April 23, 2026
Dear Members of the Anna Maria College Community,
For 80 years, Anna Maria College has opened its doors to students who needed exactly what this institution offered: a rigorous education, a welcoming community, a pathway to serving one’s community, and the conviction that they belonged here. It is with profound grief that we write today to tell you that Anna Maria will cease academic operations at the end of our Spring 2026 Semester.
This conclusion was not reached quickly or easily. For months, the Board of Trustees, our leadership team, and the Sisters of Saint Anne walked a distressing road together, examining every option and hoping at each turn that something might change. The decision reflects years of financial pressure that we were ultimately unable to overcome, and the honest recognition that continuing would not be responsible to the students, faculty, and staff who depend on us. We tried to find a way. We are grateful to everyone who tried alongside us. And we are deeply, genuinely sorry we found no viable path forward.
For Our Students
You deserve every support we can offer in this last semester. That is where our attention is now and will remain.
Our graduating seniors will have their Commencement. You have earned your degrees. You will walk. That is a promise.
For students who will not complete their degrees this semester, we have been working ahead of this announcement to ensure that clear pathways forward are in place. Transfer agreements with partner institutions are being finalized, and additional partners are being added. Every affected student will be reached individually. Please visit www.annamaria.edu/transition for the full details of the options available to you, and to find the advising support that will help you choose the right path.
We are also mindful of the students who chose Anna Maria for the fall and were looking forward to starting here. This news is a particular loss for you, and we do not take that lightly. Your deposits will be refunded, and our team will reach out to you directly.
For Our Faculty and Staff
You have carried this institution through circumstances that would have broken a lesser community. In classrooms, in residence halls, on athletic fields, in every office and corridor, you have shown up for students with dedication that humbles us. We are grateful beyond what words can hold.
We are committed to treating every employee with the transparency, respect, and care you have earned. Human Resources is available to answer your questions directly.
For Our Alumni and Donors
What was built here over nearly 80 years belongs to this community and cannot be undone. The education our graduates received, the character that was formed, the lives that were changed, those are permanent. We will be in direct contact with donors about existing commitments in the weeks ahead.
The Legacy of the Sisters of Saint Anne
Anna Maria College exists because of a woman named Esther Blondin, who founded the Sisters of Saint Anne in Quebec in 1850 with a simple and audacious conviction: that education belongs to everyone, and most especially to those without the means to demand it. She devoted her life to that conviction. Saint Pope John Paul II proclaimed her Blessed Marie Anne Blondin in Rome in 2001.
In that spirit, the Sisters founded Anna Maria College in 1946, first in Marlborough and then on the Paxton campus that has been our home ever since. Their founding purpose was plain: to make higher education available to women of modest means. At a time when many institutions kept their doors narrow, the Sisters opened one wide.
The values they planted here, just like the many tall trees that adorn this campus, grew into something larger than any of them could have planned. Faith and reason as partners, not rivals. Service as the natural expression of learning. Every student treated as a whole person. These values passed into every faculty member who refused to let a student settle, every coach who saw athletes as people first, every staff member who knew a student by name and noticed when something was wrong.
What we leave behind is larger and more diverse than what they handed off. But Anna Maria College is still theirs, at its core.
The Sisters have walked with us through this decision. We grieve the loss of this particular expression of their holy work. But the Sisters built something that no one can undo. Their ideals and the mission of this College live in the tens of thousands of students who were educated here, in the communities they have served, and in every life they have touched.
Going Forward
We will be present and available in the days ahead. Please visit www.annamaria.edu/transition for information, resources, and answers to your questions. You can also reach us directly at transition@annamaria.edu.
We know this news will bring grief, anger, and questions we cannot yet fully answer. All of that is right and deserved. We will communicate as clearly and as often as we can throughout this process.
It has been a privilege to serve alongside this community, one built from the beginning on the belief that education changes lives. We can attest that it does, because we have seen it through Anna Maria’s students.
With deep gratitude and profound respect,
Sean J. Ryan, Ed.D.
President, Anna Maria College
David P. Trainor, Esq.
Chair, Board of Trustees
