Bay Path University is a
private university
Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. Dep ...
in
Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,853 at the 2020 census.
History
Longmeadow was first settled in 1644, and officially incorporated October 17, 1783. The town was originally farm ...
. Bay Path offers both
all-women bachelor's degree programs (both on-campus and online), co-educational master's degree programs (both on-campus and online), an occupational therapy doctorate program, and an EdD in Higher Education Leadership & Organizational Studies program for men and women. The university also has The American Women's College on-ground and online offering bachelor's degree programs to adult women.
Founded in 1897 as the Bay Path Institute, the college has gone through several name changes. From 1988 to 2014 it was known as Bay Path College. Bay Path University is a member of the
Cooperating Colleges of Greater Springfield
The Cooperating Colleges of Greater Springfield (CCGS) is a consortium of accredited colleges and universities located in Hampden County in Western Massachusetts, in and around the city of Springfield. Formed in 1971, the consortium provides var ...
, an eight-college consortium.
History
Bay Path was founded in 1897 as Bay Path Institute in
Springfield, Massachusetts. Bay Path started as an urban, coeducational institute offering business teacher training, secretarial science, business administration and accounting degrees. The name Bay Path was derived from its location on the old Bay Path (a part of
Boston Post Road), which united the western part of the state with what was once the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. The first class in 1897 was 30 students, but Bay Path grew rapidly in its first few decades. In 1920, Bay Path bought the Clawson-Hamilton Business School of Brattleboro, Vermont, and renamed it the Brattleboro Business Institute. In the same year the competitor Griffin Business School was also purchased and integrated into Bay Path. Bay Path was one of the largest and most successful business schools in the highly competitive Northeast during this time, with a peak enrollment of 1,200 students taking classes in innovative, accelerated format. The institution struggled heavily, however, during the Great Depression and World War II, and by 1944 the institute was nearly bankrupt.
In 1945, the college moved to
Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,853 at the 2020 census.
History
Longmeadow was first settled in 1644, and officially incorporated October 17, 1783. The town was originally farm ...
, was renamed Bay Path Secretarial School, and developed a new mission and vision to become a women's only college. Four years later, the institution became Bay Path Junior College. In order to further expand its offerings, in 1988 Bay Path became a four-year degree-granting institution, and its name was changed to Bay Path College.
In 1999, Bay Path established an accelerated program for women to earn their bachelor's degree through a Saturday only program. In 2000, Bay Path began offering Master of Science degrees. After 14 years of offering master's degree programs, reaching 20 master's degree offerings in 2014, Bay Path changed its name to Bay Path University to reflect its status as both a bachelors' and masters' granting institution.
Academics
Bay Path University offers bachelor's, master's degrees, the Occupational Therapy doctorate, and the EdD. Degree programs are balanced between those with an arts and science focus and those with professional focus. The university features majors that are heavily focused on practical, hands-on application of course work, and students take the majority of their credits within their major. The university has 30
major programs for bachelor's degrees and 30+ degree and certification programs at the graduate level. Bay Path has a student to faculty ratio of 12:1 in its undergraduate programs, and its freshmen retention rate is 74.3%.
While the master's degree programs are co-educational, the bachelor's degree programs are women-focused. Bay Path's focus on women is demonstrated through its WELL (Women as Empowered Learners and Leaders) program with all undergraduate students required to take three qualifying courses in their first, third, and fourth year (with an optional class in their second year). These courses focus on developing skills in learning (research, writing, speaking, analysis, and technology) and leading (identify strengths, setting of personal, academic and professional goals) while researching local and global issues that affect women.
Bay Path University is accredited by the
New England Commission of Higher Education
The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and other ...
.
Campuses
Longmeadow Campus
The primary campus for Bay Path University is in the suburban town of
Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,853 at the 2020 census.
History
Longmeadow was first settled in 1644, and officially incorporated October 17, 1783. The town was originally farm ...
, located in
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial and promotional name for the portion of the Connecticut River Valley that is in Massachusetts in the United States. It is generally taken to comprise the three counties of Hampden, Hampshire, and Frankli ...
along the
Connecticut River in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
. The campus is adjacent to the
Longmeadow Historic District, notable for having over 100 homes built before the 1900s, and the college owns a number of historic homes in town. The heart of the Longmeadow campus started with the 1945 purchase of the Wallace estate. The 18-acre estate had three buildings in 1945: a
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
American colonial mansion (now Leary Hall), a large garage with turntable for parking cars (Glen Hall), and a cottage (Annex).
After decades of growth and expansion, the campus now holds 14 academic and administrative buildings and six homes principally used for faculty offices.
Graduate Center for Health Sciences
The Philip H. Ryan Health Science Center is located in
East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
East Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States situated in the Pioneer Valley region of Western Massachusetts. It had a population of 16,430 at the 2020 census. East Longmeadow is southeast of downtown Springfield, pa ...
and houses our graduate programs in Education, Healthcare and Psychology .
Concord Campus
The Concord location is home to graduate degrees and certificates in Education and Psychology. The Concord campus is located at 521 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742.
Student life
Bay Path has 27 clubs and organizations for students over a wide range of interests.
Athletics
Bay Path University teams are known as the Wildcats. The college is a member of the
United States Collegiate Athletic Association
The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/ junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 natio ...
(USCAA) and competes at the Division I (USCAA), Division I level in the USCAA since the 2021–22 academic year. Bay Path fields volleyball, softball and soccer as varsity sports.
Bay Path competed as a member of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
(NCAA) at the
Division III
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
level, primarily as a member of the
New England Collegiate Conference
The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) is an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division III, Division III List of college athletic conferences in the United States, college athletic conference based in the Northeastern Uni ...
(NECC) from 2008–09 to 2020–21; and before that a charter member of the
North Atlantic Conference
The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) is an athletic conference, affiliated with the NCAA ’s Division III, consisting primarily of small liberal arts colleges in the Northern New England states of Maine and Vermont, as well as New York.
The con ...
(NAC) from 1996–97 to 2007–08.
Women's Leadership Conference
Bay Path holds an annual Women's Leadership Conference in
Springfield, MA
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
. Over 800 people attended the inaugural event in 1996, with the keynote speaker
Elizabeth Dole
Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford Dole (née Hanford; born July 29, 1936)Mary Ella Cathey Hanford, "Asbury and Hanford Families: Newly Discovered Genealogical Information" ''The Historical Trail'' 33 (1996), pp. 44–45, 49. is an American attorn ...
, former US Labor and Transportation Secretary. Since then, the Conference has featured speakers like PBS/ABC news correspondent
Cokie Roberts
Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne "Cokie" Roberts (née Boggs; December 27, 1943 – September 17, 2019) was an American journalist and author. Her career included decades as a political reporter and analyst for National Public Radio, PBS ...
(1997), NBC news chief and foreign affairs correspondent
Andrea Mitchell
Andrea Mitchell (born October 30, 1946) is an American television journalist, anchor and commentator for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C.
She is NBC News' chief foreign affairs & chief Washington correspondent, reporting on the 2008 presi ...
(2002), former U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...
(2005), writer
Maya Angelou (2007), actress
Jane Fonda (2008), and journalist
Barbara Walters (2014). Prior to the establishment of the annual conference, Bay Path held events which included former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
speaking to Bay Path students in 1988 at Springfield Symphony Hall.
Ranking
In 2013, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine ranked the financial viability of 925 private, not for profit colleges in the United States. In this assessment, Forbes assigned a letter grade based on the financial health of the institution, and found that more than half of private institutions scored at a C grade or below. Bay Path received a ranking of 264 out of 925, earning a "B" grade for the financial health of the institution.
In 2014,
The Chronicle of Higher Education
''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to re ...
compiled a list of the fastest growing colleges in America over a ten-year period from 2002 to 2012. During that time, in the category of private, baccalaureate institutions, Bay Path's growth was the eighth highest in the nation, ranking higher than any other college in the
knowledge corridor
Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is dist ...
. Over the ten-year period surveyed, Bay Path grew from a 2002 enrollment of 1,107 students to a 2012 enrollment of 2,370 students: a 114% increase.
In 2015, Dr. Carol A. Leary and Bay Path were ranked #25 in ''The Boston Globe'' and The Commonwealth Institute annual Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts.
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Private universities and colleges in Massachusetts
Women's universities and colleges in the United States
Educational institutions established in 1897
Universities and colleges in Hampden County, Massachusetts
Liberal arts colleges in Massachusetts
1897 establishments in Massachusetts