleges to determine whether they face imminent closure. 

The statute is meant to help avoid colleges closing without warning. Massachusetts lawmakers approved the statute after Mount Ida College abruptly shuttered in 2018, leaving students scrambling to figure out how to finish their programs. 

State regulations require that colleges’ closure contingency plans include transfer and articulation agreements for students and a budget sufficient to sustain the institution’s educational offerings through a potential closure. 

The department can also ask colleges at risk of closure to provide financial collateral to guarantee refunds for student deposits and to preserve student records. 

The state has seen several other acquisitions and college closures in recent years, including Boston College’s purchase of Pine Manor College and Becker College’s shuttering at the end of the 2020-21 academic year. 

Northpoint Bible College did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though it provided a statement to the Massachusetts higher education department. 

“The College welcomes the oversight of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education in monitoring its institutional health,” it said, according to the agency’s notice.

The college acknowledged that it had incurred declining enrollment and growing debts over the past few years — issues that were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Indeed, Northpoint Bible College’s enrollment dropped dramatically, falling 42% from 388 students in fall 2012 to 225 students a decade later. And tax documents show Northpoint Bible College ran deficits in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years. 

However, the college noted that its student population increased in fall 2023, breaking eight straight years of declines, though it did not share its current enrollment levels.

Boston Baptist College has also seen enrollment plummet, dropping 51.7% from 89 students in fall 2012 to 43 students a decade later. David Melton, president of the college, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Wednesday.