Six Central Mass. colleges coming to aid of Mount Ida students

Photo/Flickr/COSMOSNEXUS Mount Ida College in Newton is due to close at the end of the semester, but six Central Massachusetts colleges are among those looking to take in its students.

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By Grant Welker

Six Central Massachusetts colleges will take part in an event at the soon-to-close Mount Ida College next week to offer options to students who will have to continue their education elsewhere.

At least two — Anna Maria College and Worcester State University — have also offered guaranteed admission to Mount Ida students in good academic standing.

Those two colleges and four others — Becker College, Clark University, Mount Wachusett Community College and Nichols College — are slated to participate in an event for students on April 17.

Nearly 80 colleges, mostly from Massachusetts, are taking part.

Mount Ida, which has had budgetary problems, is being closed and its campus taken over as part of UMass Amherst. Its students are guaranteed a spot this fall at UMass Dartmouth, but some educational programs at Mount Ida are not available at UMass Dartmouth.

Becker and Mount Wachusett, for example, are looking to draw Mount Ida students to study in their veterinary technician programs.

Other Central Massachusetts colleges are also looking to fill the void.

"We guarantee you friendship, financial aid, and access to housing and many of the sports and majors that originally made Mt. Ida such a great fit for you," said Nichols College, which is pitching students on its similarly sized leafy campus.

Worcester State has offered guaranteed admission to Mount Ida students and is waiving admissions fees. The university is also guaranteeing housing and what it calls enhanced academic advising.

Anna Maria College has guaranteed admission and housing and a financial aid decision within five days of completion of an application. All full-time undergraduates at Anna Maria receive financial aid, the school said.

Becker has also offered an expedited application review and to re-activate applications from Mount Ida students who applied to Becker within the last three years to simplify the process.

Framingham State said it would expedite its review process and wave an admissions fee.