Bay Path University

In 1971, Dr. A. Randle Elliott became Bay Path's third president. Dr. Elliott was a scholar dedicated to enhancing the academic reputation of Bay Path, as well as broadening the College's offerings to the community and non-traditional women. e fourth president of Bay Path came from the ranks of the College's faculty. In 1979, Dr. Jeannette Wright took the helm and ushered in a new era from reengineering the curriculum to petitioning the Commonwealth to allow Bay Path to award bachelor's degrees. e same year, the name was officially changed to Bay Path College. Dr. Wright served for 15 years, until her untimely passing in 1994. In 1995, Dr. Carol A. Leary was selected to be the fifth president of Bay Path College. Under her leadership, Bay Path underwent momentous changes including: the launching of the annual Women's Leadership Conference (1995), the establishment of the One-Day-A-Week College for adult women (1999), the founding of the graduate school (2000), significant facility renovations, and the building of the Philip H. Ryan Health Science Center in East Longmeadow, MA (2015). Among the important transformations was the creation of e American Women's College (2014), the first all-women, all-online bachelor's degree program in the country, with the groundbreaking SOUL (Social Online Universal Learning) educational platform. With these advancements, especially the launch of our first doctoral program, the Occupational erapy Doctorate, one of the most pivotal milestones in Bay Path's history occurred on July 1, 2014, when it became a University. Today, the University serves a diverse all-women undergraduate population: 39% are women of color, 40% are first-generation college students, and 54% receive the Federal Pell Grant. e University is an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution, with 24% of undergraduates identified as Hispanic, and it is ranked 26 th among regional universities in the North as one of the top performers of advancing social mobility (U.S. News and World Report, 2021) in recognition of our success in enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded the Pell Grant. Approximately two-thirds of Bay Path's undergraduate students are enrolled in fully online accelerated baccalaureate degree programs through e American Women's College, while the remaining undergraduates are enrolled on-campus through the Residential College at our main campus in Longmeadow. Graduate programs are offered at our Longmeadow campus with most programs also offered online. Other graduate programs, particularly those in the health sciences and education, are offered at our East Longmeadow campus. While Bay Path's online undergraduate and graduate programs increasingly attract students from across the nation, indeed the world, the University is known regionally for its academic programs aligned with workforce needs, state-of-the art online programs, and women's leadership development as exemplified by our Women as Empowered Learners and Leaders (WELL) program. With the presidency of Sandra J. Doran, J.D., building on this strong legacy, the time is now to reimagine a bigger and bolder future for Bay Path and beyond. Carpe Diem! Carpe Futurum!

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