Marygrove College to close in December

Marygrove College, a long-time institution in the city of Detroit, will close after the fall 2019 term, citing declining enrollment.

In August 2017, the 92-year-old Catholic school announced that it would be shutting down its undergraduate programs due to financial difficulties. It tried to stay afloat by focusing on its graduate school, but that too proved untenable.

“Marygrove’s grand experiment to transition to graduate-only studies was a brave and bold attempt to continue to serve students,” Marygrove President Dr. Elizabeth Burns said in a release. “However, intensive marketing and recruitment efforts have failed to attract enough students.”

The university has entered into a teach-out agreement with Oakland University to allow students to finish their degrees.

Through a $50 million commitment from the Kresge Foundation, several partners, including the Marygrove Conservancy, are coming together to create a “cradle-to-career,” or P-20, educational approach. The plan, which partners say will not be affected by the college’s closure, includes construction of a new early childhood education center and converting college buildings into a K-12 school, and introducing a teacher education training program.

In September, a 120-member class will begin in the 9th Grade Academy on campus, operated by the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Other partners in the P-20 campus include the University of Michigan School of Education, Starfish Family Services, and IFF.

It’s unclear what will happen to the rest of Marygrove’s 53-acre campus, which is filled with gorgeous Tudor Gothic buildings. The chairperson of the Marygrove Board of Trustees, Dr. John Cavanaugh, cited “the creation of the Marygrove Conservancy as a creative solution to preserving the historic campus grounds for urban education.”