Bay Path University in Longmeadow will be acquiring Boston-based Cambridge College.
Bay Path President Sandra Doran said due to the pandemic Cambridge, like many colleges and universities, was struggling with stagnant enrollment up until last year. But Doran said the acquisition is still a good opportunity for Bay Path.
“Over the course of the last seven, eight years, we had begun to explore what it would look like to expand our physical presence into the Boston area because that's where the majority of the population is in this state,” Doran said.
The university did open locations in Concord and Burlington, Massachusetts, prior to the pandemic, she said. However, both facilities had to be closed due to concerns with COVID-19, when many students went back to taking courses online.
The acquisition will nearly double the number of students served by Bay Path and bring total enrollment to over 5,000 students.
Cambridge’s Springfield and Lawrence satellite campuses were not a part of Bay Path’s acquisition because, according to a representative from the University, “since the pandemic, the majority of students from Cambridge are online now.”
Doran said Bay Path will remain an all-female university for undergraduate students, but that graduate students from Cambridge College will also have access to Bay Path classes and programs. Doran added that undergraduate students from Cambridge who are female-identifying will also have access to Bay Path courses.
She said Cambridge College will remain a co-educational school.