Marygrove College in Detroit will permanently cease to offer courses to current students as well cease admissions after the fall 2019 semester. Students at the Detroit college, which now only offers courses at the graduate level, will be able to complete their degrees at Eastern Michigan University.
The college, sponsored by the Sisters, Servants and Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), announced their permanent closure on June 12, 2019, stating the cause as a continual decline in enrollment and persistent financial difficulties.
By 2016 the school had an endowment of only $500,000, minute in comparison to the endowment of the University of Detroit Mercy at $51.6 million. By January 2018, Marygrove College Corporate Board made the decision to eliminate undergraduate offerings, shifting course to those offered at the graduate/master's level as well as the professional development programs in Social Justice, Human Resources Management and Education as it was believed by the college administration that these programs were sustainable.
A teach-out agreement between Marygrove College and Eastern Michigan University was presented by EMU in Sept. 2019. The agreement will allow students to decide to continue their graduate degrees at EMU between Dec. 15, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2020 if the degree in which they are in pursuit of is similarly offered at EMU. At the time of the initial announcement of their closure, Marygrove had entered a teach-out agreement with Oakland University in Rochester.
EMU spokesperson Geoff Larcom stated the intent of the agreement between EMU and Marygrove was to provide assistance to Marygrove students by aiding them through the change in status of the college, "and why not help them out?"
According to the terms of the agreement EMU will accept all transcripted credits earned by students at the college which a prospective student can use towards a degree at EMU. The degree awarded to prospective students from Marygrove who transfer to EMU, under the terms of the agreement, will be permitted in the same amount of time required by Marygrove. Furthermore, EMU will not offer a cost-per-credit-hour to students from Marygrove that is higher than the cost-per-credit-hour offered to students at Marygrove currently.
To income EMU students from Marygrove, the university will waive both the application fee as well as the total number of allowed, transferable credit hours. To the students who apply to EMU from Marygrove, EMU will create a financial aid package for such students that is consistent to aid packages presented to incoming students at EMU.
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