Bard College at Simon's Rock to close and relocate

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. (NEWS10) — Bard College at Simon's Rock will be closing the doors of its Great Barrington campus at the end of the semester. The school will move to a new campus in the Hudson Valley, which is expected to begin operating in the fall.

Simon's Rock announced its relocation in November 2024. The school, which offers an early college program and a preparatory high school academy called Bard Academy, will move to a recently acquired Bard College property in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. Called the Massena campus, Simon Rock's new location will be adjacent to Bard College's primary campus.

Simon's Rock officials have cited struggling enrollment rates and fundraising efforts as the reason for the relocation. The move to the Hudson Valley will, according to Bard College President Leon Botstein, allow Simon's Rock to continue operating.

"With Bard's recent purchase of the Massena Campus, we now have more flexibility in space that can allow for a more financially viable and educationally rich future for Simon's Rock by placing it physically proximate to the institution that has owned and run it for 45 years," Botstein said in the college's statement about the relocation.

At the Massena campus, Simon's Rock students will have access to the educational and cultural resources available at the main Bard College campus, including the institution's science and computation center, performing arts center, art museum and more. Simon's Rock students will also be able to participate in Bard events, clubs, musical groups and sports teams.

According to the school's Frequently Asked Questions webpage, the spring 2025 semester will look the same as previous classes, taking place at the Great Barrington campus with the same faculty, resources and facilities. There are currently around 450 full-time students at the school, according to their website homepage statistics.

With the move to the Massena campus in the fall, Simon's Rock will primarily teach only Bard Academy and first-year students. Sophomores will be able to take some courses with Bard College faculty while juniors and seniors will take most classes with Bard faculty. The Simon's Rock program will reportedly size down to 160 students at the start as a result, though the institution does not rule out future growth.

The school has also stated that Simon's Rock degrees, regardless of when they were completed, will continue to be recognized after the relocation. Simon's Rock will also remain an accredited institution.

But while all the students who are willing and able will be moved to the Massena campus, Simon's Rock employees will all be laid off. Most jobs will end on June 30, except for some positions that will need to be extended past that date to close and secure the campus and support already contracted summer programming. Employees' health benefits will also terminate on their last day of employment and no position transfers to the new location or outplacement services will be offered.

New positions for faculty and staff at the Massena campus will start as early as July 1, the school's FAQ says. Current Simon's Rock employees will reportedly receive the first notification of available positions, which are reportedly hoped to be posted by February.

"Departing from our beloved Great Barrington campus is heartbreaking," said John Weinstein, provost and vice president at Bard College at Simon's Rock. "But this move is the only course of action for the school to preserve the viability of a residential early college experience in an unpredictable time for institutions of higher education nationwide."