Eastern Nazarene College, a private liberal arts college in Quincy, will close after nearly 125 years following years of “significant financial headwinds,” administrators announced.

“We know this news will come as a shock and disappointment to many, especially those whose lives have been transformed by their affiliation with Eastern Nazarene College through its rich history,” Bowser said. “Taking this step now will ensure the continuation of ENC’s mission to provide a transformational education through annual scholarships that empower students living in our region to attend other Nazarene schools.”

The Board of Trustees of Eastern Nazarene College voted unanimously to “begin the process of closing ENC and transitioning it into a new educational enterprise” carrying the schools legacy forward, the college announced in a letter Tuesday.

The college, founded in 1900, said it intends to continue to serve students who are on track to graduate by the end of the year “pending the commitment of a critical mass of students and faculty.”

The Eastern Nazarene leadership said the college has faced similar financial struggles like “all small, private, liberal arts colleges” in recent years and pursued alternatives to closure as challenges intensified. The letter called closing the school and investing in another educational enterprise the “only viable path forward.”

The college has arranged for streamlined transfer opportunities for students with Gordon College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University and Trevecca Nazarene University. Faculty and staff will receive “job-placement support” and counseling resources through the school during the transition, the college said.

The college directed students and faculty to find more information as plans update at enc.edu/closure.

The college is also the site on a current migrant shelter.

Eastern Nazarene College and the Healey administration struck a deal last summer to set up a temporary shelter and intake center for migrants on the institution’s campus in Quincy as the number of families from other countries started to overwhelm services here.

The agreement was set to expire this summer but a college spokesperson told the Herald that the college’s board has approved an extension to the existing agreement through June 30, 2025, which officials are “working to finalize.”

“ENC anticipates no immediate impact on the … initiative and will remain in close contact with its partners in the initiative to ensure timely and transparent communication with the families we serve,” the college spokesperson said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, which oversees the shelter operations at the college, said they “are aware of Eastern Nazarene College’s intent to close.”

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The college will “maintain” the intake center and temporary emergency shelter for families, including migrants, “as planned,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Herald.

“At this time, there is no impact to the family welcome center or the families staying at Eastern Nazarene College,” the spokesperson said.

The Healey administration originally agreed to lease 56,000 square feet from the college for “emergency shelter space, office space, classroom, and cafeteria space” at $237,394 a month, according to the contract signed last year.