Marygrove College to close permanently after Fall 2019 semester

(FOX 2) - Marygrove President, Dr.Elizabeth Burns, says the college is closing in December because of enrollment decline. 

In 2017, the Catholic college announced it would end undergraduate programs, and now the graduate programs are also ending. 

“The number of courses we offered was limited,” said Dr. Burns. “We focused mostly on education and I think you need to look at what’s happening in education and in the education world right now and so I think there are definitely challenges.”

Although the school is now closing, Dr. Burns has one message to all the 305 students. 

“Please contact your program directors, faculty advisors. They are ready to counsel,” Dr. Burns said. “We are trying to have an absolute smooth transition for them, if they are not able to graduate by December.”

The beautiful and historic campus will remain and be preserved by the Marygrove Conservancy. 

“With kudos and great gratitude to the Kresge Foundation who has really supported us through and helped us with the process of thinking through what could happen on this campus,” Dr. Burns. 

The graduate students who won’t be able to finish their programs by December will be matched with similar programs at Oakland University. 

Lastly, there are currently 35 to 40 people working at Marygrove who will have to find other jobs. 

“It’s a very sad day for our students, for our alums and for our faculty,” Dr. Burns said.