Mass. — This is the time of year when college students return to Boston in droves.
Higher education is a huge part of the local economy, and this sector has been having some trouble lately.
Fewer students and higher costs are setting off a troubling trend: some local schools are abruptly shutting their doors.
The impact is devastating for students, workers, and the host communities.
“Indications are that we would expect an increase in the number of institutional closures in the coming years,” said Patrick Lane, a vice president of policy and research at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. “The demographic trends are not going to turn around anytime soon.”
First is the declining number of 18-year-olds, coupled with the waning interest in getting a bachelor’s degree, particularly among young men.
“People are very concerned about the cost of higher education. That’s always front of mind,” said Lane. “Sometimes people are looking for shorter-term options that may deliver more immediate economic impact.”
Curry College president Jay Gonzalez said “the status quo is not sustainable. We need to do things differently.”
When Laboure College of Health Care shut down earlier this year, Curry absorbed their nursing program.
“Curry has always had bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees. We now just acquired the largest associate degree program in Massachusetts, which grows our nursing school”, said Gonzalez.
Expanding a popular program like nursing means less in-demand academic areas often need to be curtailed.
Gonzalez said the Milton school recently eliminated visual and performing arts as a major. Some cuts in the humanities have also been enacted over the past several years.
Another focus is a first-of-its-kind program that helps graduates get jobs and is backed up with tangible benefits if they don’t.
It’s called the Curry Commitment.
“We basically are saying as long as students meet minimum requirements, a minimum GPA, do an internship that we’ll help them get, and engages with career readiness programming, we’ll guarantee they get a job within six months of graduating,” said Gonzalez.
If that deadline isn’t met, the school will pay federal student loans for up to a year or give the student free credits towards one of their graduate programs.
Lasell University in Newton is putting a laser-like focus on the nation’s shifting demographics.
University president Eric Turner explained, “When you look at this as learners, not just the segment of 18–22-year-olds, that’s a growing population. We educate people on this campus from six months to 100 years old.”
Lasell Village, an independent community for seniors, is currently expanding. It brings revenue into the university and provides educational opportunities for students.
There are also a daycare and preschool on the campus.
New programs that reflect the needs of local employers have been added.
For example, Lasell now teams up with area hospitals to train surgical technologists.
“They’re getting associate degrees and coming out of the program and taking the surgical technology test, and they’re getting jobs. The average job in that field is $70,000.”
Still, the ongoing challenge for New England colleges is a steep hill to climb.
According to WICHE, the number of high school graduates peaked in 2025 at about four million.
It is now expected to decline until at least 2041.
The prediction for the Northeast is dire, standing at 17%.
Lane added, “The demographics are a really difficult math problem that’s not easily solved in the short term.”
Gonzales thinks “it is hard for an institution to get to the realization that they can’t continue to be who they’ve been.”
Another trend in higher education is to award a bachelor’s degree in three years instead of four.
Merrimack College and Suffolk University have both been given permission by the state to launch trial programs in 2027.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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