Dive Brief:
- Anna Maria College could be at risk of closure, according to the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education.
- The agency notified the Catholic institution last week that it can neither confirm that Anna Maria “has sufficient resources to be able to sustain operations at current levels,” nor that it can meet its obligations to students in the current and following academic year.
- The department said it is working with college leaders to ensure Anna Maria has a long-term operating plan, which includes contingency planning to ensure an orderly process for any significant downsizing of operations.
Dive Insight:
Anna Maria has previously taken measures — including staff reductions and cost cuts — to ease “serious financial pressures” that it attributed to structural headwinds in higher education as well as enrollment declines, the college said in a statement accompanying the higher ed department’s notice.
Between 2019 and 2024, Anna Maria’s fall head count dropped 16.6% to 1,202 students, according to federal data.
Financial struggles have followed the enrollment declines. The college has posted multimillion-dollar losses in recent years. It carries $18.4 million in debt, most of it tied to a note issued through the state development agency MassDevelopment and backed by the college’s assets, worth some $33.1 million as of June 2025. In the 2025 fiscal year, the institution breached a covenant on the note but got a waiver from the lender.
This month, the college received an anonymous $5.3 million gift that college leaders expect to “provide significant near-term liquidity and support ongoing operations as additional revenue-generating initiatives are implemented,” according to its latest financial statement. The college also says it has an outstanding employee retention federal tax credit worth $2.8 million.
Moreover, the institution is partnering with community colleges and high schools, including on dual enrollment programs, to help boost enrollment growth.
In its statement last week, Anna Maria said, “The College recognizes that additional measures will be required and anticipates further cost reductions in FY2027 through ongoing financial viability reviews across the institution.”
It also pointed to early positive signals in its enrollment trends, including fall 2026 deposits that have so far outpaced prior years. In its latest financial statement, the college also pointed to growth in targeted academic programs.
The board of trustees has been meeting biweekly to monitor Anna Maria’s finances and enrollment, while also meeting with the state’s higher ed department. The board is considering “all options available,” according to the college.
Founded in 1946 by the Sisters of St. Anne, Anna Maria’s struggles reflect broader challenges for small religious institutions. Among other religious institutions to shutter in recent years, Lourdes University in Ohio and Providence Christian College in California announced this year that they would close.
