Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER Becker College, whose origins date to the late 1700s, will close at the end of the academic year.
The school last month made it clear that its future was in doubt, owing to financial struggles caused in large part by the pandemic.
On Monday, Christine Cassidy, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, confirmed what students and neighbors of its campuses in Worcester and Leicester had hoped to avoid.
In a post on the Becker College website, she wrote: It is with deep regret that I share the news that on March 28, the Board of Trustees voted to permanently close Becker College at the end of the current academic year. The College will provide academic, support and transitional services to students through August 31, 2021. Following an orderly transition, classes will not resume in the Fall.
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Engelkemeyer chose her college, a small women’s school in Missouri, because it offered a major she was interested in: equestrian studies. Stephens College was one of the few schools nationally with such a program, and that sealed it. Engelkemeyer got her degree, but quickly found she wouldn’t be launching a career working with horses. Instead, she took after her father – a serial entrepreneur, she said – and started her own business.
For seven years, Engelkemeyer owned and ran a gift shop offering handcrafted items before selling it and figuring she should get her MBA. She thought about starting another business, but while writing up a business plan, she took up a suggestion to teach while she was earning her degree at East Carolina University in North Carolina.
Becker College in Worcester, Mass., may be on the path to closure, The Boston Globe reported. The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education said Becker’s financial situation has become “sufficiently uncertain” that it threatens the college's long-term viability.
Becker College likely closing due to economic impact of COVID pandemic masslive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from masslive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Bridgewater State University has named the following area residents to its deanâs list for the fall semester: Kat Hoffstedt, of Lanesborough; Karla Calvo, of Lenox; Michaela Loring, of New Marlborough; and John Capeless, Molly Conroy, Zachary Gage and Adlai Greene, of Pittsfield. Deanâs list requires a 3.3 grade-point average for the semester.
⢠Jonathan Rooney, of Chester, has been named to the fall 2020 deanâs list at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. Rooneyâs major is adventure education. Deanâs list requires a semester grade-point average of 3.6 or better.
⢠Lanesborough resident Destiny Anne Charron has been named to the fall 2020 deanâs list at Husson University in Bangor, Maine. Deanâs list requires a grade-point average of 3.60 to 3.79. Charron, a first-year student, is enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Communications Technology program with a concentration in audio engineering.