Massachusetts updated its college closure oversight rules in late September 2026, requiring private colleges at financial risk to publicly identify themselves to students by December 31 each year. The change is a direct response to the closures of Anna Maria College and Hampshire College earlier this year — and it gives enrolled students much earlier warning than the old system did.

After two Massachusetts private colleges announced closures in 2026, state officials moved to close a gap in the system: students were often learning their school was in serious financial trouble far too late to plan around it.

On September 30, 2026, the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education announced updates to its Financial Assessment and Risk Monitoring (FARM) process. The changes require private colleges to warn students by December 31 each year if they may not be able to meet their financial obligations within the next 18 months.1

What the New Rule Actually Requires

Under the updated FARM rules, any private Massachusetts college that does not have at least 18 months of financial resources must be posted on a public list on the state's website. That disclosure must happen no later than December 31 each year — an earlier and more predictable deadline than the previous system, which required notification only when closure was considered imminent.

The state's assessment will also expand: colleges won't just be evaluated on whether they can stay open for 18 months, but on whether they have the financial resources to carry out an orderly teach-out and closure if it comes to that. A teach-out plan outlines how enrolled students would finish their degrees or transfer to another institution.

The Department said it also plans to improve fiduciary training for leaders at financially at-risk schools and bring in outside accounting and finance experts to help assess their fiscal health.

The December 31 disclosure deadline is annual, not real-time. A college that deteriorates financially between January and November may not appear on the state list until the following December 31. The FARM rules improve early warning — they don't make surprises impossible.

Why This Rule Exists Now

Massachusetts has had some version of college closure oversight since 2018, when Mount Ida College shut down abruptly with almost no warning, leaving more than 1,500 students scrambling. The Legislature passed a law in 2019 requiring immediate notification when closure was imminent.

That law didn't prevent two more abrupt announcements in 2026. Anna Maria College in Paxton closed in spring 2026, and Hampshire College announced it would shutter at the end of the fall 2026 semester. Both closures gave students and families limited time to plan.

The new rules are designed to surface financial problems much earlier — before a school is weeks from closing — so that students, families, and the state have time to respond.

Three Things Most Students Don't Know

Being on the list doesn't mean your school is closing. A school flagged as at risk under FARM is under increased monitoring, not necessarily on a path to closure. Many institutions flag and recover. The list is a planning signal, not a shutdown notice.

A federal safety net exists if your school does close. The federal Closed School Discharge can cancel your remaining federal student loans if your school closes while you're enrolled — or within 180 days of you withdrawing. This protection exists regardless of which state you're in, not just Massachusetts.

The real risk is mid-degree program cuts, not just school closure. Schools under financial stress often cut specific majors or departments before any formal closure decision. If your program disappears, you may face a transfer situation without any of the formal teach-out protections that apply to a full school closure.

If you're enrolled at a small private college anywhere in the country, you can check your school's financial health through the Department of Education's Financial Responsibility Composite Scores — published annually. A score below 1.0 is a warning sign. Massachusetts's FARM list is the most public version of this kind of monitoring, but the federal data is available for every school.

What This Means Outside Massachusetts

This rule applies only to private colleges in Massachusetts. Students at private colleges in other states have fewer formal protections — most states have no equivalent of FARM.

Private college closures and mergers are accelerating nationally. The enrollment cliff — a demographic drop in 18-year-olds — is hitting small private schools hardest, and Minnesota State is facing similar structural pressure at the public college level.

— in 2026 alone: Anna Maria College (spring) and Hampshire College (fall)

What to Do If You're Worried About Your School

  1. Check the Massachusetts FARM list if you're at a private school in the state. The Department of Higher Education posts it publicly at mass.edu.
  2. Look up your school's composite financial score on the Department of Education's website — available for all Title IV-eligible schools.
  3. Know your transfer options early. Our guide to transferring colleges covers the process, including how credits transfer and what timelines look like.
  4. Ask your school about articulation agreements. Some at-risk schools have pre-existing agreements with nearby universities that would ease a transfer. The community college transfer guide explains how these work.
  5. Contact your financial aid office now about your options if the school closes — federal student loan protections for closed schools are substantial but require you to act within specific timeframes.

The Massachusetts rule is a step toward giving students real information early enough to use it. Whether your school is in Massachusetts or not, the underlying message is the same: the schools most at risk are small, tuition-dependent, and enrollment-sensitive. Check on yours before you need to.

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Footnotes

  1. Higher Ed Dive. (2026, September 30). Massachusetts beefs up closure warnings for at-risk colleges. https://www.highereddive.com/news/massachusetts-beefs-up-closure-warnings-for-at-risk-colleges/831820/ ↩

  2. WBUR. (2026, September 30). Colleges get an earlier deadline to alert public if at risk of closure under new state rule. https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/09/30/massachusetts-private-colleges-higher-ed-closing-risk-schools ↩