Mergers in public higher education in Massachusetts

Mergers are not uncommon in higher education, yet the phenomenon has rarely been the subject of research. Although some private sector combinations have been the focus of inquiry, there is a notable lack of study of mergers involving public institutions of higher education. This work concentrates on public sector mergers in Massachusetts for the period 1964-1985. The project shows that a critical dichotomy in understanding the nature of merger exists between institutional and public participants in the merger process. At the institutional level, the focus of attention is on the relatively narrow matters of organizational structure and integrity, while the makers of public policy are concerned with the larger issue of service to constituents. As a result of this disparity in perspective, institutional representatives may fail to understand the larger public policy context of the merger process. Merger in the public sector is ultimately a matter of public policy, not just a characteristic of institutional development and evolution. This historical analysis examines four separate public mergers: A 1964 combination of two former textile schools that created the present Southeastern Massachusetts University; a 1975 merger of a technological institute (and former textile school) and a state college that produced the University of Lowell; a 1981 union of an urban campus of a state university and a state college that expanded the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and a 1985 consolidation of a community college and a technical institute that led to a diversified Massasoit Community College