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| Mount Ida, and its 14 Division III athletics teams, will cease to exist as an independent entity after the 2018 spring season concludes. Mount Ida athletics photo |
Mount Ida College, a Division III school in Newton, Massachusetts, will discontinue academic operations at the end of the spring 2018 semester. Following commencement of this year’s graduating seniors, Mount Ida’s academic programs will cease.
The school enrolls just fewer than 1,300 full-time undergraduates, according to the latest figures provided to the U.S. Department of Education. UMass Amherst will acquire the physical assets of the campus. Students who are in good standing academically are being offered automatic admission to Mass-Dartmouth.
Mount Ida is the second Division III school in the Boston area to suffer the same fate this year. Wheelock College will be merged into Boston University and will cease to exist as an independent institution as well.
The change comes after most fall sports have solidified their schedules, and in fact, at least nine football opponents of Mount Ida are now left with a hole to fill on their schedule. The Mustangs have fielded 14 Division III athletics teams: men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's volleyball, field hockey, football, softball and women's tennis.
Mount Ida is a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference for its primary sports, playing football in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference. The ECFC will have seven schools participating this fall, but will drop to six in 2019, when Husson joins the Commonwealth Coast Conference.