Anna Maria College faces ‘financial pressures’

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

Anna Maria College in Paxton is working with the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education in attempts to fulfill obligations to students in the face of its “financial pressures.”  

“Anna Maria College has pursued its distinctive Catholic mission since 1946, and its leadership remains committed to ensuring that every currently enrolled student has the opportunity to complete their education,” says an April 10 statement from the college.  

The state Department of Higher Education cannot confirm that the college “has sufficient resources to be able to sustain operations at current levels and substantially fulfill its obligations to enrolled and admitted students for both the current and the subsequent academic year,” according to an April 10 public notification. The department’s Financial Assessment and Risk Monitoring regulations require such a notification.

“The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education … is required … to annually assess the financial information of private institutions of higher education for the purpose of identifying and monitoring institutions at risk of imminent closure, and mitigating the impacts of closures on students, their families, faculty, staff, and the community,” says the website mass.edu/strategic/farm.asp

The department’s notification and the college’s statement are not announcements that the college will close. They address steps being taken to repsond to the current situation.

The notification says the department is working with the college to ensure that the institution’s leaders “are exploring all reasonable options and leveraging all available resources to support a long-term plan that prioritizes the best interests of students, faculty, and staff.” This includes “contingency planning to establish an orderly process in case the institution decides not to sustain operations at or near current levels over the next 18 months.”

The department requires that such planning includes “developing multiple academic options and pathways, organizing robust student support services, and communicating timely notifications to relevant stakeholders” to help students “continue their education with minimal disruption should that be required.”

“The board of trustees is fully informed and leaving no option unexplored,” Hugh Drummond, vice president for external relations and CCO, informed The Catholic Free Press in an email Wednesday.  

“We recently received an anonymous gift of $5 million – the largest single donation in Anna Maria’s history,” he reported. “While we are deeply thankful for this generosity, it does not resolve our structural financial challenges.  

“On campus, we are focused on the students and want them to finish this semester with the same dedication and purpose that brought them here.”

Anna Maria’s statement says that the board of trustees and Sean J. Ryan, who became president there last July, welcome the higher education department’s engagement in monitoring the institution’s health.  

“The college’s leadership acknowledges the serious financial pressures that reflect both longstanding structural challenges in the higher education sector and the particular impact of enrollment declines on a small, tuition-dependent institution,” the statement says. “Anna Maria has undertaken a comprehensive and systematic review of its operations and has taken steps to address those pressures,” in part by reducing staffing and operating costs. The college anticipates further cost reductions next year through ongoing financial viability reviews.

Early enrollment indicators “have shown some movement in a positive direction,” the statement adds. “As of March 31, 2026, Fall 2026 deposits are trending ahead of the same period in prior years, with activity across domestic, transfer, and international categories.” The college is to continue to monitor these trends.

The statement says the board of trustees has been meeting with college leaders “to review financials and monitor enrollment,” and continues to evaluate available options, and that the college will continue to work with the education department “as it determines the best path forward for its students and community.”