PAXTON — When Roberta O’Brien graduated from Anna Maria College in 1957, her degree from the small Catholic women’s school paved the way for a career in social work and teaching. It symbolized expanding opportunities for women at a time when many didn’t have access to higher education.
During her college years, O’Brien remembers how the nuns would monitor the hallways at bedtime, Rosary beads clicking as they walked.
Almost seven decades later, Amari McKinnon chose Anna Maria — which went co-ed in the early 1970s — because of its Division III football team and sport management major. He graduated Saturday with plans to become a paramedic, a newfound interest that his parents attributed to the school’s focus on educating future first responders.
Anna Maria has experienced myriad changes since it opened in 1946. But McKinnon and his classmates are the end of the line, the final graduating class.
With the 2026 academic year complete, Anna Maria joins a growing list of private colleges and universities closing their doors amid crippling financial woes and lagging enrollment.
Saturday’s undergraduate commencement ceremony was bittersweet, with a large turnout despite rainy weather. Attendees poured onto the school’s football field, a parade of bobbing umbrellas and hooded raincoats. Some were celebrating the class of 2026, others saying goodbye to a beloved place.
“It’s a great day for the parents and kids — I’m grateful for my child graduating. But it’s a terrible day for the community,” said McKinnon’s dad, Shannon McKinnon.
O’Brien attended the ceremony with her classmate and lifelong friend, Maureen Coghlin. Sitting in the front row, they recalled a different era in American higher education, marveling at how much the campus has grown and changed.
“I never regretted coming here, never. And I’m 90 years old,” O’Brien said, flashing a wry smile.
When the ceremony began at 1 p.m. sharp, the women shared a knowing glance: The nuns were nothing if not punctual, they explained.
“Right on time,” Coghlin said.
“Some things never change,” O’Brien replied.
The college was started by the Sisters of Saint Anne, a Marlborough-based order with French Canadian roots. Their founder, a teacher from Quebec named Esther Blondin, was 22 when she learned to read and write, the college’s president, Sean Ryan, said in remarks during the ceremony.
“She knew firsthand what it meant to come to learning without advantages,” Ryan said. “She built a congregation on that conviction that education belongs to everyone, most especially those without the means to demand it.”
The school’s mission has always been to make education more accessible, he said.
“When most institutions kept their doors narrow, the Sisters opened their door very wide. They did this on purpose,” he told the class. “They did this for you.”
In more recent decades, Anna Maria has developed a reputation for educating working-class students from Central Massachusetts in nursing, social work, criminal justice, fire science, and more. Many alumni have pursued careers in law enforcement.
Graduates and their families said the college filled a unique role that won’t be easily replaced. It was a haven for first-generation students, ambitious kids from low-income backgrounds, and professionals seeking an advanced degree.
“It’s like a big family,” said Adrianna Fraioli, 24, who graduated Saturday with a master’s degree in criminal justice. “I never wanted to leave.”
A Worcester native, Fraioli said her local Catholic high school also closed because of funding problems. She arrived at Anna Maria more than five years ago as an undergraduate and immediately loved its close-knit feel and attentive professors.
“This place is home,” she said, gazing across the bucolic campus, her arms filled with congratulatory flowers and balloons.
Some saw the closure as another sign of a changing economy that’s making life more unaffordable, especially for younger Americans.
Even schools are falling victim to rising costs, said Leah Krauss, who graduated from Anna Maria in 2000 and returned Saturday to experience the last commencement.
“No one can afford it,” she said.
In recent months, school leaders tried various ways to get the school back on more stable footing. They reduced staffing and operating costs by $2 million, boosted fund-raising efforts, and achieved a small but noticeable rebound in the school’s 1,200-student enrollment.
But it wasn’t enough. State officials warned in April that Anna Maria may not have “sufficient resources” to operate for the next 18 months — a dire last-ditch warning.
The closure comes as about 400 private colleges are projected to shutter in the next decade. That includes Hampshire College in Amherst, known for its unconventional liberal arts curriculum. Hampshire recently fell victim to declining enrollment and a tenuous bottom line, leaving hundreds of students to continue their education elsewhere.
For Anna Maria students who haven’t finished their degrees, school officials announced a transfer agreement with Regis College in Weston, another private Catholic university about an hour away. Most Anna Maria students in good academic and disciplinary standing are guaranteed admission to Regis, officials have said.
But for the 158 undergraduates who received diplomas Saturday afternoon, the future lies someplace else. And the 2026 commencement ceremony was a chance to stop and reflect.
“Don’t forget. Cherish the in-between moments,” said their commencement speaker, Unibank chief executive and former state housing secretary Ed Augustus. “That’s life. That’s what matters. Congratulations, class of 2026.”
They may have been experiencing conflicting emotions, but the graduates smiled triumphantly and traded congratulatory fist bumps, bouncing across the stage as their families cheered from the stands.
“We are starting the next chapter of our lives, but also closing the final chapter of Anna Maria College,” said Tessa Henry, a health science major who spoke during the ceremony, reminding her classmates to lead with kindness as their paths diverge.
“We are the final legacy.”
Lea Skene can be reached at lea.skene@globe.com. Follow her on X @lea_skene.