As Becker College prepares to permanently close its doors by the end of June, the school is set to dismiss around 329 employees.
The notice posted Friday with Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development stated that of the layoffs, 245 jobs will be eliminated at the Worcester campus and 84 at Leicester.
Becker has notified the state of these layoffs in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining (WARN) Act, which requires employers to issue a WARN notice “when a business with 100 or more full-time workers is laying off at least 50 people at a single site of employment.”
The layoffs come despite the $3.31 million loan from the Paycheck Protection Program that the college received in April 2020 to help retain around 284 jobs.
Permanent Closure
The school’s Board of Trustees came to an agreement to end operations in March, stating that Becker couldn’t financially support its day-to-day operations because of declining enrollment and an insufficient endowment.
Enrolled students will receive assistance with their transition to other schools until the end of August. On its website, Becker posted a comprehensive list of agreements it has made with other institutions to help students earn their degrees.
Initiatives to preserve certain degree programs at Becker have been successful. MassLive reported that the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, which is “closely tied to Becker College,” will be transferred to Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
