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The private, for-profit Bay State College in Boston will lose its accreditation unless an appeal is granted, the interim president of the financially troubled institution told students in a letter obtained by The Boston Globe.
Interim president Jeff Mason said in the letter sent Monday that the decision made by the New England Commission of Higher Education was “not the outcome we expected and, frankly, we are heartbroken.”
The accreditor cited a yearly operating deficit of more than $500,000 above projections, as well as enrollment declines and a lack of final plans to wind down any programs, as reasons for the decision, the Globe reported. The accrediting commission made the decision on Jan. 12 after a November visit to the campus.
Bay State's accreditation is set to be withdrawn Aug. 31 and will mean that the college cannot disburse federal financial aid funds.
Bay State received approval to award associate degrees in 1975 and baccalaureate degrees in 2004. The college also has a campus in Taunton, Mass., and last year announced on its LinkedIn profile a partnership with Taunton High School to enroll Taunton students in a nursing associate degree program.
But over all, academic programs had been on the chopping block, with Mason announcing cuts in December. The college enrolled 346 students in fall 2021, according to the most recent federal data available, and employed seven full-time and 85 part-time faculty at the time.
U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said in a Twitter post Monday that she and U.S. representative Ayanna Pressley, also from Massachusetts, had called for scrutiny of the college given its “troubling history of fraud and mismanagement.” Warren added that she was “glad they’re holding the college accountable.”
