Daniel Webster College (DWC) was a college in Nashua, New Hampshire, United States, that operated from 1965 through 2017. It was a private, nonprofit college for most of its existence until being purchased in 2009 by ITT Educational Services, Inc., which changed the school to a for-profit model. ITT declared bankruptcy in September 2016, and Daniel Webster College was operated through the 2016-17 academic year by Southern New Hampshire University.
History
The college was established in 1965 as the New England Aeronautical Institute and was associated with Boire Field, now Nashua Airport. In 1978, it merged with its Daniel Webster Junior College division to become Daniel Webster College.
By the mid-2000s, the college was having financial problems and failing to meet "financial responsibility standards" of the United States Department of Education, a measure of economic viability. In 2009, Daniel Webster College received a score of just 0.5 out of 3 on that scale, with 1.5 considered passing. Faced with the prospect of losing educational accreditation and federal funding, both of which would have forced the school to close, it was acquired by ITT Educational Services, Inc., the parent company of the ITT Technical Institutes in June 2009 for $29.3 million. The new owner converted the college to a for-profit institution.
In 2010, ITT Educational Services phased out the flight program and stopped accepting new flight students, while allowing students currently enrolled in the program to complete their education. The last of these graduated in 2013. Following the suspension of the flight program, student enrollment declined from 900 to the current rate of approximately 650 undergraduate students.
In August 2016, the U.S. Department of Education prohibited ITT Educational Services from enrolling new students who use federal financial aid, because accreditor ACICS threatened to revoke accreditation for the 130 other schools that it runs. The schools suspended new enrollment, then on September 6, ceased operations. The 2016-17 academic year at Daniel Webster was not threatened because it uses a different accreditor, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). However, the NEASC said the Department of Education's "extraordinary demands" imply that the college does not meet its standards either, and required the college to show why its NEASC accreditation should not be withdrawn as well. Daniel Webster agreed to submit such a report, but by September 9, the federal government refused to release financial aid for Daniel Webster students. Daniel Webster College, Inc. and the parent corporation filed for bankruptcy on September 16.
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), a non-profit college in Manchester, New Hampshire, hired 87 of DWC's faculty and staff to let the 2016-17 academic year proceed in Nashua. Seniors could graduate from Daniel Webster, while underclassmen had the option of continuing their subsequent years at SNHU. SNHU also tried to buy the Nashua campus, but its bids were rejected and SNHU instead opted to build a "state-of-the-art science and engineering building, due to be completed as soon as 2019."
Campus
The main campus is located on 54 acres (22Â ha) next to Nashua Airport. There are three academic buildings, a gymnasium, and an auditorium on the main campus in Nashua. Residences include four traditional dormitories and 16 townhouse-style residences.
Academics
The school offered 17 campus-based B.S. degree programs, and 9 online degree programs including the M.B.A. The school was accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Daniel Webster's aeronautical engineering and mechanical engineering programs were accredited by ABET (the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.).
Athletics
The Daniel Webster Eagles comprised fifteen NCAA Division III varsity athletic teams. Daniel Webster College was a charter member of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). The men's teams were baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and volleyball; the women's teams were basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, and volleyball. The college once also had teams in wrestling and women's ice hockey. Indoor sports were played at the Mario Vagge Gymnasium. The campus has fields for baseball, softball, and soccer/lacrosse/field hockey. Ice hockey was played off-campus at a municipal rink.
References
External links
- Official website
- Official athletics website
