Eastern Nazarene athletics photo

Eastern Nazarene College is closing its doors by the end of 2024, D3sports.com has learned. The school, a private college in Quincy, Massachusetts, had just 381 full-time undergraduates as of its most recent filing (2022-23 academic year) with the U.S. Department of Education.

More than half of those full-time undergrads were members of athletic teams. Indications were that the number of full-time undergrads was even lower in 2023-24.

The announcement follows other closures in this academic year. That includes Birmingham-Southern, which shut its doors after a long and public battle with financial woes. Wells announced just weeks before its final exams that it would not re-open in the fall -- and Wells was already serving as a teach-out option for Division III schools Cazenovia and Medaille, which closed the year before. Fontbonne announced this spring that it would close following the 2024-25 academic year. And a year ago, D3sports.com broke the news that Cabrini would be closing its doors at the end of the academic year, with the school being purchased by neighboring Villanova.

Sources indicate that a vote was taken at a meeting of the Board of Trustees this past weekend. Faculty and staff were being informed on Monday. The school made its public announcement late Tuesday afternoon, June 25.

Students will be able to continue their educations at Gordon, Trevecca Nazarene and Mount Vernon Nazarene. The college's announcement suggested that anyone who is on track to graduate by the end of the 2024 calendar year would be able to finish at ENC.