Daniel Webster College
{{Short description|Private college in Nashua, New Hampshire, US (1965–2017)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox university
| name = Daniel Webster College
| image = DWC DanielWebsterHall.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Daniel Webster Hall
| established = 1965
| closed = {{end date and age|2017}}
| type = Private college (non-profit) (1965–2009)
Private college (for-profit) (2009–2017)
| city = Nashua, New Hampshire|
| country = U.S.
| students =
| staff =
| endowment =
| campus = Suburban
| campus_size = {{cvt|54|acre}}
| coordinates = {{Coord|42|46|37|N|071|30|52|W|type:edu|display=inline,title}}|
| sports_nickname = Eagles
| motto = "Veritas Humanitatis Dignitas"
| mascot =
| colors = {{colour box|#003A76}} {{color box|#EC3541}} (Blue and red)
| website =
| parent =
| logo = Daniel webster college logo.png
| logo_size = 100
}}
Daniel Webster College (DWC) was a private college in Nashua, New Hampshire, United States. It operated from 1965 through 2017 and had a strong aeronautics focus during much of its history. It was a nonprofit college until 2009, when ITT Educational Services, Inc. bought it and converted it to a for-profit model.{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Stephanie |date=August 7, 2009 |title=Turnover at the Top |url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/08/07/webster |access-date=August 13, 2009 |publisher=InsideHigherEd}} ITT declared bankruptcy in September 2016.[https://biz.yahoo.com/e/160919/esi8-k.html ESI notice of bankruptcy filing (EDGAR)] It was operated through the 2016–17 academic year by Southern New Hampshire University, after which the college was closed.
Chinese businessman Sui Liu, doing business as Xinhua Education Consulting Services, acquired the remainder of the campus and buildings for close to $12 million in mid-2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.unionleader.com/education/Prospect-of-Chinese-university-opening-in-Nashua-brings-optimism-and-questions-10292017|title=Prospect of Chinese university in Nashua|publisher=Union-Leader|date=October 28, 2017|access-date=October 31, 2017|archive-date=October 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029141538/http://www.unionleader.com/education/Prospect-of-Chinese-university-opening-in-Nashua-brings-optimism-and-questions-10292017|url-status=dead}} As of early 2025, some buildings were leased by the unmanned-helicopter firm Rotor[https://rotor.ai/] and the Northern Cyclones hockey team[https://www.northerncyclones.com/].
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.nhahs.org/aviationhistory.php|publisher=New Hampshire Aviation Historical Society|title=New Hampshire Aviation Event Timeline|access-date=August 12, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025175121/http://www.nhahs.org/aviationhistory.php|archive-date=October 25, 2009}}
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, it received a score of 0.5 out of 3 on that scale, with 1.5 considered passing.{{cite news|url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090503/NEWS01/305039943/-1/XML07 |newspaper= Nashua Telegraph|title= College officials cited finances, accreditation in court petition}} Faced with the loss of educational accreditation and federal funding, which would have forced it to close,{{cite web|url=http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090504-NEWS-905040323|publisher=SeacoastOnline.com|title=N.H. College: Without sale, accreditation would go|date=May 4, 2009|access-date=July 22, 2009|archive-date=January 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106195359/http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090504-NEWS-905040323|url-status=dead}} it was acquired by ITT Educational Services, Inc., the parent company of the ITT Technical Institutes,{{Cite web |last=Blumenstyk |first=Goldie |date=April 23, 2009 |title=Parent of ITT Technical Institutes Buys Nonprofit Daniel Webster College |url=http://www.chronicle.com/article/Parent-of-ITT-Technical/42800 |access-date=June 17, 2009 |publisher=Chronicle.com}} in June 2009 for US$29.3 million.{{cite web |last=Jan |first=Tracy |date=July 3, 2009 |title=Financial Pressure Forces Reinvention at Small Colleges |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/03/financial_pressure_forces_reinvention_at_small_colleges |publisher=Boston.com}} The new owner converted the college to a for-profit institution.{{Cite web
|url=http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=e45d9b85-b3ea-4f38-9ce8-70c522a379df
|title=Daniel Webster College President Fired
|publisher=Aero News Network
|date=August 7, 2009
|access-date=September 17, 2016}}
In 2010, ITT Educational Services phased out the flight program and stopped accepting new flight students,{{cite news |last=Brindley |first=Michael |date=March 25, 2010 |title=ITT grounds DWC flight program |url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/683789-196/daniel-webster-college-ends-flight-program.html |access-date=August 6, 2011 |newspaper=Nashua Telegraph}} while allowing students currently enrolled in the program to complete their education. The last of these graduated in 2013.{{cite news |last=Curtis |first=Danielle |date=May 12, 2013 |title=Nashua's Daniel Webster College graduates last members of flight operations program |url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/1004234-469/nashuas-daniel-webster-college-graduates-last-members.html |access-date=September 17, 2016 |newspaper=Nashua Telegraph}} Following the suspension of the flight program, undergraduate enrollment declined from 900 to approximately 650.{{cite web|url=https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=239|title=Daniel Webster College|publisher=CollegeData|access-date=2013-10-18|archive-date=2013-06-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622045415/http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=239|url-status=dead}}
In August 2016, the U.S. Department of Education prohibited ITT Educational Services from enrolling new students who used federal financial aid, because accreditor ACICS threatened to revoke accreditation for the 130 other schools that it ran. The school suspended new enrollment, then on September 6, ceased operations.{{Cite web |last=Nasiripour |first=Shahien |date=September 6, 2016 |title=ITT Technical Institutes shuts down, leaving a hefty bill |url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20160906/NEWS04/160909594 |publisher=Bloomberg |access-date=September 6, 2016 |archive-date=September 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907144033/http://www.unionleader.com/article/20160906/NEWS04/160909594 |url-status=dead }} The 2016–17 academic year at Daniel Webster was not threatened because it used a different accreditor, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).{{cite news |last=Forbes |first=Tina |date=August 31, 2016 |title=Despite ban on parent ITT, DWC students can use federal aid |url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/1084682-469/despite-ban-on-parent-itt-dwc-students.html |access-date=September 1, 2016 |newspaper=Nashua Telegraph}} However, the NEASC said the Department of Education's "extraordinary demands" implied that the college did 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,{{Cite web
|url=https://biz.yahoo.com/e/160902/esi8-k.html
|title=Regulation FD Disclosure
|publisher=Daniel Webster College
|date=September 1, 2016
|access-date=September 2, 2016}} but by September 9, the federal government refused to release financial aid for Daniel Webster students.{{cite news |last=Hayward |first=Mark |date=September 13, 2016 |title=SNHU to 'rescue' Daniel Webster College |url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20160913/NEWS04/160919721 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114061832/http://www.unionleader.com/article/20160913/NEWS04/160919721 |archive-date=January 14, 2017 |access-date=September 13, 2016 |newspaper=New Hampshire Union Leader}} 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.
=Campus=
The main campus was located on {{convert|54|acre}} next to Nashua Airport, comprising three academic buildings, a gymnasium, and an auditorium. Residences included four traditional dormitories and 15 townhouse-style residences.{{Cite web
|url=http://dwc.edu/about/quickfacts.cfm
|title=Quick Facts
|publisher=Daniel Webster College
|access-date=2016-09-17
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918083147/http://dwc.edu/about/quickfacts.cfm
|archive-date=2016-09-18
|url-status=dead
}}
=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 the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
=Athletics=
File:Dwebster athletics mark.png
Initially, a limited athletics program competed in NEIA basketball. Later, Daniel Webster enjoyed some success in baseball and men's soccer; the soccer program won the Greater Boston Small College Conference championship in 1980 and 1981.
The college joined the NCAA as an independent in 1993. It became a charter member of both the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) in 1996 and the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) in 2007. That year, Daniel Webster was declared the NECC's top overall athletics program, finishing first among all men's programs and second among women's programs. The program was a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
At its height in the NECC, the Daniel Webster Eagles comprised 17 NCAA Division III varsity athletic teams. Programs for men included baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and volleyball. Women's programs included basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, and volleyball. The college had sponsored men's tennis, which played on an on-campus court in the 1990s, and also briefly sponsored both wrestling and women's ice hockey.
Indoor sports were played at the Mario Vagge Gymnasium, named in honor of the former Nashua mayor who served from 1958 to 1965 and was a college benefactor. The campus had fields for baseball, softball, and soccer/lacrosse. Ice hockey, which was sponsored as a club program for over two decades before joining the NCAA in 2015, was played at Tully Forum in Billerica, Massachusetts, as well as Skate 3 in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, then at Conway Arena in Nashua in its final years.
The athletics programs had limited success during their time in the GNAC, winning just one championship (baseball in 1996). However, in the NECC with its smaller colleges, Daniel Webster won championships in baseball, men's cross country, field hockey, women's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's soccer. It also saw a significant increase in both all-conference and major conference award winners.
SNHU did not acquire the Daniel Webster athletic programs.
Disposition
SNHU tried to buy the Nashua campus,{{cite news |last=Houghton |first=Kimberly |date=September 19, 2016 |title=SNHU offers to buy Daniel Webster College campus |url=http://www.unionleader.com/education/SNHU-offers-to-buy-Daniel-Webster-College-campus-09192016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831004132/http://www.unionleader.com/education/SNHU-offers-to-buy-Daniel-Webster-College-campus-09192016 |archive-date=August 31, 2017 |access-date=September 20, 2016 |newspaper=New Hampshire Union Leader}} but its bids were rejected and SNHU instead opted to build a new engineering building of its own by 2019.{{Cite web |last=Carley |first=Shane |date=January 17, 2017 |title=SNHU Welcomes Daniel Webster Students (and Programs) to Campus |url=http://www.snhu.edu/about-us/news-and-events/2017/01/daniel-webster-students |access-date=February 15, 2017 |publisher=Southern New Hampshire University}}
{{cite web |last=Swanson |first=Cassidy |date=July 30, 2017 |title=SNHU will not buy former Daniel Webster College campus, university rep says |url=http://www.wmur.com/article/snhu-will-not-buy-former-daniel-webster-college-campus-university-rep-says/10384402 |access-date=July 31, 2017}}
SNHU purchased DWC's flight center, tower building, and hangar at Nashua Airport for $400,000.{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=Damien |date=July 17, 2018 |title=A puzzling purchase: Sold college campus remains virtually untouched |url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/local-news/2018/07/17/a-puzzling-purchase-sold-college-campus-remains-virtually-untouched/ |access-date=November 8, 2018 |newspaper=Nashua Telegraph}}
After Xinhua Education Consulting Services acquired the remainder of the campus and buildings in 2018, the company petitioned the New Hampshire Higher Education Commission to continue using the Daniel Webster name, but the Commission rejected two petitions, citing dispute over the ownership of the name. {{cite news |last=Shalhoup |first=Dean |date=February 5, 2019 |title=DW College still shrouded in mystery |url=https://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/2019/02/05/d-w-college-still-shrouded-in-mystery/ |access-date=September 2, 2024 |newspaper=Nashua Telegraph}} In mid-2019, the mayor of Nashua said the owners thought they were buying an operating campus and not just real estate.{{cite news |last=Houghton |first=Kimberly |date=July 16, 2019 |title=New owner of former Daniel Webster College site thought he was purchasing operating college, says mayor |url=https://www.unionleader.com/news/education/new-owner-of-former-daniel-webster-college-site-thought-he/article_261f8fcc-5698-55ed-b8fd-3917ffe9796b.html |work=New Hampshire Union Leader |access-date=July 18, 2019 }}
In 2019, Rivier University got Liu's permission to make the overgrown baseball field playable again and opened its baseball season there.{{cite news |last=King |first=Tom |date=April 1, 2019 |title=A warm welcome back to Harvey Woods Field |url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/sports/local-sports-columnists/2019/04/01/a-warm-welcome-back-to-harvey-woods-field/ |access-date=April 3, 2019 |newspaper=Nashua Telegraph}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20151203202607/http://www.dwc.edu/ Official website] (archived)
{{Great Northeast Athletic Conference navbox}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Defunct private universities and colleges in New Hampshire
Category:Former for-profit universities and colleges in the United States
Category:Air traffic controller schools
Category:Aviation schools in the United States
Category:Educational institutions established in 1965
Category:Universities and colleges in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
Category:Buildings and structures in Nashua, New Hampshire
Category:1965 establishments in New Hampshire