Becker, on cusp of potential closure, planning spring graduation but making contingency plans for students

Photo | Grant Welker Becker College

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By Grant Welker

Becker College, mired in financial problems that could put its long-term future at risk, is moving ahead with what could be any college's biggest annual event: its spring graduation ceremony.

But the Worcester school is also making contingency plans for students potentially having to transfer elsewhere if the college were to close, including helping students transfer to other institutions, according to messages to the campus community from President Nancy Crimmin.

Crimmin has advised students to continue to take classes this semester and seek help from campus services if needed. The college said March 2 it was considering options for its future, including potentially closing, after talks with an unnamed institution fell apart in January.

The New England Commission of Higher Education, an accreditation agency, said in a joint statement with the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education the same day that Becker was unlikely to continue operations through the next academic year because of its precarious financial situation.

Becker, which has roughly 1,700 students, now finds itself straddling short-term operations this semester and arranging for its longer-term survival.

Crimmin said the college is committed to providing services and support to complete the semester but made no promises after then. Educational opportunities for students, including potentially at other schools, remains the priority for Becker's leadership, Crimmin said. She described the process as a complicated one, involving matching the curriculum between institutions and securing agreements to ensure students are in good academic standing to graduate on time.

Crimmin asked students to remain focused on the semester and to trust that the school's leadership continues to work on academic possibilities for students in the event the school has to close.

"As trying as this time is, I urge you not to engage in rumor or speculation," Crimmin wrote in a letter to students on Friday, one of a series of messages to the college community in recent days. "Becker has been, and always will be, a close-knit community — and it is vital for us to be compassionate, caring, and supportive of one another."

One more relatively sure thing is Becker's spring commencement ceremony. Graduation is scheduled for May 8 at the DCU Center, which would include both the classes of 2021 and 2020, which wasn't able to have a ceremony of its own because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Crimmin gave a few more details about the affiliation talks it held with a potential partner, one she described only as a nonprofit organization that would not have been a merger. Instead, Becker and the other entity would have joined some operations including its financial aid and registrar's offices, for example, for cost savings. The other entity called off the discussions in January.