Mount Ida students in good standing earn admission to UMass Dartmouth

NEWTON, Mass. — Mount Ida students in good academic standing no longer have to worry about where their collegiate careers are heading after UMass Dartmouth announced they'd take them in.

After UMass Amherst acquired Mount Ida's campus, UMass Dartmouth announced Mount Ida students would be offered automatic admission into the college if they've achieved good academic standing. UMass Dartmouth will also help expedite the transfer process to the Boston, Lowell and Amherst campuses for those students.

UMass Amherst will use the Newton campus for career preparation programs for UMass Amherst students in high-demand fields that serve the Massachusetts innovation economy.

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Mount Ida President Barry Brown said that the partnership "ensures the well-being of our students, enhances the academic capacity of the region, and preserve’s Mount Ida’s legacy and history.”

Mount Ida holds about 1,450 students, and UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert E. Johnson said that the college is prepared to give Mount Ida students "private college educational experience they are accustomed to at a public university value."

Mount Ida students said, however, that they were not only caught by surprise when they found out their school was being sold to UMass, but also that some of the majors offered at Mount Ida aren't offered at any of the UMass locations.

“They don’t have our major at any of the UMass schools so we are just stuck with nothing to do and we don’t know where to go," said Nathan Colon, a fashion industry marketing management major at Mount Ida.

Nathan Colon and Samantha Jenkins both major in fashion marketing and they said this decision means they have no option.

“I feel betrayed by the school, I was planning on staying here all 4 years. They gave me a lot of scholarship money so I am not sure what I’m going to do," said Jenkins.

Most students will be fast-tracked to programs at UMass Dartmouth, and those with scholarships can keep them if they go to UMass schools.

The issue with unique majors, however, persists.

“They offer forensics but you’re going to have a degree in chemistry and that’s not what I came here for. I came here for forensic science," said Jessica Korzeb, a forensic science major.

Frustrated students who chose to attend Mount Ida are now at a loss as they said it feels as though they are stuck.

“I can’t come up with something in the next 4 weeks because all the deadlines for other schools are closed," said Shanae Pina, an interior design major. “I just feel like they don’t care about us. I’m just kind of stuck right now like a lot of other people.”

Cox Media Group